Updates and Black History Teaching Resources

As we close out the month of January, today's blog will have an update from our district professional learning as well as some resources for teaching during Black History Month in February.  

January Updates

Assessments and Training

We have had over 450 Southeast Polk staff member complete the revised training "Overview of State Requirements Regarding Seclusion and Restraint: Chapter 103".  We appreciate  your attention and participation with this.

We will continue to update you in regards to ISASP administration.  In the meantime, continue to meet in regards to test accommodations and be sure to update Infinite Campus so we have accurate rosters for test administration.

Self-Care

I enjoyed seeing the different types of 'good mood' music that colleagues listen to.  I have some new downloads for my playlist!  You can see some of these song lists on the padlet...you are welcome to continue to add to this! 

Southeast Polk Good Mood Music

Black History Teaching Resources

There are many opportunities across the school year for integrating black history within our curriculum. The month of February does give us a chance to showcase and highlight the work and significant events of Black Americans. Below are some resources to support teaching and learning. 

Black History Month Choice Board

Our partners at Newsela have created a choice board with various text sets that explore different aspects of Black History, Culture, and Achievements. It includes cross curricular options so that all teachers, regardless of content, can utilize the choice board. You will also find an annotation resource included in the choice board and a short recording that outlines how a teacher may want to set up and roll out to students. 

Newsela: Black History Month Choice Board

Teaching Black History: Resources for All Ages

"The soul that is within me no man can degrade. I am not the one that is being degraded on account of this treatment, but those who are inflicting it upon me..." 

-Frederick Douglass

NPR has published a series of resources to celebrate Black History Month.  This is traditionally celebrated in the United States during the month of February to coincide with the birthday of President Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and Frederick Douglass on February 14.

1. Civil Rights Movement Virtual Learning Journey
Grades: 4-12
Brimming with comprehensive, cross-curricular content, including 14 videos, primary source images and documents, compelling photo galleries, interactive maps, artwork, music, and more, this virtual collection invites students into an engaging exploration of some of the most significant events of the Civil Rights Movement.

2. Civil Rights Video Collection from Georgia Stories
Grades: 3-12
This video collection from Georgia Stories, an original series from Georgia Public Broadcasting, explores the Civil Rights Movement from inside the classroom to the streets of Atlanta and examines the movement’s lasting impacts. 

3. Purpose of Black History Month
Grades: 2-6
Students discover the purpose of Black History Month as well as other historical facts, firsts, and figures about the month-long celebration with a downloadable backgrounder.

4. The March on Washington
Grades: 3-12
Help students understand the significance of the 1963 March on Washington and the role it played in the Civil Rights Movement with this collection of multimedia educational resources.

5. The History of Hip-Hop
Grades: 9-12
Use this collection of interviews from National Public Radio (NPR) with high school students to chronicle seminal people and events in the hip-hop movement.

6. Honoring the Life of Maya Angelou
Grades: 7-12
Maya Angelou’s talent was not defined by just one medium. Throughout her life, she was a poet, novelist, dancer, playwright, actor, and educator. In this lesson from PBS NewsHour Extra, students learn more about her extraordinary life.

7. The Underground Railroad
Grades: 5-12
Students in all grades can make decisions as they follow Harriet Tubman and escape from a slave owner in this online interactive.

8. Using Oral History to Understand Segregation
Grades: 9-12
Why is oral history important to remembering and learning from the past? How can hearing the stories of individuals help us better understand the experience and effects of segregation? In this lesson based on the PBS film, "A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School,” students compare ideas and information from various sources to understand how oral histories contribute to our understanding of segregation. Students then conduct their own interviews to further their understanding of individual experiences during segregation.

9. Opening a Dialogue with Youth About Racism
Grades: K-12
To help those who may not know why, where, when or how to begin this conversation, USC Rossier has created Speak Up: Opening a Dialogue With Youth About Racism — a collection of interviews, resource guides, and op-eds aimed at answering some of the questions that can make these topics difficult, and prompt needed discussions about identity, inequality and education for children of color.

10. Basic Black
Grades: 6-12
Students can explore news stories, interviews, and commentaries by and about African Americans with these resources from BASIC BLACK. BASIC BLACK was created in 1968 during the turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement as a response to the demand for public television programs to reflect the concerns of African Americans. 

11. Civil Rights: Internet Activism and Social Change
Grades: 9-12
Examine social media’s influence in America’s Civil Rights movement and its role in democratizing the media, in this video from Eyes on the Prize: Then and Now. Activists, including DeRay McKesson, use social media to support the work of social change protesters.

--MARY ANNE LANE

NPR Education Project Manager