It’s officially Black History Month, and it might be more important now than ever that we handle this topic with honesty and sensitivity. This past year has seen many trials and changes. It seems impossible not to upset anyone or “cross any lines” in the classroom. That being said, it is still essential that we are honest with our students. Honest about the state of our country, and honest about the way our country and society treat people of color. Not just this month, but every month. That is why I have collaborated with 11 other teachers to provide here some ways in which you could incorporate Black History Month/Black Lives Matter into your classroom.
Teaching Social Justice Through to kill a mockingbird
With many schools and curriculums still requiring the teaching of To Kill A Mockingbird, it is essential that we address that the book itself is not exactly a great book on social justice, as it perpetuates white saviorship. My mom, Liz Taylor, battled with how to teach this book, knowing that the message in some aspects was not the best. She delved into how she could take the book and turn it into a teachable moment for her class. She discovered that pairing different passages with the lessons helped keep the topic of social justice on track. Her personal favorite was pairing the novel with the poem “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Dunbar, and she incorporates this in chapters 12 and 13, once Scout visits Calpurnia’s church and begins to see the different ‘masks’ Calpurnia must wear within varying situations. She even made a lesson with this all set up and ready to go!
She also enjoyed doing quick discussion activities with her students to get them engaged and talking about what they think about certain topics. She consistently reiterates that her classroom is a safe space and that this is to be a respectful and eye-opening activity. The important thing to remember with this activity is that being ok with racism is not an opinion, so the questions should be phrased in a way that no one is being disrespected or discriminated against. She explains how to do this, along with many more wonderful ideas with teaching TKAM in her blog post “Teaching Social Justice Through To Kill A Mockingbird”.
Black History month through poetry
One thing Amanda from Mud and Ink Teaching likes to do to specially commemorate Black History Month is to turn to poetry. In this especially difficult and tense time in our nation’s history, it’s important to not only recall the pain suffered by the Black community, but celebrate excellence, innovation, and joy. Poetry gives us this opportunity.
If you haven’t yet had the chance to hear the beautiful genius of Clint Smith, it’s about time you did. Smith’s work ranges from raw, painful looks at historical Black experiences to dreamy, forward-thinking poems. This piece, “The Danger of Silence” is a great starting point for conversations around modern racism. Be sure to add Audrey Lorde, Maya Angelou, and the mesmerizing Amanda Gorman (here’s a quick free lesson!) to your list of poets to enjoy this month (and always!).
For more specific pot suggestions, check out Amanda’s blog post here.
Studying Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb”
Kristina over at Level Up ELA (@levelupela) started celebrating Black History Month by helping students navigate Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb,” which was read at the 2021 presidential inauguration. In her blog post, “Poetry Focus: Analyzing Amanda Gorman's ‘The Hill We Climb’ and Writing Activity”, Kristina explains her approach to this poem analysis and having students write their own original poem.
Here is how Kristina taught this lesson:
1. She introduced the purpose of the assignment and explained how it was a relevant piece of literature, regardless of our political associations and opinions. She told them they were allowed to like, dislike, agree, and disagree with the poem, but that regardless, we would look at it closely.
2. She then explained what a poet laureate is and showed them local and national poet laureates.
3. Next, she asked them to consider why they felt the inauguration includes poetry.
4. She showed them a video about Amanda Gorman. If you aren't familiar with her story and the struggles she has overcome, do some searching. You will not be disappointed!
5. She played the video of Gorman reading her poem at the inauguration and asked the students a set of questions. 1- How does she use her voice to engage the audience? 2- What are some tone words to describe her message? 3- How did she recover from "messing up"?
6. Then, students read the poem again and annotated the poem, noting any literary devices they found, important things to note, things they liked and disliked, etc.
7. Then, students read the poem again and answered a set of guiding questions for analysis.
8. After they had a chance to discuss the analysis questions (next class), she tasked students with writing their own poem mirroring a line or message of Gorman's poem.
You could apply this lesson outline to any poem by any African American poet. If you would like to have Kristina’s slideshow, analysis handout, and poetry prompt/rubric, she has it up for free on her website!
Social Studies with Mentor Texts
Amanda from amandawritenow.com believes that during Black History Month, and any month for that matter, teachers can integrate Social Studies, reading and writing with the use of mentor texts.
Mentor texts are excerpts from literature that can inspire students’ own writing and teach writing skills. But, mentor texts can also be used to expose students to new information about history and social issues.
