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Black
History Month
- 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folktales, historical documents, biographies, and more!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.
- AFRO-Americ@
A kid-friendly
place to visit! Check out the "Kids Zone" for illustrated folktales
perfect for younger students to read aloud. Use these tales as starters
for kids to write their own folk stories, or print out the illustrations,
cut out the characters, glue the pictures on craft sticks, and encourage
children to retell the stories in puppet shows. For quick activities,
older students can enjoy, try the brainteasers and learn fun facts
about Africa's geography, visit the history museum, or read current
news relevant to Black History. There is a lot of information packed
into this site, including art prints by current African-American artists.
- 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.
- The Encyclopaedia
Britannica Guide to Black History
http://search.eb.com/blackhistory/
Imagine an interactive
encyclopedia at your fingertips just waiting to give you loads of
information — Encyclopaedia Britannica does just that. Features
include an online interactive study/teacher's guide with resources;
an article archive with a collection of biographies, events, and institutions;
and an extremely comprehensive time line. Audio and video clips, as
well as some excellent photos and illustrations, add to the wealth
of information included here. The careful research and effort put
into this site make it an essential and reliable resource for studying
African-American history.
- 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
http://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 I. Sanders
is the author of A Kid's Guide to African American History: More
Than 70 Activities (Chicago Review Press, 2000).
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