These Black History Art Projects introduce students to less known famous black Americans. Students will be expected to read one or more texts, and then make an argument supported by evidence from those texts. Put together a bulletin board with the children compiling a list of 100 African-Americans that have made a difference. Struggling readers will often do better when they reread a text with a discrete goal in mind. To make a biography poster, click the "Use this Template" button below. 1. His love of history dates back to his own adolescence, and it is his goal to help students discover the aspects of history about which they can get excited. The purpose of the pictures was not to see if students knew the “right” answer, but rather to determine if students were learning how to support their answers with evidence from the text. Thanks for sharing it. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Was my project an unmitigated success? This curated collection includes teaching ideas, biographies, interactive sites, research materials, and more to learn about the … There is also the possibility that students will not take an assessment seriously if they do not feel that it is a “real” assignment. Learn how your comment data is processed. It kind of reaffirms what I’ve been doing. It is similar to something I have done in the past as part of my “Growing Nation” unit. It's probably time to collect Teacher Pandemic Nightmares. He has a BA in History from California State University Northridge and received his teaching credential through UCLA’s TeachLA program. Subjects: Social Studies - History, Visual Arts, Black History Month. This year I experimented with a poster project as an assessment. Instruction should incorporate history, point of view, politics, struggle, first-person experience, art, literature and data. Elementary Black History STEM Articles, Videos and Activities. This could be a number of stars (like a film rating), a letter grade, or some other less conventional ranking system, so long as it was clear. Your email address will not be published. I also gave students a dozen pictures that represented the interests and achievements of the leaders. Finally, each team had to create a rating system to rank the leaders from best to worst. Most students placed the British flags with Adams and Hamilton, because they were federalists. Each group had to decide for themselves who the best and worst leaders were. The final poster looks great displayed on a bulletin board, down a hallway, or on your classroom door! Your idea can work in both disciplines. Black History Month Collaboration Posters Bundle Set 1. Well done. Published 01/19/2014. However, there is a great deal of pressure to make all classrooms academically rigorous at all times. That being said, we read all of the texts in class (I require that they read out loud in small groups most of the time), and there are always specific tasks that go with each reading (annotation, graphic organizers, notes). That was probably the most illuminating aspect of this entire experiment for me. Tags: Aaron Brockalternative assessmentsassessing history studentsformative assessmentposter projects. If students found a rationale for placing a picture somewhere I had not considered, I treated it as valid. Tools to Grow Students’ Science Understanding, How-to Social Studies: A Book for Right Now, Keeping Assessment in Social Studies Real, Becoming a Globally Competent School Leader, The Art and Science of Teaching Art and Music, Becoming the Teacher Every Student Deserves, Strategies for Teaching Vulnerable Learners, Using Stories in PD to Promote Reflection, Talented Young Men Overcoming Tough Times, Authentic Project-Based Learning in Grades 4-8, Hands-On Physical Science in Middle School, Powered by  - Designed with the Hueman theme. My students completed this assessment at the end of our Early American Leaders unit. Included in this … I am not sure what demographic you are working with, but the average 8th grader in my class reads at about the 5th grade level (the median is probably closer to 3rd or 4th grade). Students can read about his accomplishments in a Scholastic DynaMath article about Bishop’s life. Going back to the texts a dozen times with specific goals in mind helped many of the students comprehend the texts, and a large portion of my students can, months after the assignment, cite specific evidence as to why Adams was, in their opinion, a bad president. I hope you enjoy this Black History Month activity quilting project! The ranking system at the end of the project was intended to get students thinking in broad strokes. Hi Aaron: Obviously, this is not a panacea, and it may not even apply to your students. I provided printed portraits of each leader to help them visually arrange the men in question as they debated their successes and failures. It was often clear which member of each student team had understood the texts by their ready defense of their opinions about the best and worst leaders. In public schools, this can mean a teacher must constantly defend any decision to incorporate art, performance and other less traditional elements into an assessment. For example, the pictures included four flags: two Union Jacks, one 18th century French flag and an early U.S. flag. I’m ready for a new assignment. These explanations had to be supported by evidence from the texts we’d read during the unit. Once you're in the Storyboard Creator, click on any of the elements on the template to change them to fit your needs. Additionally, a pedagogically up-to-date assessment is at least as concerned with new skills as it is with content. