5 Ways to Introduce Lessons on Black History in the Early Elementary Grades

Engaging younger students in learning about Black history is essential so they can value, understand, and appreciate diverse perspectives. Black history is also necessary in order for students to learn how Black Americans throughout history have shaped our world. February is the month when we acknowledge, celebrate, and focus on the historical accomplishments of Black Americans. However, I incorporate Black accomplishments and perspectives in my lessons throughout the school year. I’ve used many different strategies over the years, and I hope that you’ll find the five strategies I share below to be helpful in your own elementary classroom.

1. Discuss Vocabulary Terms

Vocabulary is important to background knowledge and gives students context for what they are reading and also supports comprehension. I discuss the following terms: civil rights, segregation, desegregation, fair, unfair, freedom, and advocate. I selected these words because they are specific to this topic and may not be discussed in the established curriculum. I want to enhance my students’ knowledge, as they may interact with these words in other resources that I provide.

To teach vocabulary effectively, I share the meaning and image of terms with the addition of movement to help students recall them. I use percussion instruments with my students to give them a beat for dancing, and we come up with moves that reflect the vocabulary. Afterward, students create sentences using the new words they’ve learned.

2. Create Expert Packs and Opportunities for Reflection

I make “expert packs” that consist of books or articles based on an overarching theme—famous African Americans. My students read age-appropriate books and articles to build background knowledge and become experts on the subject matter. I also read aloud to my students, so I can provide context for new vocabulary as they go along. 

Expert packs are effective because they enhance students’ knowledge of a topic and/or concepts. They increase my students’ confidence and facilitate their engagement at an advanced level. It’s amazing to hear my students read fluently about prominent African Americans due to consistent exposure.

To augment my students’ new knowledge from expert packs, I give them opportunities to reflect on their new learning. I take time to pose questions, address questions, and facilitate discussions. It’s helpful for me to be a part of students’ new discoveries and act as a bridge to their understanding.

3. Encourage Writing With the Jigsaw Method

Have students write about what they learn from resources so that they can showcase their knowledge and thoughts about people or specific moments in history. In my class, I’ve found ReadWorks, a free platform for teachers, to be useful in finding Black history articles for students. I’ve shared inspiring articles about the following notable figures in Black history with my students: Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Adam Powell, Maya Angelou, Justice Thurgood Marshall, Frederick Douglass, and Oprah Winfrey.

I find that combining article reading with the jigsaw method (with groups of four to five students) is very effective during Black History Month. It provides students with an opportunity to learn with their peers and discuss various figures in Black history. With this activity, we focus on four different historical figures at a time, and I provide each group with a different article.

When the students finish reading their articles, they complete a graphic organizer with general questions to discuss and write about their person: Who was your figure? How did he/she impact history? What is one thing that you learned? How do you feel about what you learned? Later, the students can use the graphic organizer to write a brief paragraph about their person. I do these several times throughout the month.

4. SEEK OUT Museum Experts and Create a Gallery Walk

I love inviting experts into my class. They can share resources and materials to add deeper context to Black history and offer pertinent information and new perspectives about various events. Experts also help to fill in the knowledge gaps as they share primary and secondary sources with students. In their expertise, they can also share interesting activities with the classes.

Over the years, my students have routinely engaged with Dory Lerner, education manager at the National Civil Rights Museum, to read Let the Children March, by Monica Clark-Robinson, illustrated by Frank Morrison, to observe artifacts from the civil rights era and then create their own protest signs. On several occasions, my students have had the opportunity to explore Little Rock Central High School National Park with Park Ranger Toni Phinisey-Webber.

Although Black History Month takes place in February, later in the school year my students participate in the Ruby Bridges Reading Festival in May. At this event, they bring their protest signs, take part in a student-led kindness march, and get to see Ruby Bridges in person. These personal interactions with experts make the experience of learning worthwhile for my scholars.

Gallery walks are also effective opportunities for experiential learning. I display primary sources in the classroom and have students collaborate in groups to discuss what they see. You can partner with local museums or historical societies to assist with images. Students discuss what they see and how they feel. I display primary sources in the classroom and have students collaborate in groups to discuss what they see. Visual literacy helps to provide context and meaning to students’ learning.

5. Host an African American Inventor Event

Students select and research an African American inventor. To ensure that a wide range of inventors are researched, I make sure that students don’t select the same ones. Once I approve their choices, students use a trifold board to display pertinent information about the inventor, what they invented, and the invention’s impact on society today. My students also create a replica of the invention to go along with the trifold board.

Upon completion of their projects, students initially present to their peers and me. Afterward, we transform the classroom into the “Black American History Museum,” where students display their projects for their families and school community to visit and listen to their oral presentations. Students are encouraged to dress as their selected inventor and share flyers with three to four important facts about the person. I’ve had students dress up as lesser-known inventors such as Patricia Bath, MD, the first Black woman to receive a medical patent, and Garrett Morgan, inventor of the gas mask and traffic light.

The African American inventor event is an exciting culminating experience that allows my students to enthusiastically showcase their hard work. It brings the students (and me) joy as they celebrate what they’ve learned.