Last week I shared Black History Timeline Cards and after I made them I began asking my kids who they remembered. I made some lesson plans for this week/month to dive deeper into Black History and then created some checklists to go along. I like to see what my kids know before beginning a unit so they can see how much they learn!

I listed everyone I featured on the timeline cards on one page and the events on the other. I asked them to place a check in the “yes” box if they even recognized the name/event at all. Then in the notes section to write any key words or descriptions of what they remember.

Example – my daughter wrote wouldn’t give up her bus seat for Rosa Parks. I told my kids to check “not yet” if they didn’t recognize the name/event at all. This way I have a written record for me {and for them} to know where we need to dig deeper.

I will use this sheet periodically and plan to make more about certain subjects I want to dive deeper into. I included blank pages for you to make your own lists for your kids if you want to choose different people and events to focus on. The lists in this set correspond to the timeline cards here.

Our Plans…

I am taking some time off of our regular history curriculum this year to dig deeper with my kids. 5th and 8th grade are good ages/grades to have discussions together and I really want to take advantage of this. I have found many resources I will be using and I  am sure I will add to my growing list. I began by having my kids fill out the checklists and then we went through this slideshow together: Why Do We Celebrate Black History Month?, which is a freebie from Read Like a Rockstar.

Junior Scholastic has some great units on the Civil Rights Movement here. Here’s another free unit about The Civil War and the Reconstruction period.

You can see a peek into our first day here on Instagram. Follow along over there for more, I will try to share as we move along.

Black History Books

Another thing I have is TONS OF BOOKS from the library. Each day I am having each child choose one book to read and report on the following day. Last year we read aloud together but our schedule doesn’t give us tons of time together so this year I chose to have them do some independent learning. I love picture books, even for older kids, because it is a simple way to pack great information in a short read. I’m sure we will read some together, but this is my basic plan. I want them reading to learn independently also. You can see some of our books below. I am not limiting their choices to specific people or events, just letting them choose what looks interesting, from whatever I have on our shelf at the time. I am at the library every few days right now!

I am in the middle of creating specific book lists and will be sharing many over the next few days. Click here to see all of our Black History posts to see what we have available so far. 

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Download

Download the checklists here.

More Black History Resources…