Black history is our history. It’s not some separate history to marvel. It’s not a gimmick to gawk at in February. Still, while it’s somewhat disappointing that it takes Black History Month to draw attention to Black History, it’s also a blessing to have this opportunity in English language arts.

Getting students reading, writing, and analyzing rhetoric by or about Black authors will likely spark something inside of them that will simmer, and – hopefully at the right times – enflame inside of them, throughout their entire lives. When your heart is touched by powerful rhetoric, it stays with you forever. You can’t ever forget the truth when it’s described so passionately. And, when you apply the lessons to your own life, it becomes wisdom.

So, here are 10 ideas for teaching Black History in ELA –  your chance to get students reading, writing, analyzing, and most important – feeling – about our history, Black History.

1. Journal Writing About Famous Quotes in Black History: As a bellringer or a 10-minute “quick write” session, have students respond to the Black History quote of the day you give them. How about do this all throughout February since there are so many good quotes? For example, “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations” (Dr. Mae Jemison, first African-American female astronaut) or “The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression” (W.E.B. DuBois), or “The time is always right to do what it right” (Martin Luther King, Jr.), or here’s 117 more Black History quotes you can use!

2. Divi Up & Jigsaw the Plethora of Topics: When you go looking for what to teach in Black History, it’s a bit like trying to get a drink from a fire hydrant blasting out water. There are so many influential figures, movements, & accomplishments. So, how about have each student select a different figure or topic to write a research report or presentation about? Another option is jigsaw groups. This is where you assign small groups topics such as “Black athletes” and then the members of the group each research and report back on something specific, such as Jackie Robinson, Michael Jordan, and Serena Williams. Then, the groups present to the class (hopefully in an interesting way. See this post for 10 Great Ways to Research & Present Information. ) Here are some of the many ideas:

• Notable Historical Figures & Institutions: Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, John Lewis, Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune (Bethune-Cookman College), the Underground Railroad, the Mason-Dixon Line, Howard University, the Green Book, and more
• Figures in Science & Technology: Rebecca Lee Crumpler, Daniel Hale Williams, George Washington Carver, Bessie Coleman, Katherine Johnson, Percy Julian, Mae Jemison, Warren Washington, Benjamin Banneker, and more
• Performers, Musicians, & Actors: Louis Armstrong, Marian Anderson, Teddy Wilson, Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier, Octavia Butler, Denzel Washington, Beyonce and Jay-Z, Muddy Waters, Oprah Winfrey, and more
• Athletes: Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Althea Gibson, Wilma Rudolph, Hank Aaron, Bill Russell, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michael Jordan, Serena & Venus Williams, LeBron James, Simone Biles, Arthur Ashe, Kobe Bryant, and more
• Military & Government Figures: Buffalo Soldiers, Tuskegee Airmen, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Barack Obama, Thurgood Marshall, FDR’s “Black Cabinet,” and more
• Civil Rights Topics & Leaders: Brown v. Board of Education, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Lunch Counter Sit-ins, Selma to Montgomery Marches, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Black Lives Matter Movement, Rosa Parks, The March on Washington, Assassination of MLK, Ruby Bridges, Claudette Colvin, Jim Crow Laws, “separate but equal,” Jesse Jackson, NACW, NAACP, nonviolent protest, and more
• Writers: Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, and more

3. Make Modern-Day Civil Rights Posters, Buttons, or Inspirational Quote Posters: Have students look at images of civil rights posters, such as these Freedom Movement posters. Or, simply Google “civil rights posters” and you’ll see a ton of great ones, old and new, come up. Then, have students Google “civil rights buttons” or visit this collection of political buttons, which are visual symbols showing that the wearers are fighting for some cause. Next, have students make modern-day civil rights posters or buttons, each containing one simple slogan about what we should strive for or specifically do to advance civil rights in some way. BUT BE CAREFUL. You should require that the posters be peaceful in nature, non-offensive, non-aggressive…set whatever boundaries you like to keep this activity peaceful.

Steve.fami.ly, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Or maybe just have them do this less passion-provoking art instead: have each student write an inspirational quote on a posterboard, and decorate it to hang in the room. Or, have students make a poster promoting Black History Month. If you don’t want to display the artwork on the walls, you can have students do a “gallery walk” in which students walk around the class to view each other’s creations. Here are links to 120 Black History quotes or a list of 25 Quotations by MLK for the Classroom.

Image Credit: United States Mission Geneva Photostream via Flickr 

Image Credit: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Or, I like this magnetic poster from Displate.com. This is the right idea!

4. Analyze MLK Primary Sources: What better way to honor Black History than to direct students straight to the sources – the primary sources – the documents written by those who actually experienced the history firsthand, by those who took the time to memorialize their powerful messages in rhetoric that lives on today. 

Here are some of the many primary sources written by, about, or in collaboration with Martin Luther King, Jr.: The March on Washington pamphlet, the I Have a Dream speech (which was delivered 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and alluded to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address), the Letter From Birmingham Jail, Six Principles of Nonviolence (have students write a short explanatory essay explaining what they are and what they mean), MLK’s correspondence with the White House/JFK cabinet in letters and telegrams, teaching about Martin Luther King, Jr., and Memphis Sanitation Workers, Who Speaks for the Negro? collection, I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech, Senator Robert Kennedy’s Statement on the Assassination of MLK, MLK’s acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964, and the Smithsonian collection.

ALSO CHECK OUT THE BLOG POST “MLK in ELA” for EVEN MORE reading, writing, and language ideas!

FREE Letter From the Birmingham Jail LESSON: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter From The Birmingham Jail is a must-read. But, what I have for your ELA classroom is a must-have. Grab the FREE PRINTABLE IDENTiFYING THEMES IN NOTABLE MLK QUOTES FROM THE LETTER. It provides students with one page of monumental quotes from the letter, guiding students to identify theme in each of them. This is a standards-based activity, specifically aligned to Standard RI.9 in high school, which is to analyze seminal U.S. documents of literary and historical significance.

YOU CAN PIN THE IMAGE BELOW IF YOU LIKE: