Web Sitings: Black History Month
Great links packed with resources for an African-American history unit.

By Nancy Sanders

AFRO-American Almanac
www.toptags.com/aama
Trivia games, folktales, historical documents, biographies, and more! This almanac will keep your class well informed about Black History. Older students can benefit from receiving a free newsletter about current events e-mailed to them on a biweekly basis. You can even make a classroom almanac by creating a collaborative book based on students' research about African-American history.

World Book: African-American History
www2.worldbook.com/students/feature_index.asp
This site contains a wealth of biographies and historical events related to African-American history, including the history behind Black History Month. Kids can listen to samples of music as they find out about African-American music such as spirituals, jazz, and blues. A collection of articles about African-American literature is also featured. For an enriching experience, invite an African-American author or musician from the community to visit your classroom.

Africans in America
www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html
Based on the PBS TV series, this site offers practical guidelines and resources to incorporate Black History into your classroom. Each part of the series contains a historical "Narrative," and a "Resource Bank" full of images, documents, and biographies. As you visit each era of Black History documented on this site, print out images of key events to post on a time line. Want to extend your unit? Visit the online store to view classroom resources.

COLORU: The People of Color School on the Internet
www.saxakali.com/coloru/body.htm
Go to school on the Net! These online courses are self-study tutorials designed for people of color. You will find a variety of grade-specific lessons on African history, including African math, folktales, and biographical studies that let children proceed at their own pace. Invite your students to enroll and take a course during their free time for extra credit or as a Web activity. Interactive features include online discussions and group projects. Teaching opportunities for volunteers are also available.

History Channel Exhibit: Black History Month
www.historychannel.com/exhibits/blackhist/proindex.html
Tune into the History Channel's Web exhibit on Black History Month. During the months of January and February, consult the Black History Month TV Schedule for show times of many informative shows, such as "The Night Tulsa Burned." Use the correlating study guides that include extended activities, or use the guides to start the day with a featured discussion question. Go to "Great African Americans" and click on the names of some key figures in African-American history to learn more about them. Read about the Port Chicago Mutiny in a special feature on the site, which contains downloadable clips and pictures. Looking for a primary source? Visit the speech archives to hear actual speeches from historical personalities such as Malcolm X.

Education First: Black History Activities
www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/BHM/AfroAm.html
Make Black History Month an essential part of your classroom study. Use this Web site to participate in an interactive "Treasure Hunt" or join a live videoconference with your upper-elementary students. Explore carefully researched links during a WebQuest. As part of the WebQuest students can dress as specific characters from their research on Black History and interview one another for a classroom video. Use the teacher's guide to take a look at school desegregation in 1957. Specifically geared to educators, this site is an important classroom resource.

NAACP
www.naacp.org
See how the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has impacted America's past, what it's doing now, and how it's helping shape the future. You can stay current with organization news, take part in their weekly poll, share your opinion, and even locate your own local NAACP and take a class field trip for hands-on learning.

National Register of Historic Places: African-American History Month
www.cr.nps.gov/NR/feature/afam
Pack your suitcase and climb on board! This site features online photos of historic properties pertinent to people and events from African-American history. Look at a sunken antislavery schooner off the Florida Keys, view Underground Railroad stations, or visit the Frederick Douglass National Historical Site. Photographs of these landmarks and others are showcased along with interesting background information. Practice map skills with your students by tagging a map with the locations of these key places in African-American history as you visit their online sites. If you wish to plan a class field trip, phone numbers and maps are also available. Whether you take a virtual tour or visit these properties in person, everyone's sure to enjoy the trip!

NASA QuestChats: Black History Month
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/special/mlk99/ Chat with African-American scientists and engineers from NASA. You can view the archive of chats from 1998 and 1999, or check the schedule to join in on future events. Background text and photographs are included about each of the experts and information about the space program is also provided. You can use the suggested age-level activities for star watching, or plot the route of the Underground Railroad as a follow-up to reading Jeanette Winter's Follow the Drinking Gourd (Knopf, 1988).

Stamps on Black History
http://library.thinkquest.org/2667/Stamps.htm This site features a complete list of African Americans who have been honored with a postage stamp. Explore the "Black History" tour, take a trivia quiz, or get some tips on stamp collecting. The informative biographies can be viewed alphabetically or cross-referenced according to which curriculum area the person's achievements relate to. Ask students to design their own stamps about Black History, then mount the stamps on the wall as a way to honor famous African-Americans this month.
 

Nancy Sanders is the author of A Kid's Guide to African American History: More than 70 Activities (Chicago Review Press, 2000).