Black History Month Lessons & Resources | NEA (2024)

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Rhythm & Improv: Jazz & Poetry

In this lesson plan, students in grades 9-12 analyze jazz music, considering sound, rhythm, and improvisation in order to identify jazz characteristics in poems by Yusef Komunyakaa, Sonia Sanchez, and Langston Hughes. They will then incorporate these elements into their own poetry.

Teaching Hard History

This resource is designed for middle and high school educators and includes a framework for grades 6-12, as well as student-facing videos and primary source texts to help students grasp the historical significance of slavery. Educators will also find teaching tools and professional development resources.

Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten

This resource provides a series of video clips and activities for students to learn about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and how the community of Tulsa is coming to terms with its past, present, and future.

African American English

In this unit, students in grades 9-12 examine several hypotheses about the development of African American English (AAE), consider how AAE has been treated in schools, and analyze the influential role of AAE in modern culture and society.

PBS Black History Lesson Plans

These lesson plans and resources cover topics ranging from civil rights events to discussions about race in current events. They are appropriate for history, ELA, and social studies classrooms.

National Museum of African American History and Culture's Learning Labs

The Smithsonian's free, interactive platform provides ways to explore well-known and lesser-known moments of history by utilizing objects, documents, imagery, and videos to enhance content knowledge, hone historical thinking skills, and inspire users to see themselves as agents of change. (Free account registration required)

Notable African Americans from the 18th-century to the present

This Jeopardy-type quiz game allows students in grades 5-12 to choose from three levels of difficulty to test their knowledge of famous African Americans.

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

This resource explores the Underground Railroad, which was the network used by enslaved black Americans to obtain their freedom in the 30 years before the Civil War (1860-1865).

African American History Month Exhibits & Collections

This resource provides various resources covering art and design, baseball, civil rights, culture, folklife, military, music and performing arts, religion, slavery, and resource guides related to African American history.

W. E. B. Du Bois: Online Resources

This resource includes digital materials related to W. E. B. Du Bois and links to external websites.

Separate Is Not Equal - Brown v. Board of Education

This resource covers the history, images, and other resources related to the historic Supreme Court ruling that ended segregation and ensured opportunity in education.

Africans in America

This resource provides images, documents, stories, biographies, and commentaries related to African American history. It also provides teacher's and youth guides.

Black History - Biography - Celebrate Black History Month & People

This resource offers biographies, photos, and videos of notable African Americans.

The Awakening of Norman Rockwell

This article examines Norman Rockwell's career and how his painting, "The Problem We All Live With," for the January 14, 1964 issue of Look magazine was a turning point in his career and reflected his unexpected politicization in the 1960s.

Poems to Celebrate Black History Month

This resource provides poems and articles by African-Americans.

Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns

This resource offers online activities, biographies, transcripts of interviews with musicians, K-12 lesson plans, and a music study guide for grades 5-8.

The History of Hip-Hop

This collection of interviews from National Public Radio (NPR) chronicles the seminal people and events in the hip-hop movement.

African American Visual Art and the Black Arts Movement

This resource explores the Black Arts Movement (BAM) and provides image galleries, a theoretical essay, a timeline, and links to other online art sources.

The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed

This resource provides information on African American history by region.

10 Black Scientists that Science Teachers Should Know About

This resource from PBS Education lists some of the top Black scientists, engineers, inventors, and mathematicians and includes links to media resources to help bring their work and stories into the classroom.

8 Black Inventors Who Made Daily Life Easier

This blog post outlines some of the lesser-known but vital contributions of Black inventors.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum: Resources for Teachers

This resource features history, a timeline, photos, and teacher resources related to Negro League Baseball, which existed before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

10 African American Pioneers in Sports

This resource provides concise biographies of Black athletes who broke barriers, represented their communities, and made history with their impressive athletic skills.

Civil Rights Heroes Quiz

This resource offers quizzes and crosswords related to civil rights heroes.

Timeline (Separate Is Not Equal)

This resource provides a timeline of segregationist laws and court rulings.

Word Search and Crossword

This resource offers word search and crossword puzzles related to African American history.

Free Learning Resources for Black History Month (and Beyond)

This resource compiled by Common Sense Media includes a list of resources, including videos, texts, lessons, podcasts, and more, about activists, art and culture, inventors, engineers, historical events, and beyond.

Blues Journey (23:17 minutes)

This four-part audio series explores the history of the blues.

Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans (68 minutes)

This documentary explores Faubourg Tremé, considered the oldest black neighborhood in America and the origin of the southern civil rights movement and the birthplace of jazz.

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (220 minutes)

This documentary tells the story of Jack Johnson, the first African American boxer to win the Heavyweight Championship of the World.

Through the Window and into the Mirror: Narratives of African American STEM Professionals

This video conversation series shares the experiences of African American STEM professionals today.

Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon

This book provides an essential account of the Black Panthers as militant revolutionaries, social activists, and human rights advocates working to defend and protect their community.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds

This book, adapted from "Stamped from the Beginning" by Ibram X. Kendi, exposes young adult readers to the history of America's racist past that textbooks often leave out.

These are the concepts and resources mentioned in this article. If you have any specific questions or need more information on any of these topics, feel free to ask!