Black History Month Activities Subject

Memo

Intradistrict

To: Board members, Rick Chandler

From: Gene Moore, superintendent

Through: Black History Month activities Subject:

Date: February 18, 2014

This month is devoted district-wide to the study of local, national and international black achievers. Schools have a variety of activities planned to celebrate the lives of those individuals. Here are some events planned at some of our schools.

A.R. Rucker Middle • Rucker AM, our morning news/announcements TV show, is spotlighting where eighth grade language arts students combined poems by Langston Hughes with artwork by Jacob Lawrence each morning during February. • On February 27 from 8:20-9 a.m., the school will participate in a RUMBLE that will focus on Ron McNair. This will help prepare the students for the speaker for the Black History Program. • School-wide Black History program will be held in the gym on February 27 featuring special guest speaker, Eric McNair. Program will feature poems and musical selections. The program will be from 9-10 a.m. • In Brooke Faris’ classes, students will be completing journal entries during Black History Month. For example, the first journal entry is for students to explain why they feel we celebrate it and why it is important. We also read short stories about different influential African Americans that made history. These short stories are aligned with CCSS and students have to answer questions about the passage as well. • Nancy Fish will be featuring a different famous African American each day in Smartboard lessons • Katy Hamilton’s classes will do a reading comprehension story and then analyze what they have read. • In Adrian Deese’s classes, Every Friday, we will highlight key African Americans who made a change in the world, past or present. Students will have the opportunity to share any key figures that they feel should be highlighted as well. • In Tisha Simmon’s classes, students will focus on Africa and the struggles that are endured there. We will read A Long Walk to Water. My students will also read about successful African Ameri- cans like Ben Carson and their contributions to world. Ms. Simmons will show her students inventions that we use every day that African Americans invented and discuss how our society is strong 2014 Black History Month Activities – Page 2

due to the contributions of all Americans. I also plan to use Langston Hughes poems to review poetry. • Brandi Rogers is covering this a couple different ways. She is introducing students to important figures in history that have made an influential impact on science. (http://african-americaninven- tors.org/ ) She has a few articles that will be read together as a class each Friday with accompa- nying writing prompts that are to be completed in class. She is also researching (daily) events in science history and listing them as fun facts each day in her Smartboards. The following day, if students can rename the person and some of the facts presented, they get to put their name on a slip and it goes into a drawing hat that will be picked from at the end of the month (5 winners). She is also working to incorporate a really cool research activity on the NEA website. http://alex. state.al.us/lesson_view.php?id=6969

Andrew Jackson High • Dress for Success Day – February 21 – Students should dress as the career they wish to pursue. • Black History Month Rally – February 28 • Students will create Black History-themed art to be judged. Top three pieces will be recognized at the rally.

