African+American+Heroes+Project

As February fast approaches, it is time for us to honor and celebrate African American History Month. Your child will be responsible for completing a biography project on a famous person of African American heritage. Enclosed, you will find the directions for the project. Please note the due dates next to each section of the project. It is necessary that your child spend time on this project at home and/or after school as there will only be a limited time for independent study on this project during the school day. I am available any day after school by appointment. Your child must stay after to complete the timeline and PowerPoint presentation.

SOME GREAT WEBSITES to help you with your research are: Biography.com History Channel Scholastic News Black History Month Links Black History Month Resources Black History Month for Kids: From Sports Illustrated for Kids Black History Links from Kids Domain Time for Kids: Black History Month

Surfing the Net With Kids Black History Month Black History Month from Enchanted Learning [|Annie's Black History Links Page] [|Black History Month Interactive] Celebrating Black History Black History Month From DLTK for Kid Interviewing Immigrants includes African Americans Cathay Williams Female Buffalo Soldier Powerful Days in Black and White

Images by Charles Moore (Eastman Kodak) Photography: African-American Cowboys http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/tarver/

BLACK HISTORY RESOURCES

"African-American Mosaic"is a guide for studying black history & culture. Topics include colonization & Liberia, abolitionists & slavery, western migration & homesteading, Chicago & Nicodemus(Kansas), & ex-slave narratives. (LOC) http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html

"Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from Federal Writers' Project" presents 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery & 500 photographs of former slaves. (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html

"Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site" features two schools that played a role in the 1954 Supreme Court decision stating that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." (NPS) http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/ka1.htm

"The Church in the Southern Black Community, 1780-1925" traces how Southern African-Americans experienced Protestant Christianity & trans- formed it into the central institution of community life. (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/ncuhtml/csbchome.html

"The Frederick Douglass Papers" presents the papers of the 19th-century African-American abolitionist who escaped from slavery & risked his freedom by becoming an outspoken antislavery lecturer, writer, & publisher. (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/doughome.html

"Jackie Robinson: Beyond the Playing Field" includes telegrams, letters, & photos showing how Robinson,the first African American to play in the big leagues in the 20th century, pressed for civil rights. (NARA) http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/jackie_robinson/jackie_robinson.html

"Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site" features Atlanta's Auburn Avenue, the neighborhood where King was raised & which became the center of African American life in Atlanta between 1910 & 1930. (NPS) http://www.nps.gov/malu/

"Photographs of the 369th Infantry & African Americans During WWI" tells the story of the "Harlem Hellfighters," an all-black regiment that was one of the most highly decorated regiments during a time of segregation in the Army & other parts of society. (NARA)

http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/wwi_369th_infantry/wwi_369th_infantry.html

"Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey"reflects on the life & legacy of this mediator & U.N. diplomat who was the first person of color anywhere in the world to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. (NEH) http://www.pbs.org/ralphbunche/

Our African American Hero Projects are well underway! Eight scholars stayed after school to broaden their understandings of some African American Heroes. Some of the individuals studies this afternoon were; Ella Fitzgerald, Fredrick Douglass, Ruby Bridges, Wilma Rudolph, Condoleezza Rice, and Duke Ellington. This week, the Important Poems are due. Tomorrow in class, we will be going to the computer lab to begin our PowerPoint Presentations. The focus will be on the Important Poems. Important Poems are non-fiction paragraphs. You will write 5 different yet descriptive facts about this person’s life. Remember the reason you are studying this individual is that they greatly impacted the civil rights movement as well as overcame stereotypes and segregation. Follow the format below to help you:

The important thing about ________________________is that s/he____________________________________. S/He ______ S/He_______________ S/He___________________ S/He_________________________ But the most important thing about ________________is that

Remember the first and last lines will identify the exact same action! It is a repeated line!

You may visit [|Biography.com Black History] or [|History Channel's Black History Website] for more information about your hero. These websites offer streaming video to help you learn more about your hero!

Also, you may use this website and code to continue with your research from home or at school. Be sure you type in your first and last name! [|Discovery Education Webquest Research Tools] I hope you are enjoying your Learning Journey! I know I am!

Love your teacher,

Miss O'Brien

Keep up the great work