Let me first say that I am a little partial to this topic, it is my most favorite part of history. Sadly many of our students have no idea what is or even that is a part of Black History.
Here are 4 fun ways to teach the Black History of the Harlem Renaissance.
Harlem Renaissance Flipbooks
In the beginning, you will need to give your students some background information about the Harlem Renaissance. This 2 minute Harlem Renaissance Video does a great job of explaining it. I couldn’t find any resources that would give my students some background info, a bit of vocabulary and something I could take a grade on, so I created one! I created 6 Harlem Renaissance Flipbooks to give my students an introduction into the Harem Renaissance and biographies about famous African Americans. This set includes 6 flipbooks and makes teaching the Harlem Renaissance super easy.
Fluency Practice
There are so many great stories about the Harlem Renaissance and great literature from that time. Chose a few pieces that are fun and easy to read to practice fluency each day. Read these pieces to your class in a fun and Jazzy way. Listen to the creator of ABC READ ABC LEARN read Sugar Hill, her version is theatrical and jazzy. Place a few pieces in your fluency stations for the month. Have students or groups of students recite them adding there own spin to it. Some students may turn it into a song, others may rap it. The great thing about this black history activity is you won’t have to force them to do it, they will want to do it during recess, any other free time they have.
Poetry Slam
I love talking to the students about poets during black history month. You can read poetry Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, and so many others. Check out poets.org for many more black history poems. After you have discussed and taught, a great way to wrap up the Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance is to do a poetry slam at the end of the unit. Students can create original poems in groups or individually. When You Give a Child a Word is a good example of a poetry slam for younger students. Students may want to help create the poems but let others perform them, either way, this is still a good way to teach poetry and the writing process. Check out Poets.org for lots of black history poems.
Wax Museum
After you have discussed research and completed biographies. If you are looking for an easy to use lapbook template you can check out 31 Black History Lapbooks. A wax museum would be a great way for students to show what they know. In a wax museum, students dress up and tell about the famous African American they are dressed up to be. Each wax figure (student) has a button in front of them. When their button is pressed they tell about there famous African American.
These Harlem Renaissance black history month activities are great for students of all ages and cultures. It is up to us as educators to instill these stories of tribulation and triumph with our students. I hope that you will.
