Educational Resources to Support Student Learning During Black History Month

To celebrate and honor Black History Month, we’ve assembled a set of lessons, resources, and learning materials from education-focused organizations for students of all ages.

As we pay tribute to the vast contributions African Americans have made to our country, we also recognize how far we still have to go to end systemic racism and violence. In January, students across the country watched the first Black and South Asian woman get sworn in as Vice President. They also witnessed a violent attack at the U.S. Capitol Building, where white supremacist organizations, symbols, and messages were prominent.

We know that educators are playing a key role in helping students to understand how we got to this point—making space for them to process what is happening and empowering our young people to create a better future. We hope these resources can help support classroom conversations this month and throughout the year.

• Black History Month Lessons & Resources from the National Education Association presents a selection of black history-related lesson plans that can be adapted for various grade levels.
• The Center for Racial Justice in Education’s Black History Month Resource Guide for Educators and Families shares an eclectic mix of resources that can be utilized by parents/caregivers as well as teachers.
• We Are Teachers has assembled 33 Black History Month Activities for February and Beyond, all of which are designed for large and diverse groups.
• Adapted from material by Prof. Pat Russo of the Curriculum & Instruction Department at SUNY Oswego, this article from Teaching Tolerance provides some guidance on best practices methods regarding introducing African American history elements into a given class or curriculum.
• TeacherVision’s Black History Month Activities page includes a Martin Luther King, Jr. & Black History Month Activities Packet and a Civil Rights Movement Playlist as well as various printable materials and lesson plans for all grade levels.
• The Association for the Study of African American Life and History provides a yearly theme for the month as well as various learning materials to help engage students in said theme. Familial representation, identity, and diversity in the African American community is their theme for 2021.
• The Public Broadcasting Service has put together 20 pertinent classroom resources for Black History Month, with topics ranging from the civil rights movement to more recent events in American race relations.
• Black History Month Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources from the Scholastic Corporation provides learning materials for students from grades 1-8 including daily lesson plans, book recommendations and interactive whiteboard activities.
• The U.S. Library of Congress’ Blog Round-Up: African American History and Primary Sources features posts on landmark moments in African American history as well as profiles on significant historical figures in the black community.
• The ‘For Teachers’ section of AfricanAmericanHistoryMonth.gov features ready-to-use lesson plans, student activities, collection guides and research aids.
• Education World’s Celebrating African American History Month page showcases a quintet of lesson plans designed to help students recognize and appreciate black history from a variety of standpoints.
• African American Education Resources from the Smithsonian Learning Lab include innovative learning tools that explore issues such as black representation in popular culture in addition to historical lesson plans that include a variety of interactive media.