Black Lives Matter at School Week and Black History Month

It is suddenly February and BLM at School Week (February 6-10) is here! I am not in a classroom this year, so am sharing some of our past work below in case anyone is looking for a new angle, read aloud, activity, or any other reminder.

One quote that has been sticking with me lately is from Walidah Imarisha as she masterfully explains Why Aren’t There More Black People in Oregon? She says, “I call it a living legacy not history because it walks with us everyday.” That seems like a perfect way to conceptualize Black History Month and how to center what we teach our students in the present and the future.

Black History Month (from 2022)

Black History Lesson: Sit-Ins (from 2021)

Black Lives Matter at School (from 2021)

Black History Month: Past Ideas & Thoughts (from 2020)

Ideas for Black History Month and Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action (from 2019)

Reflecting on Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action (from 2018)

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

MLK Day 2022: Reminders & Ideas

Another 3rd grade teacher I know had a colleague forward her a link to an Art of Teaching post I wrote 4 years ago (a slightly modified version of this post on our blog) about teaching MLK day! It was a nice surprise and funny coincidence, as well as a welcome reminder to use primary sources with my 3rd graders.

This year, however, we went with a different approach as my co-teacher (who is new to me this school year!) had the brilliant idea of widening our focus to Dr. King’s legacy and movement and thinking about the people who came before and after him.

I also always remind educators to tie Dr. King’s work back to today and future work. This is not a one lesson or one day reminder, it is something you should think about all year. Two obvious examples of this work continuing are Black Lives Matter at School Week and Black History Month, but you don’t have to stop there.

My co-teacher helped my students (and me) learn about other people who contributed to the movement. The examples are endless, but here are a few with links to related pictures books:

  • Lizzie Jennings: I had never heard of Lizzie Jennings, but she fought for her right to ride a streetcar in New York City in 1854 (100 years before Rosa Parks!). This is a wonderful story for so many reasons, but might help students conceptualize that the fight for equal rights on public transport was not limited to the South.

  • Claudette Colvin: she was a 15 year old who was arrested and dragged off the bus in Montgomery for refusing to give up her seat nine months before Rosa Parks triggered the bus boycott.

  • Georgia Gilmore: she sustained the Montgomery bus boycott by selling food and collecting donations. She also protected the members of her organization from employer retaliation. We read this book last year as part of work we did during Black Lives Matter at School week

Picture books are a wonderful medium for students of any age, but they are not the only option! Even if a picture book about something doesn’t exist, you can use photos, video clips, Newsela articles (or write your own!). You can always adapt materials that aren’t accessible for your students and explain to them how you did so. 

As always, we would love to hear how other educators (or families) addressed this topic or commemorated the holiday. If you didn’t have a chance due to so many factors complicating our day to day lives, remember it is never too late!

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Seven Ways to Approach Black History Month in Your Classroom published by McGraw Hill!

Our piece about Black History Month in the classroom was published by McGraw Hill’s Inspired Ideas! You can see the live piece here. We thought today was a good day to send it out, as is it February 1st. Today is also the first day of Black Lives Matter at School week. I (Nina) am not teaching today as we have a snow day (hence the photo of the masked snowman above), but already started having conversations with and hearing questions and thoughts from students last week. This year, I am hoping to go over all 13 of Black Lives Matter’s Guiding Principles which will naturally take more than a week (for everyone, but especially 3rd graders).

DC Area Educators for Social Justice (a project of Teaching for Change) has some really useful resources for educators.

Also, read about the first year we participated in Black Lives Matter at School Week here! We also wrote a piece with teaching and classroom ideas for Black History Month and BLM at School Week in 2019 that has a lot of read alouds.

Please share resources and ideas below. We’d love to hear from you.

Black Lives Matter.