Black History Month Teaching Resources
Black History Month Teaching Resources
Black history is American history. Black History Month provides an opportunity to discuss and reflect on Black Americans’ role in shaping the United States.
While this dedicated time provides an opportunity to dig deeper into connections with the past, it’s also a reminder of the importance of providing a full and inclusive civics and history education, ensuring opportunities to learn about the history and contributions of Black Americans throughout the year.
Explore curated iCivics Black History Month classroom activities, lesson plans, and videos about the contributions of Black Americans to our nation’s shared history.
Pushing Towards Civil Rights
The push towards civil rights in the United States has been longstanding and ever-evolving. While not encompassing, these lessons for Middle School and High School cover the expansion and abolition of slavery, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ’60s, and the expansion of rights through court cases and laws.
Changemakers of the Civil Rights Era Video Series
Introduce your Middle and High School students to the actions and accomplishments of civil rights activists of the 1950s and ’60s with these short animated videos and teacher guides.
Breaking Barriers: Constance Baker Motley
As the first Black woman to argue before the Supreme Court, win election to the New York State Senate, and ascend to the federal bench, Constance Baker Motley shattered glass ceilings.
Students and the Struggle for School Integration
Barbara Johns’s actions, along with those of hundreds of fellow students, led to a lawsuit that became one of the cases represented in the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.
Black History Month activities to dig into History with Primary Sources
With DBQuests and WebQuests, your students will develop skills for in-depth analysis and inquiry as they are challenged to dig into primary sources from the Civil Rights Movement.
Tactics of the Civil Rights Movement WebQuest
Students learn about the various tactics used to help the movement meet its goals and explore the risks and benefits of employing these tactics.
Little Rock: Executive Order 10730 DBQuest
Students learn how Little Rock Central High School was desegregated using federal forces and how executive orders can be used to enforce the law.
The Nashville Sit-Ins DBQuest
Students discover through primary sources that what makes a movement successful is more involved than it may seem.
Landmark Civil Rights Supreme Court Cases
These mini-lesson plans explore landmark cases from the United States Supreme Court that had a profound and lasting impact on the Civil Rights Movement and Black history in the United States.
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Students explore the impact of the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision on the nation, its role in escalating tensions toward the Civil War, and its eventual overturn.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Students learn about the Plessy v. Ferguson landmark case, its flaws, and the fact that the doctrine was not abolished until the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Students explore the Supreme Court case that overturned “separate but equal” in public schools.
Black History Month Lessons For Elementary Students
Grow elementary students’ critical thinking skills, and introduce them to the stories of important and influential figures with Private i History Detectives. The whole class will work together to get to the bottom of these mystery-themed lessons.
How Did Laws, Courts, and People Impact Civil Rights in the Late 1800s?
In this unit, students will explain how Amendments to the Constitution attempted to address slavery’s wrongs.
How Can Perseverance Help Me Be a Good Citizen?
Introduce students to the real-life examples of Wilma Rudolph and Katherin Johnson, who demonstrate perseverance.
How Did Kossula Cudjo Lewis and Other Enslaved People Experience the Atlantic World?
In this inquiry-based unit, students will learn about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade through the stories of the Clotilda Africans.
Ready to dig in?
Discover lessons designed to meet all of your instructional needs. Our nonpartisan classroom resources engage students with complex concepts in ways they can understand and relate to.