Andrew Jackson Middle • Students will create poems based on articles that they read on famous black Americans. They will then (on a voluntary basis), use an IPAD app to turn the poems into songs. This activity will take place the last week of February, if not before. (8th Grade Pre-AP ELA) • School-wide assembly – Friday, February 28 • I plan to do a unit on Jackie Robinson by reading an autobiography and biography to incorporate ELA standards. (6th grade Pre-AP ELA) • Each faculty member is bringing a covered dish on Friday, February 28 for a traditional “Soul Food” meal. Black History Month Activities In Keyboarding • Sixth Graders – Students will do an Internet search activity to learn about the history of Black History Month. They will also do a Famous First Vocabulary sheet. The Internet search and sheet will be 10 questions. Then the students, with a partner, will be given a famous African-American Inventor which they will have to look up to see what their person invented. After finding their information they will create a photo document in Microsoft Word displaying the inventor name, picture, and invention. They will present their work to the class and display their work in the hallway under the label Famous African-American Inventors. • Seventh Graders – Students will do an Internet Search activity to learn about the history of Black History Month. They will also do a Famous First Vocabulary sheet. The Internet search and sheet will be 10 questions. Then the students will look up a famous African American which they will fine several key facts about them and share it to the class. They will type their work on Microsoft Word. They will also make a photo document of their famous African American to display on the school hallway wall which will be label Famous African Americans. • Eighth Graders – Students will do an Internet Search activity to learn about the history of Black History Month. They will also do a Famous First Vocabulary sheet. The Internet search and sheet 2014 Black History Month Activities – Page 3 will be 10 questions. Then the students will get into groups of two or three. Each group will research a Historic Black College or University to search. Each group will create a power point about their HBCU. They will receive a series of questions that they must answer in their power point. They will share their PowerPoint to the class for a test grade. The students will also search for famous African Americans that attend HBCU’s and display the results by creating a photo document with the person name, picture, and name of the school they attended. We will display their work in the hallway under the label Guess Who went to a HBCU. School-wide activities • February 25 or 26 – The school will have a Black History Month College Day. This day we will have college representatives come and talk to the students about going to college and what it takes to get accepted to college. • February 27 Black History Month Career Fair – The students will get a chance to listen to successful African Americans talk about their keys to success. The speakers will also stress the importance of having a good attitude, character and an education. • February 28 Black History Program – The students will get a chance to show their thanks to the achievements and hardship of African Americans over the years by song, dance and poetry.

Brooklyn Springs • The Kindergarten team will be watching the video Martin’s Big Words and other black history videos. They will discuss other famous African Americans such as Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King, Jr. They will incorporate read-alouds that feature famous African Ameri- cans in them such as Martin’s Big Words, Ruby Bridges, and If a Bus Could Talk: the Story of Rosa Parks. Some activities that will be the friendship bus, fairness excercises, drawing a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Dream, an equality poem, and making a diversity wreath. The children will respond to the read-alouds by writing in their journals. • Mrs. Raffaldt’s 2nd grade class is using books found in our Library to teach with during Black History Month as well as biographies in Brain Pop, Jr. • Mrs. Knight’s 5th graders will view and discuss a Discovery Education video entitled “Black History Month.” They will be studying an “African American History Month” PowerPoint from Discovery Education. They will use an African American crossword puzzle for fact-finding. Mrs. Knight will also be reading to the students from The Other Side, Momma, Where are You From? • Ms. Cason’s 2nd grade class is reading the book Stitchin’ and Pullin’ and making a story quilt. They are doing a lesson to introduce African-American leaders. • In Ms. Stamper’s Art class, students are doing an activity called “Joining Hands” to symbol- ize that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. joined hands with people of all colors when he marched for freedom. They will discuss life and work of African American folk artist Minnie Evans. They will make Kente cloth strips where each color represents elements of life. They will also make a col- lage of Martin Luther King’s life.

Buford High • The Social Studies Department is sponsoring a Black History Month poster contest. The win- ning posters will be displayed in the media center during the last week of February. The posters 2014 Black History Month Activities – Page 4

will also be on display during Parent-Teacher Conferences for our parents to see our students’ work. All during the month of February, our lessons will focus on prominent African Americans and non-Americans of African descent. • We will also have a “This Week in History” slide for the school-wide PowerPoint shown on moni- tors/TVs throughout the building. We will be focusing on the contributions by those of African descent.

Buford Middle Exploratory Classes • Reading Wilma Unlimited as a class with students responding to the text afterward. • Studying African American inventors and their inventions. • Positing pictures along with short biographies of African American sports icons from past and present. Students will read and reflect on these during warm up times and during fitness station workouts. 6th Grade • Using an interactive timeline from History.com to study the accomplishments and contributions of African Americans. • Inviting a guest speaker who is an African American from our community to speak to students. 7th Grade • Analyzing a famous quote or saying about an African American. Creating a display using photo- graphs, the quote/saying, and the analysis. The teacher will display the product for the school. 8th Grade • Reading novels centered around the Civil Rights Movement earlier in the year. This established the background knowledge needed for the current study of the Harlem Renaissance Movement that focuses on authors and artists. School Wide • Black History Trivia during morning/afternoon announcements.

