Black History Month: AAC-friendly Resources for Teaching and Learning

Here in the US, we’ve celebrated Black History Month each February for several decades. It’s a time for learning, reflection, and celebration. Today, we’re reprising a past post with resources that can be incorporated into your AAC teaching or therapy.

1. Learn with BrainPop and BrainPop, Jr, which offers videos, writing and drawing activities, graphic organizers, worksheets, jokes, and more.

• • Brown vs Board of Education
    

    From BrainPop

  • Civil Rights  
  • Fannie Lou Hamer  
  • Harriet Tubman  
  • Jackie Robinson  
  • Jim Crow  
  • Malcolm X  
  • Martin Luther King, Jr  
  • Mohammed Ali  
  • Reconstruction  
  • Rosa Parks  
  • Ruby Bridges  
  • Slavery  
  • Tuskegee Airmen

    

    From BrainPop Jr

     

2. Read “The Poet Diaries,” a guest post by inaugural National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. View a video of her reading her poem, Rise Up as One, California.

3. Explore a virtual exhibition at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

• Download their activity book, A is for Amazing and others from the Joyful ABC Collection.
• Want to know more about Hair Joy, Black Women Artists, Hats and Headwear, or Songs and Music? Check out their Learning Lab and their open-access collection. 

4. Draw like W.H. Johnson and explore his art.

5. Take a trip back in time by exploring newspapers from the past in this collection by the Library of Congress.

6. Learn about US National Parks that honor Black history.

7. Learn about the contributions of Black scientists with these resources.

• Booklist by Feminist Books for Kids 
• 10 Black Scientists That Science Teachers Should Know About    
• 5 Black Chemists Who Changed the World 

8. Celebrate with music by enjoying this concert by the Pine Forge Academy Choir.

9. If you’re looking for thematic vocabulary boards, check out this one from CoughDrop.