Black History Month Learning & Celebration

This past February students in the Leadership Council, lead by Mrs. Ligas, have put a lot of attention and contemplation to this year’s Black History Month. We chose to do a more personal project by going into classes from  Grades 1-8 and informing students, through a slideshow, about our past as a society.

Primary
The primary students, grades 1, 2, 3 very much enjoyed the presentation we put together. We put together an interactive, fun and educational slideshow that taught students what the purpose of Black History Month was, some important figures and much more. A song, a small audiobook about the Underground Railroad called Follow the Drinking Gourd, and some quick trivia questions about the book were incorporated. Students were engaged and entertained the whole time!  It was full of comprehensible information about the topic and pictures to go along. Students were very responsive, asking many questions and making connections.

Primary Black History Month Presentation

Junior
The junior students, grades 4, 5 and 6 enjoyed the presentation and the kahoot game very much. We were very pleased with their reactions. We included various slides with loads of information, a video and a kahoot game. The junior students were very pleased when they got to play kahoot. A lot of the teachers loved the slideshow and the kahoot game. While playing kahoot, it was evident that the students were learning while being highly engaged and having fun.   The students were asking a bunch of questions and telling us some stuff about what they already knew. The students were very much engaged in this topic. Most of the teachers were all very excited and proud of our presentation. It was a very cool, new and an exciting adventure for all of us to experience. We all had so much fun creating everything and learning together with  the grades 4, 5 and 6 classes.

Junior Black History Month Presenation

Intermediate
The intermediate students, Grades 7-8, were very responsive after hearing our presentation about Black History Month. We created these presentations with The Leadership Council, lead by Mrs. Ligas, a fellow teacher at our school. In this presentation, we informed people about the past of our community, why we have Black History Month, historical figures, important stories, and some foundations and organizations supporting Black History Month. The students were very responsive, as well as the teachers who prompted their students to ask questions about the concept. The students enjoyed the presentations very much, and learned a lot from the different images, pictures and words. Overall we had a massive response from both students and teachers, and afterwards we received many comments and questions about this project.

Intermediate Black History Month Presentation

We would like to give thanks to the amazing Mrs. Ligas, who really made an effort in the project. She attended to every detail supporting us to make these presentations the best they could be for everyone.

Upon reflection, students enjoyed the various presentations and learned a lot about Black History Month. The presentations impacted the way students thought, challenging them to think about the opposite point of view, or to look at things in a different way. There were many comments from teachers on how amazing the presentations were and how well students were able to communicate through the activities. The primary teachers said that it was amazing how our committee incorporated music, videos and activities to really get the younger students interested and engaged. The junior teachers had many comments on how the kahoot game was a great way to engage students. They said that it was an amazing presentation with lots of interesting facts about Black History Month. The intermediate teachers thought the presentation was very interesting and well done, and that the committee included many facts and lots of information. Students in the primary grades commented about their new knowledge of Black History Month. Some had always thought that the Underground Railroad was an actual railroad underground that slaves would use to get to freedom, but the presentation made sure there facts were right. Students in the junior grades were focused on the Black History Month figures. They asked questions about all of the people who helped start the movement. Students in the intermediate grades asked about the creation of Black History Month, and the reasoning for each decision. In conclusion, this project was a great success, leaving students and teachers thinking about the past and their own ability to  change the world for the better.

Big thanks to the creators, Mrs. Ligas and the students that came around to your classrooms, Shobha B.W. , Lucy B. , Sophie C. , Elaina Z. , Sadie H. , Bohime S.  and Kelly S.