Celebrate Black History Month in your classroom this February by highlighting the African American artists, educators, icons and influential leaders who have impacted our nation’s history and culture. Use PBS LearningMedia to enhance your lessons with interviews, historic images and videos. If you’ve yet to do so, remember to register online for free, full access to the library.
Duke Grades 1-4 | Animated Storybook | Icons in Music: Introduce young students to the toe-tapping genres of ragtime and jazz through the story of iconic musician, Duke Ellington.
Rosa Parks Grades 3-12 | Interview | Civil Rights Icons: Enhance classroom discussion around the Civil Rights Movement with this interview of Rosa Parks, and ask students to examine her role in the struggle for racial equality.
Picturing America – Jacob Lawrence and Martin Puryear Grades 6-12 | Video | Icons in Art: Invite students to uncover the driving themes behind the paintings in Jacob Lawrence’s “Migration Series” and the elements influencing Martin Puryear’s sculpture work.
Remembering Civil Rights Leader Dorothy Height Grades 6-13+ | Video | Civil Rights Icons: Meet the woman President Obama hailed as the “Godmother of the Civil Rights Movement.” Ask students to consider her impact on the rights of African Americans and women.
Deconstructing the Documentary Grades 9-12 | Collection: Invite your class to experience Bordentown, the remarkable all-black boarding school described as a “unique educational utopia.”
Lucy Laney Grades 9-12 | Video | Icons in Education: Laney, an influential Jim Crow-era educator, believed it essential to cultivate the minds of her students in order to develop future intellectual leaders. Invite your students to consider her philosophy of education.