Clinton Elementary • Feb. 28 – The ABCs of Black History music program in the school gym. Students will use the letters of the alphabet to present a Black History fact. The school chorus will perform.

Discovery School • K - Read alouds: Patchwork Quilt and Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Activity: Students will use construction paper to design a quilt. Students will display in hallway. Read alouds – If you traveled on the Underground Railroad, Escape on the Underground Railroad, The Drinking Gourd Activity: Start with circle map for pre-assessment. Students will watch a Scholastic video explaining how slaves used the Underground Railway to escape their lives in the South. Class will add information to the circle map as they complete each read aloud. 2014 Black History Month Activities – Page 5

• 2nd - Students will read The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson and talk about how the color of skin caused problems for two little girls (one black and one white). This takes place during the 1960’s. They will use organizers and thinking maps after reading and discussing the text. Stu- dents will talk about the following African Americans: Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Thurgood Marshall, Debbie Allen, Jackie Robinson, Benjamin Banneker, Lena Horne, George Washington Carver, Satchel Paige, Rube Foster, Raven-Symone. Students will then complete writing activities, working with table of contents, 3D information pieces, fact/opinion, context clues, details, drawing conclusions, main idea, cause and effect, proofreading, etc ... • 4th - The students will create a tree map of the contributions African Americans made during the American Revolution. The students will study the contributions of Crispus Attucks and Peter Salem. The students will study the impact of slavery after the American Revolution and analyze their freedoms from Decla- ration of Independence. • 5th - The students will research the impact of Jim Crow Laws in the South. Students will be using a multi-flow map to study the causes and effects of the Great Migration. The students will be participating in a DR-TA activity as they research the Harlem Renaissance. The students will experience Jazz music in the classroom and learn about the Jazz age and how it influenced future music forms. The students will be studying the contributions of W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver and Langston Hughes. Students will be analyzing the poetry of Langston Hughes and other Harlem Renaissance poets. Music – Emphasis on African American spirituals and composers. Library – Focus on African American biographies. EAGLE – Focus on the contributions of African Americans in the field of science. Discussions on tolerance and fairness.

Erwin Elementary • Music K-2 classes will watch a BrainPop video about Louis Armstrong/watch Louis Armstrong videos from YouTube 3rd: Code songs/African-American spirituals 4th and 5th Grade: Famous African-American musicians • Art 3rd grade: artist Jonathan Green and William H. Johnson 4th grade: Edgefield pottery face vessels (4th grade will discuss art of Faith Ringgold) • Library Story time for grades K-2 will read a famous African-American biography each week to them with a short book talk to follow. Third Grade is researching two famous Palmetto African Americans - Ronald McNair and Mary 2014 Black History Month Activities – Page 6

McLeod Bethune. They will make a Wordle page with words describing these two famous African Americans Fourth Grade and Fifth Grade are going to use Biography in Context from the Discus web site and make a pamphlet about the famous African American they researched using Publisher. • Kindergarten Each class in kindergarten will study various famous African Americans from our past. Some of these include: Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Duke Ellington, Jackie Robinson, Ruby Bridges, Harriet Tub- man, George Washington Carver, Garrett Morgan and Benjamin Banniker We will read various books to correlate with each person. We will also make and assemble a craft for each one to match some of their ideas and/or inventions. For Duke Ellington, we will listen to several selections of his music. For MLK, Jr. we will listen to a selection of his famous speech. Students will choose their favorite African American and write a sentence in their journals about him/her. • 1st Grade First grade will watch Smartboard presentations on the following famous African Americans: Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, Jessie Owens, Harriet Tubman, Jackie Robinson, Mary McCleod Bethune, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. They will write an essay about the person they learned about that day. We will also read books about famous African Americans. • 2nd Grade Students are doing reading comprehension sheets about different blacks and answering questions as a rotation this week in language arts. They also have puzzles and glue match up sheets they are using for morning work this month. The monthly writing was on “I Have Dream” and they talked about Martin Luther Jr and watched a few short clips. • 3rd Grade We are doing research and writing informational text on Ruby Bridges and Jackie Robinson. We are incorporating read alouds, kidbiz articles, listening centers and videos to gather information. We will also be reading about other famous African Americans and having class discussions. • 4th Grade In Language Arts, students are writing a “I Have a Dream” report. Students work with a partner on the Chromebooks to research information on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The writings will be displayed in the hallway for the school-wide writing contest and Black History Month. Books are displayed in the rooms of famous African Americans that have made contributions to society. Streamline videos will be watched during the month to discuss and learn more information about important African Americans in history. • 5th Grade: We are doing Famous Black Americans Cinquins as well as a Black History Contract which cov- ers many of our Social Studies (Civil Rights) standards as well as ELA (writing, research and skills) standards. 2014 Black History Month Activities – Page 7

