History & Social Studies

TEACHING BLACK HISTORY MONTH & BEYOND

Course No. HI408w, HI508w

It's February, known for Black History Month, and we reintroduce to our students Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou, John Lewis, and other notable African Americans that have transformed our history. During these challenging times of racial unrest and social injustice, we need to do a better job educating ourselves and our students on black history from the perspective of unsung he/sheroes and go beyond Black History Month.

This course will look beyond Black History Month and focus on unsung heroes and sheroes that don't always make history books but have contributed to America in many profound ways. Using the required text, Four Hundred Souls, you will be engaged in the history of African Americans from 1619 to the present time through 90 diverse authors' powerful short stories, personal vignettes, essays, and poems. We will examine microaggressions and ever-changing voting rights legislation. In addition, you will have the opportunity to examine a plethora of websites, videos, and resources, as well as to adapt and create your lesson plans to integrate Black History into a year-long, interdisciplinary curriculum.

This course is appropriate for teachers K-12.

We advise you to review and download the course syllabus before registering. Syllabus

1)         Increased their knowledge of black history from 1619 to the present
            through a selected series of short stories, poems, essays, and
            personal vignettes from the required text, Four Hundred Souls.
2)         Become more aware of microaggressions, current voting rights
            legislation, Juneteeth, and other relevant issues related to the black
            experience in America.
3)         Researched and compiled a list of unsung black heroes and sheroes
            from a variety of disciplines.
4)         Researched and compiled a list of books appropriate to participant's
            grade level and subject area.
5)         Examined quality websites, videos, and resources related to teaching
            black history and social justice issues.
6)         Adapted and created at least 10 meaningful interdisciplinary black
            history lessons for students and/or professional development.

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