Black History Month

There are so many teaching themes in the month of February:  The 100th Day of School (for some), Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day and of Course Black History Month.  I have a series of Reader's Theaters that I love to use, and I focus on two of them during this month to feature famous black Americans and also cover my history standards.  Many have heard of Frederick Douglas, but how about Mary McCloud Bethune?  Both were key figures in our history.  Mary McCloud Bethune established the first school for black girls, and eventually a college, which included both male and female African Americans, called Bethune-Cookman College.

My kiddos love to read these Readers Theaters over and over.  A readers' theater is different than a play in that the focus is on reading, just as the title suggests.  A play, has props, scenery, and the script is committed to memory.  However, in a readers' theater, students hold their scripts in front of them and focus their efforts on expressive reading.  My students always look forward to the introduction of a new historical figure in Social Studies, with the anticipation that we will have a readers' theater script for that person.  I have made several scripts to support the study of the historical figures featured in the 3rd grade curriculum, and many of these figures are also important to the curriculum of other grade levels as well.

During February, to support Black History Month, I pull out my readers' theaters on Frederick Douglas and Mary McCloud Bethune.  To take a closer look, click on the images below.

Here is what one of the pages looks like...

In these scripts, I've included groups, as you see Cheerleaders here, that will provide more support  for struggling readers.  It also helps to increase the number of participants for each reading.

Here is a picture of the readers theater I have written for Frederick Douglas.

My next blog post will be on Presidents'  Day and Valentine's Day activities and resources!  

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