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Factmonster: Black History Month Famous Firsts by African Americans

Details

Activity Description

FactMonster: Black History Month
Source: FactMonster Black History Month Homepage (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])
 

Ever wonder who was the first elected African-American governor, or the first African-American General? The Infoplease site has the answer to that plus many other firsts.

The Fact Monster has a page devoted to Black History Month. Under Special Features you'll find 500 Notable African-American Biographies which can be browsed by occupation (see the right hand column). It has a list of Black Scientists and Inventors with a paragraph stating what they are known for. History and Timelines and Contemporary Issues & Facts have various Civil Rights topics. Further down the page you will find some Quizzes and Crosswords you could use as an activity. You could also use the Example Document and have students select a famous Black American and write a summary.

Preparation

  • Become familiar with the Web sites. There is so much available, assignments may vary from year to year.
  • Decide what to use for class discussion and what to use for follow-up assignments. Print the Example Document or send it to the students by email or a shared online site such as Dropbox

How-To

  1. Go through the two Web sites to preview information about famous black Americans.
  2. Decide how to present the information--could be in discussion as a class or give pairs one name to investigate and then present to the class.
  3. Follow-up with games/quizzes on who, when, and what they did.

Teacher Tips

These sites can be used as an overview for Black History Month--famous Black Americans or it can be the stepping off point for greater investigation. Students can be assigned in pairs, groups, or work independently.

More Ways

Use the Timelines in FactMonster to discuss Black History in the United States

Program Areas

  • ABE: Adult Basic Education

Levels

  • Intermediate
  • High

Documents

Tags

brainstorm, collaborate, collect data, factmonster, high interest reading material, hyperlinks, reading practice, research, summary, summary writing, timelines, what, when, where, who, why, w's, black history, Black History Month
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OTAN activities are funded by contract CN240137 from the Adult Education Office, in the Career & College Transition Division, California Department of Education, with funds provided through Federal P.L., 105-220, Section 223. However, OTAN content does not necessarily reflect the position of that department or the U.S. Department of Education.