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. A Vision of Schoolwide Technology Integration, It's Not Easy Being Tween / Pandemic Teaching, What Teachers Need Now from Administrators, Parents and Society, Teaching Math Virtually: Learning as We Go, Find the Bright Spots: A Virtual STEAM Story. Published 01/19/2014. For a pre-Civil War history connection: In 1838, Stephen Bishop broke boundaries as an African American explorer of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Black History Month, held in February in the United States, is a celebration of the many achievements of African-Americans. The notion that “learning time” and “assessment time” must be separated feels significantly more arbitrary now. As a teacher w/ 24 years experience, I LOVE seeing new ideas! Teachers are encouraged to use a variety of methods to instruct and assess their students. Students had been reading and writing about the successes and failures of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Working in teams of 2-4, students created two posters: one poster with the two “best” leaders of the early United States, and one poster with the two “worst” leaders of the early United States. … But the results were consistent with other assessments I have given previously, and I am certain that students learned more during this project than they have when taking more traditional exams. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! These poster . It disturbs me that we are in the third year of that conflict. Aaron Brock entered teaching in 2008 and teaches middle school social studies in California's Compton Unified School District. No. What I like about your poster project is that it gives them a break from the routine and gives them a chance to do something creative WHILE using information from what they’ve read. Follow Aaron on Twitter @HistoryBrock. Hi Aaron: “Newest bulletin board celebrating Black History Month” – Mrs. Ciccarelli. How much time do you spend going over text with students to be sure they understand what they’re reading? Teachers are encouraged to use a variety of methods to instruct and assess their students. Aaron The project itself is intended to help with comprehension. It’s a Gift. I love this idea. For example, they will read a criticism of the War with Mexico and come away thinking the person was from Mexico (the person was Abraham Lincoln…). I see good things with your idea. As I have indicated in other MiddleWeb posts, most of my students read significantly below grade level when they come into eighth grade, and many also struggle with evaluative writing. One issue I have run into is students who completely misinterpret a text. Beautiful words, Cheryl! I guess my expectation is that students be able to do this on their own, since that’s what Common Core will demand, and I’m not seeing evidence of their readiness to do this. Tests and essays are supposed to be just two of the myriad ways we can ascertain what students have learned over the course of a particular unit. This is the first volume of my Black History Month Collaboration Posters bundled together. Your email address will not be published. While I will continue to give tests that require the students have some knowledge memorized, this forced me to reflect on whether that is the most important way to check for understanding. It also requires them to think about and apply what they know in a new and interesting way. What follows is a description of the project itself, the rationale behind its various elements, and some reflection on its efficacy as an assessment. So, just to be clear, helping students understand what they read is something that takes all year, and never happens for easily half my students. Each rating had to be explained based on evidence from the text, and the views of every member of the student team. Jen Serravallo: Let Go and Gain Engagement! Assessments that give students practice with these skills will be preparing them for these tests, as well as providing useable literacy skills that can be used in college or the workplace. The assessments planned by states adopting the Common Core Standards are going to be heavily weighted toward written response questions. Thanks. A few teams, however, chose to place the British flag with Jefferson because the Embargo Act was in response to British attacks on American shipping. Whether you’re looking for games, plays, art projects, or other Black History Month ideas, read on for 15 ideas and inspiration to keep your kids busy all month long! … Required fields are marked *. Most of my students continue to think of history as a series of disjointed facts rather than an interpretable narrative. As a post-Declaration exercise the last 2 years, I have had students write their own Declaration of Independence for the people of Homs, Syria, against Bashar Al-Assad’s atrocities. There are 5 famous people featured in this bundle: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, Booker T. Washington, and Barack Obama. Our students are all over the map, from students transitioning from bi-lingual to students reading at an 11th or 12th grade level (a select few). This had to be original artwork and had to be explained using textual evidence. For a math connection, we created two activities where … 10 IDEAS FOR TEACHING BLACK HISTORY MONTH As we celebrate and commemorate Black History Month, it is important to engage students in activities that get them to think broadly and critically about the black experience in all of its complexity. From ancient history to yesterday, make biography posters that bring history to life! The printed pictures also forced students to evaluate what they had read and make choices. I have been doing a lot more read aloud/annotate as we go/reading with key questions in mind, but as you say, it is a year-long process and some kids still never get it. For Black History Month , or an anytime lesson in Black History or African American Art , we scoured the web for some beautiful art projects that children can easily reproduce on their own.