Mentor texts can be short stories, articles, excerpts from books or even picture books. Here’s how teachers can begin to use mentor texts to celebrate Black History Month:
1. Read a mentor text like Mrs. Flowers by Maya Angelou out loud to students without stopping to analyze too much. You can stop to explain vocabulary or confusing parts or the historical context but try to read the whole mentor text in one sitting, letting students enjoy the read-aloud.
2. After reading, allow students to respond via writing. Students can choose a question or two to write about such as these: Why is Mrs. Flowers so special to Marguerite? Have you ever felt respected by an adult? Describe this experience. What did the adult do to show you respect? If you have never experienced this, why do you think that is? What do you think Mrs. Flowers meant when she said, “That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and even more intelligent than college professors.”?
3. After giving students time to write a response to one or two questions, you can give them lines to borrow from the text to stimulate their own writing pieces. Here are some lines from Mrs. Flowers that students can “borrow” to stimulate their own writing and connected experiences:
“One summer afternoon_______________________.”
“The teachers report that they have trouble getting me to ________________________________.”
“My imagination boggled at_______________________________.”
“My lessons in living: _________________________________”
4. Finally, allow students to discuss by sharing some of the thoughts and ideas that came up for them in their writing. You’ll also want students to have the opportunity to ask questions they had while reading the mentor text as well.
Mentor texts are a wonderful way to integrate Social Studies, reading and writing! Click here to access 5 more mentor texts to approach topics of race and identity with students: How to Approach Issues of Race with Mentor Texts.
POC Voices Through young adult literature
One way to celebrate Black History Month in your classroom is to introduce your students to fresh, authentic voices in meaningful ways. Samantha from Samantha in Secondary loves to incorporate Young Adult Literature wherever possible and there is no shortage of voices that can speak directly to the Black experience from their own point of view. Here are five titles you should add to your literature circles this month to celebrate and analyze many facets of Black culture.
1. Slay by Brittany Morris will make you fall in love with coding and technology even if you aren’t well-versed in the topic. There is also a lot of information on historic Black voices and HBCUs that will teach you plenty of interesting tidbits.
2. Jason Reynolds’ Long Way Down is a powerhouse in prose. This novel will hook even your most reluctant reader as Reynolds explores teenage gun violence in a unique way.
3. A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney is a fresh twist on Alice in Wonderland with plenty of action and romance. Your readers will love connecting with this updated Alice.
4. Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson is a multifaceted look at the nuances of the music industry and the relationships that encompass it. Based loosely on a true story, this novel explores tough topics that are better suited for your more mature readers.
5. Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant will give you a serious dose of Black Girl Magic as it celebrates joy and love in the most thoughtful way.
This Black History Month (and year-round) let’s explore all of the things that make Black culture wonderful and complex through stories told by authors in their own voices. Your selection of novels that highlight Black History should showcase all aspects of the culture from worry through wonder.
Celebrating black authors
Today’s culture has placed a magnifying glass on painful and sorrowful struggles surrounding the Black experience, and rightfully so. But Molly from The Littlest Teacher believes that even right now, an emphasis on Black History can -- and should -- be a joyful, inspiring experience for students.
In ELA, one way to joyfully honor Black History Month is to use interesting classroom displays to highlight authors of color who have made notable contributions to literature.
Displaying a timeline of Black authors through the years can create a visual representation of just how many Black authors we have to thank for the literature we enjoy. On the timeline, include a photo of the author, dates he/she lived, and one or two of their most familiar works. For context, consider also including significant events in history.
Also, try using some interactive posters or an interactive bulletin board that features Black authors. The display could include QR codes that lead to more biographical information about the author, as well as quotes from the author from which students can choose a favorite to tear off and keep. The biographical info. and quotes can double as writing prompts.
Even in troubled times, we can pause and be grateful for the invaluable gifts that people of color have always contributed to our society.
Being honest about race
When talking about Black history, how often do you explicitly talk about race?
This is one of the nagging thoughts Krista from @whimsyandrigor has had for the past few years as February approaches. And each year, she consciously adds more explicit discussion about how she is a white woman who is an ally to people of color who are working towards equality.
Talking about race can be incredibly uncomfortable but children need to see and hear adults talking about race in a non-threatening, positive, and factual way.
Krista’s YouTube video “How to Talk About Race” provides a structured way to start the discussion so both the teacher and the students feel empowered to engage in conversations about racial justice. One of her most important tips is to give students the words to use when they are talking about race. She notices when her white students stumble or pause when they want to say “Black person” because they don’t know what is acceptable. By providing the class with a handful of acceptable terms (Black, person of color, African American) they gain confidence when speaking.
Her YouTube video is filled with more concrete ideas to make potentially contentious conversations more productive and it is a must for any educator who brings Black History Month into the classroom.
