Black History Month

February is Black History Month and there are many ways to recognize it. One of my favorites, I realize this might come as a surprise to you, is books. I know, crazy right? We have curated some collections for Black History Month in Sora, our digital district library. When you browse, you’ll see it right at the top. I just finished listening to To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, read by Sissy Spacek. It was amazing! I hadn’t read it in years and the audio is fantastic. I found it very relevant to Black History Month.

A great way to learn about Black History Month is through videos. If you’re not familiar with the site, The Kid Should See This, you really should take a moment to browse their video selection. They have quite a few interesting videos regarding Black History, such as:

• How Martin Luther King, Jr. Improvised ‘I Have A Dream’
• Hazel Scott plays Black & White on two grand pianos (1943)
• The exceptional life of Benjamin Banneker
• Marian Anderson’s ‘defiant performance’ at the Lincoln Memorial
• Rosa Parks, her story as a lifelong civil rights activist
• Portrait of Innovation: James Conway Farley
• How Was Black History Month Started? (this one is hosted on SchoolTube)
  

Our schools will be recognizing Black History Month in a variety of ways. Mountain View High School (MVHS) Library created these fabulous bookmarks to use for displays and to hand out in the library.

MVHS’s Art Class/Club is offering to make door displays for any of their teachers that want one. Here’s one that was kept up all last year:

And here are some other doors to get your creative juices flowing. I think this would be a great idea to do school-wide and maybe even as a contest.

Summit High School is going to announce a different fact about Black History Month or about black Americans each day of February. Their equity team is showing the OPB documentary about African Americans in Oregon during lunch one day and having a discussion the next day. Their library will be sharing bookmarks along with a book display. They’ve also shared the following links with their teachers that can be incorporated into the classroom.

Arts & Humanities:

• 20 Black History Month Activities for February and Beyond
• Black History Month Lessons & Resources, Grades 9-12: Integrating African-American Culture & History into Your Curriculum
• Black History Month: Lessons and Resources
• 20 Pertinent Classroom Resources for Black History Month

Math:

• Black History Month Ideas: Lessons and Resources (scroll down until you get to the STEM section)

Articles

• “For a Black Mathematician, What it’s Like to Be the ‘Only One’”
• “He quit the NFL for a career in math. It wasn’t just about the concussions”
• “Math and Race: Why Don’t More African Americans Do Science and Engineering?”
• “The Voices of Black Mathematicians”

Famous mathletes:

• Benjamin Banneker
• Fern Hunt
• Mark Dean
• Elbert Frank Cox
• Katherine Johnson
• Valerie Thomas
• Lonnie G. Johnson
• Euphemia Lofton Haynes
• Annie Easley
• Mae C. Jemison
  

Science

Lessons and other resources

• African Americans in Science
• African Americans in Science and Technology
• Selected Internet Resources: African Americans in Science and Technology
• Black History Month Ideas: Lessons and Resources (scroll down until you get to the STEM section)

Scientists

• George Washington Carver
• Percy Julian
• Mae Jemison
• Katherine Johnson
• Gladys West
• Marie M Daly
• Edward Bouchet
• Annie Easley
• Walter Lincoln Hawkins
• Alexa Canady

There are many ways to recognize Black History Month and we are so fortunate to have a plethora of resources at our fingertips.

Here are a couple of resources that I found:

• Find the Face Matching Game
• 17 Classroom Ideas for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Black History Month

We would love to hear how your school is showcasing Black History Month!