Indian Land High Each day throughout the month of February on the announcements the Junior Civitans will announce a little known Black History fact.

During A, B, & C Lunch

• February 7, 2014 – “The Face Game” Students matched the correct face with the correct achieve- ment. • February 14, 2014 – “Game Changers” – All categories of sports were listed and students were responsible for putting the correct people under the correct categories. • February 21, 2014 – “Inventors” – Each lunch table will receive a matching worksheet of different inventors and their inventions and will be responsible for match the correct answers. • February 28, 2014 – “Unscramble that Song” – All genres of music will be played by various Af- rican American artist. Each lunch table will receive a list of scrambled songs and they are responsible for trying to unscramble them by listening to various parts of the song being played. • Display poster of the Divine Nine – Historical Black Greek Letter Organizations. Each of these fraternities and sororities is rich in history. Several of our teachers, staff and community leaders are members of these fraternities and sororities. – Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Mr. Melvin Stroble-School Improvement Council President, Mr. Ricky Montgomery – JV/Varsity Basketball Coach – Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Mrs. Brenda Ishmeal – Guidance Counselor – Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Mr. John Wislon – Math Teacher – Omega Psi Phi Fraternity – Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Mrs. Daphne Lathan - Business Teacher, Mrs. Shelia Washington- Business Teacher, Mrs. Kim White – Attendance Clerk – Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity – Zeta Phi Beta Sorority – Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Ms. Orum – Chorus Teacher – Iota Phi Theta Fraternity

Indian Land Elementary • Students are celebrating black history month in music classes, discussing spirituals, jazz/blues, etc. Teachers will be doing individual classroom activities for this month as well.

Kershaw Elementary • Kindergarten – Kindergarten students are learning about famous African-American inventors, becoming familiar with photos of famous African Americans and their work and having many read-alouds. • First Grad – Students will do an author study on Ezra Jack Keats. • Second Grade – students will study Harriet Tubman: “Follow the Star.” • Fifth Grade – 5th Grade ELA is doing an extensive study of the poet Langston Hughes • 3rd-5th Special Education will research an African-American leader and create a digital poster with embedded video. • Fourth Grade – Students will have a cold read on African-American scientists and authors and 2014 Black History Month Activities – Page 8

Rosa Parks. They will watch biographical videos and spotlight African-American authors and mathematicians. • Library is researching famous Black Americans to create posters for the hallway

Lancaster High • Black history trivia during morning announcements • Door decorating contest with Black History theme • Blast from the past – dress like a famous African American • Black history drama – February 27 at 7 p.m.

