Teaching Ideas

Explore jumping-off points that deepen discussions, inspire reading interest, and support connections to books and authors. Easily share and include in your instructional plans, newsletters, and social media.

Black History Month

Black History Month is February 1st - 28th

Black History Month is February 1st – 28th. Here are some resources to explore, celebrate, incorporate, and honor Black History all year long.

  • Explore the African American Collection on TeachingBooks for thousands of texts representing African American cultural experiences and corresponding resources. Use filters to narrow by genre, grade level, and more.

  • Amplify voices of African American authors by sharing Meet-the-Author Recordings.

Find inspiration with curated lists of titles to learn about and celebrate Black history:

Celebrate Black voices and Black joy with titles on these two lists:

Incorporate and share selected resources:

  • Inspire students by watching this complete video book reading of Bold Words from Black Women together. To extend learning, have students pick one of the Black women featured to investigate further.

  • Share the complete video book reading for Hey You! with students and families. Then students can share about their own family on this activity sheet.

  • Learn about the author’s experience researching “maroon communities” in this Meet-the-Author Recording for Freewater. Using questions from this book club guide, think about these communities and have students research more about them online. Ask students if they were surprised to learn that these secret communities existed. What do they think was significant about these communities?

  • Watch the video book trailer and read this interview with the author of Inheritance. Have students write a paragraph about the societal expectations around race, culture, or gender they have encountered in the media or their own families. Where do they think these expectations come from? How do they feel about them? How can the author’s thoughts around self-acceptance help people move past them?

  • Listen to the Meet-the-Author Recording with Kwame Alexander for The Door of No Return. Keeping in mind that African American history didn’t start with the Middle Passage, have students research countries and cultures of Africa pre-colonization.

  • Hear about Octavia Butler’s early life and her family’s migration in this audiobook excerpt for Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler, then find journal writing prompts and research ideas in this discussion guide.

  • Guide students through this Guest Blog Post and Invitation to Imagine reflection from the author of A History of Me.

Celebrate Black creators using resources such as those that follow. Explore the Biography Collection and filter by African American Cultural Experience to learn about other prominent figures from Black History.

  • Create collages inspired by Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas using this activity kit. Design book covers about people students think the world should know about, and find more ideas using this educator's guide.

  • Read some of the poems in Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor's Life using Google Book Preview. Then challenge students to sculpt simple figures and write shape poems or ekphrastic poems using ideas from these teaching tips.

  • Compose Golden Shovel poems or try other activities inspired by Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance in these teaching ideas. Listen to this audiobook excerpt to learn about Harlem renaissance women writers who were the inspiration for the author’s work.

  • Watch the video book trailer for R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul then try out some of the ideas in this curriculum guide. Play and ponder some of Aretha’s music, explore musical vocabulary, write poems inspired by music, and more!