Black history month is right around the corner and there are SO many important people and topics to cover for my primary students to get even a partial grasp of the civil rights movement. After teaching about Martin Luther King Jr.’s mission and journey to my first graders over the years, I know that they can handle some tough stuff. They cannot believe their ears and are often brought to tears when they hear how MLK Jr.’s life ended.

The understanding, compassion, and empathy my young students show will never cease to amaze me when learning all about an ugly time in history. While there were many black leaders I could’ve chosen to talk about, I narrowed it down to eight and wrote a few nonfiction paragraphs about each.

The 8 black leaders I chose to focus on:

– Barack Obama

– Harriet Tubman

– Frederick Douglass

– Jackie Robinson

– Rosa Parks

– Ruby Bridges

– Martin Luther King Jr.

– Thurgood Marshall

This interactive, nonfiction unit can be used in many different ways. If I were still teaching a whole class of 1st graders, I would likely set up this show on the Smartboard or projector so we could all access the infomation during social studies and/or literacy.

I attached a video below so you could see how it works:

Currently, I teach small group literacy to students in grades K-4 so my 2nd and 3rd graders can easily access these on their ipads or laptops. Each person has a notetaking sheet for students to keep track of their learning and share afterwards.

For those who may not have access to a Smartboard or laptop or iPad, each of the people have their own brochure of information which includes the exact same information that is found on the slides. It even includes the quiz at the end!

This is the 3rd unit in my Digital Nonfiction bundle that I have been so excited about!

You can see more about the Black History unit below:

And the growing bundle can be found here:

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