McDonald Green Elementary • McDonald Green’s celebration of Black History Month is underway and will prove to be a month full of activities that will provide K-5 students with the opportunity to learn about the contributions that many African American males/females made to society. This year the school wide theme for Black History Month is, What a Wonderful World. • Announcements – Each morning during announcements Mini-Society radio station workers will read a fact about an African-American male/female over the intercom. The facts include educa- tional, musical, art, and sports facts. • Each K-5 class is researching a famous African-American female/male known for their politi- cal, medical, science, arts, or entertainment contributions to society. After conducting the research each student will produce a piece of writing detailing the information. The writing portion of the class research project also supports MGE’s School-Wide Writing Initiative. All writing pieces are to be complete by February 21, 2014. Once the writing is complete, students in each K-5 class will work cooperatively to illustrate the lives of the African-American male/female researched by using 3-D shapes/symbols that represent his/her contribution(s) in making this world a better place. • On February 27, the Bright Star Theater company will travel to MGE. During their performanc- es, Bright Star will make the stories of Jackie Robinson and Frederick Douglass come alive and provide students with a fun interactive way to learn biographical knowledge about these famous men. • Students from the 21st Century Afterschool program will “LIGHT” up and “STEP” into some Black Month History knowledge when they perform using black light equipment and entertain students with a stepping performance on Friday, February 21. • Each event was planned and organized by the members of MGE’s Cultural Awareness Committee.

North Elementary • Kindergarten: Kindergarten students will be listening to students’ family projects about famous black Americans and will follow up through writing and coloring pictures. • First Grade: First grade will be reading from biographies and watching videos about famous Black Americans such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks throughout the month of February. They will summarize what they learn through a writing project 2014 Black History Month Activities – Page 9

at the end of the month. • Second Grade: Second-grade students are researching and writing about famous black Ameri- cans, including Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver. Storytellers will come in and share African stories with the students. • Third Grade: Third graders will study the Gullah culture in Social Studies. Students will learn about Gullah music, stories, art forms, the techniques of cooking, and ethnic foods of our state. Students will also read African folk tales. We will study the institution of slavery and how African slaves made significant contributions to the culture of South Carolina. • Fourth Grade: Fourth-grade students are studying Colonial America and reading stories about African American history including Music and Slavery. We are also reading the biographies of Crispus Attucks, Peter Salem, and other slaves during colonial times. Pinky Harris will present information to students on African American culture. • Fifith Grade: Fifth-grade students are researching famous black Americans and are participating in a “Wax Museum.” Students will dress as the person they have researched and museums will be staged in several locations throughout the school for other grade levels to visit. • Music: Students in music will begin a unit on Jazz and will be studying Harlem Renaissance. Songs from the website Gullah Net will be used as examples of African American call-and-re- sponse, Blues, Ring Shout and Code Songs. • Art: Art classes have been doing African inspired art projects. Kindergarten and students from our exceptional classes have made African women. Second grade made African Kente’ cloth by weav- ing paper and first grade students made African Silhouette landscapes. All of the students have made African inspired masks. • Media: Using literature including Back of the Bus about Rosa Parks, Testing the Ice about Jackie Robinson, The Hallelujah Flight, about the first African Americans to fly across the US (James Banning Thomas Allen).

South Middle • Grade 6: Social studies teachers will research an important African American in history and then create a Facebook profile as if they were that person. • Grade 7: Social studies and ELA classes will begin each class with a read aloud book focusing on famous African Americans. • Students will research famous African-American scientists and inventors. They will also create mini presentations to display their work. • 7th grade math classes will incorporate black history into real-world applications. • Grade 8: Social studies students are discussing the Jim Crow Era and are completing several class activities (including websites on their Chromebooks.) The teachers will also share a Black History fact with students each Friday. • Ms. Hardin’s TMD class will have students engage in the A, B, C’s of Black History each morning. 2014 Black History Month Activities – Page 10

Exploratory Classes: • Art - Students will create paintings of famous African-American quotes. These will be displayed around the school. • Computer – Students will research a notable African American and prepare an in-class speech including 15-20 facts about the person. School-Wide Activities: • A display of local/state/national/international black leaders will be on display throughout the month for our students. • Historical Black History facts will be shared with students on WSMS each morning during announcements. • Pastor Derwin Gray will be our motivational speaker February 28 from 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Southside Early Childhood Center • Family Night /PTA will be held on February 25 at 6 p.m. The four-year-old kindergarten students will perform Black History songs.