Black History Month
Black history is American history. We've compiled the following lesson plans, teaching ideas and online resources to help teachers celebrate Black history in February and every month throughout the school year. See the materials below, organized by grade level.
Multiple grade levels
- Academy of American Poets: Lesson Plans for Black History Month
- African Burial Ground National Monument online resources
- Birmingham Civil Rights Institute: Lesson Plans for K-12 students
- Black Past: African American History Timeline
- Center for Racial Justice: Black History Month resource guide
- Google Arts & Culture: Photos from the Civil Rights Movement, online exhibition
- Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz: Lesson Plans
- "History of Black New York," collection of Professor Ted Henken, Baruch College
- iCivics, "Changemakers of the Civil Rights Era"
- Learning for Justice: "Do's and Don'ts of Teaching Black History"
- Library of Congress: Black History Month collection
- "More than a Map(p)," teaching activity
- New York Historical Society, "Seneca Village"
- New York Public Library, Schomburg Center digital resources
- New York Times Learning Network, "Celebrating Black History with the NY Times"
- NPR, "In The Story Of U.S. Immigration, Black Immigrants Are Often Left Out"
Grades K-5
- National Museum of African American History & Culture, "Black Women Artists"
- National Museum of African American History & Culture, "Hair Joy"
- National Park Service, "Discovering the Underground Railroad"
- PBS Jazz Kids, "Learning through The Duke"
- Welcoming Schools: Family Story Quilts
- Zinn Education Project, "Teaching Young Children about Redlining"
Grades 6-8
- Civil Rights Teaching: Stepping into Selma
- Facing History & Ourselves, "Choices in Little Rock"
- Kennedy Center, "Drop Me Off in Harlem"
- Learning for Justice, "Mary Church Terrell"
- National Civil Rights Museum, "Before the Boycott" online activity and related teachers' guide
- New York Times Learning Network, "When Blackness is a Superpower"
Grades 9-12
- AFT Share my Lesson: History of Rap & Hip Hop
- Learning for Justice, "The Color of Law: Creating Racially Segregated Communities"
- Library of Congress, "Segregation: From Jim Crow to Linda Brown"
- National Civil Rights Museum, "Standing Up by Sitting Down" online activity and related teachers' guide
- National Constitution Center, "The 14th Amendment: Battles for Freedom and Equality"
- Paradox of Liberty: Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello