Black History Month Lesson Plan: Perspectives

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Black History Month, and supports standards that include understanding the evolution of people’s perspectives over time, and analyzing how these perspectives influenced the information found in historical sources. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

• Why is it important to learn about the achievements and cultures of different groups?
• What are some ways you might learn about or celebrate Black History?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Black History Month topic page.
• Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.  

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign Black History Month Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about Black History Month while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie: Produce a mini-documentary about the life and achievements of historian Carter G. Woodson.
• Make-a-Map: Create a concept map identifying how today’s Black History Month celebrations compare to those in the past. 
• Creative Coding: Code a flag that represents Black History Month. 

More to Explore 

Time Zone X: Harlem Renaissance: Place historical events in chronological order in this interactive timeline game. 

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of Black history, achievements, and contributions with these topics: Civil Rights, Civil War Causes, Harlem Renaissance, and Frederick Douglass.

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas. 
• Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.