February 18, 2013

Black History Month


Do you celebrate Black History Month?  I do!  

Every year I give my students a large piece of construction paper to make a placemat.  Not that they really use it as a placemat when they take it home, but the point is I want them to share the information with their parents.  I want to promote family discussions about what they learned that day in school.  Sometimes kids need a visual to remember...

  As we discuss the famous men and women they write fun facts about them on their paper.  This year, since I have now discovered the power of powerpoint, I made the placemat official looking.  I typed the names for my kiddos - making it easier for them to follow along.  I also typed up all my notes about these famous people, created note pages for the students to fill in, to use in a game, and then made up a sheet for students to take one person & create a paragraph about them to add to a class book.  

After we make up the placemat and before their individual writing, I'm going to take the fun facts sheets and cut them into strips.  They are then going to each get a strip of information about a specific person, and mingle to music to share their information over and over again with the different members of our class.  After all that writing they will need a chance to get up and move!  I have another page in the packet similar to a bingo board for them to check off who they talk about.  Their goal will be to make a bingo with the different people.  After the fact they will take their strip of paper and begin writing about their specific person.     
  It's over at TPT if you are interested in checking it out!

Hope you are having a wonderful day!  I stayed up way too late last night (no school today) to finish my 3rd book of the weekend.  Yes, 3 books.  I love vacation!
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2 comments:

  1. What an AWESOME idea!

    My kiddos love learning about noteable African Americans. We had done the basics - Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Booker T. Washington, etc. Then my kiddos wanted to study African Americans who weren't dead :) so we studied Venus and Serena Williams (the tennis players)

    Finishing your third book - I'm so jealous! I cannot wait to do that this week!

    ~Jessica
    Joy in the Journey

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  2. I love your ideas of engaging your students in learning about Black history.

    My students are working on a research paper on an influential African American. At the conclusion of the written product, all of the fifth grade students will create a living wax museum. All students will dress like the person that they have been researching. They will hold some type of prop, select a position in which to stand, and create a paragraph that summarizes what they learned. We will invite the other grade levels to visit the wax museum. When a guest stands in front of a student, they will recite their prepared paragraph.

    We did this last year and it was a huge success. My students are super excited about it because they were able to visit the wax museum last year. I can't wait to see how creative they will be this year.

    I enjoy this because it not only engages the fifth graders, but its a way to connect with other grade levels as well.

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