Black History Month 2023

This past Monday we observed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by promoting critical thinking and self-advocacy at every step of the learning process. We've rounded up 3 Lessons honoring Dr. King here. At ThinkCERCA Headquarters we are looking forward to celebrating Black History Month in February! We've curated some of our favorite lessons highlighting Black Americans' accomplishments so that you can start planning with your students. 

Here are just a few lessons we are highlighting today:

• Grades 3-5: What ideas does Juneteenth celebrate? 

• Grade 3-5: Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said of Muhammad Ali, "Part of Muhammad's greatness was his ability to be different things to different people." Research Ali's life, and choose three different photos of him. What "story" about Ali does each image tell?

• Grade 3: How has artist Tyler Gordon used painting to inspire others?

• Grade 4: What is the most important lesson we can learn from Lynda Blackmon Lowery’s story?

• Grade 7: Bayard Rustin

• Grade 7: Misty Copeland 

• Grades 6-8: Using the resources provided, research the life and activism of Muhammad Ali. How did he use the media to visually and verbally convey his beliefs, and what is his continuing influence today?

• Grades 6-8: What obstacles did organizers like Opal Lee face in their quest for national recognition of the Juneteenth holiday?

• Grade 9: Jackie Robinson: Civil Rights On The Playing Field

• Grades 9-10: Historian Damion Thomas notes that—in recent years—athletes have used their celebrity to assert values of freedom and justice. Based on your research, how are the verbal and visual expressions of today's athletes similar to and different from those of Ali?

• Grade 10: What similarities and differences exist in how Toussaint Louverture's legacy as a revolutionary figure is represented across these primary and secondary sources?

• Grade 9-10: Ali’s Continued Influence 

• Grades 9-12: How have Black Texans worked for official recognition of Juneteenth as a day of celebration and commemoration?

• Grade 11: Fannie Lou Hamer's Dauntless Fight For Black Americans' Right To Vote

• Grade 12: How might Frederick Douglass's newspaper, The North Star, have fuelled the anti-slavery movement?

• Grade 12: How did twentieth-century icon Josephine Baker use her skills as a communicator to advance social and political causes?

• Grade 12: Chadwick Boseman

• Grade 12: Shirley Chisholm: Presidential Candidacy Announcement