Black history month through memoirs
Marie from The Caffeinated Classroom and Brave New Teaching brings students opportunities to read authentic voices as often as possible, and what better way to experience authenticity than through memoir?
Memoirs can be studied in full texts, tracking the author’s experiences over a long span of time, or excerpts can be pulled and read as stand-alone texts. (Most memoirs are awesome like that because they are written in short vignettes and stories.) Students can even study one long memoir in its entirety with a small group, while looking at excerpts from others with the whole class - here is a video explaining this type of unit.
While exploring an author’s experiences and perspectives can be done with a zoomed out view of a longer text, Marie suggests examining the author’s voice through close reading a very small portion of the text. Here is an episode of the Brave new Teaching Podcast where Marie and Amanda share some great text and author suggestions - scroll to the bottom of the post for a free author’s voice activity you can use over and over again in your classroom as your students study various voices during Black History Month and all year long.
This year, Marie’s students have chosen and loved studying Barack Obama’s A Promised Land, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, and Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime, among other titles.
Teaching the culture and history from your own city
Like many educators, Elizabeth from Teaching Sam & Scout has tried to bring more Black voices into her majority-white English classes over the last few years. While it’s been a joy to introduce students to the worlds of writers like Jason Reynolds, Angie Thomas, and Bryan Stevenson, she realized that many of her students had no idea about the Black communities and thriving cultures right in their own backyard!
Recently, as she finished a unit on Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, Elizabeth started doing some Googling on historically black neighborhoods and red-lining in her city… She was surprised to learn that a downtown street she sometimes drives was once a vibrant part of the Harlem Renaissance and hosted big names in the movement like Louis Armstrong and Nat “King” Cole. From there, she found news articles about how that neighborhood had been impacted by Jim Crow Laws in the mid-century and, eventually, by the building of the city’s main highway right through the middle of it.
In addition to learning about the area’s history, her search also revealed that there is a rich local community of black artists, entrepreneurs, and advocates doing important work right now! When she started sharing her discoveries with her students, they wanted to learn more too, and they quickly discovered that the possibilities for research & exploration were nearly endless!
What if, instead of *just* relying on books to broaden students’ worldview and teach them about black history, we drove those ideas home (literally) by inviting students to study black history and explore the culture in the city where they live and go to school?
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Have students research a particular aspect of black history/culture in your area and present through timelines, videos, podcasts, etc.
Bring in guest speakers from the black community to share with students
Connect students with black leaders in the area to interview and create an oral history
Take a (virtual or real) field trip to a local Museum of African American Culture.
Honestly, let your students run with this - you ALL will end up learning SO much!
Being open to meaningful discussions
Samantha from Secondary Urban Legends feels that Black History Month is an opportunity for growth that can only occur from opening up opportunities to have meaningful conversations with students and ourselves. She always tries to connect to topics that are relevant and trending to topics they would encounter while reading texts. And since history has a way of repeating itself, there will be a connection that can be made to other historical time periods. A great example is examining how the protests of Black America are received by comparing the actions of Colin Kaepernick, the Black Lives Matter movement, and protests during the Civil Rights Movement. Check out this resource in her TPT store to jumpstart your lessons on what it takes to be an upstander for racial justice.
Another hot topic is the argument that is currently trending regarding a rap artist’s lyrics about her light-skinned complexion. This evolved into debates about why this is such a prevalent problem in the black community and its roots dating back to the period of slavery. An ELA teacher can pair this with the novel, “Genesis Begins Again.” The main character, a middle school girl deals with her feelings of not being liked by not only classmates but family as well due to her black-ER skin. An important conversation between her and her grandmother happens that allows the reader additional perspective on this topic in Black culture. Students can then apply a text to world connection. This is another great resource from her store that examines how the identity of black and brown folx are impacted and the thought patterns that enable stereotypes.
Bringing black voices into first chapter Friday
Betsy from Spark Creativity suggests celebrating Black authors this month and all year round by bringing their voices into your First Chapter Friday program. Each Friday, read the first chapter of another great book out loud to your students, then let someone borrow it to read in your independent reading program.
Read books that question systemic racism, like Dear Martin, Slay, All American Boys, On the Come Up and The Hate U Give. Read books that celebrate vivid and unique black characters like Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star. Tap into your students’ love of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime.
You’ll find the first chapter of many of these titles available as legal Youtube videos. Check out this blog post for a wonderful round up of First Chapter Friday videos and you can have Nic Stone and Jason Reynolds reading their first chapters to your students for you!
No time to read all the ones you want to your students? Try giving them QR access through an interactive FCF bulletin board like this one (grab a free copy here).
