black history research project rubric

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A Black History Month Research Project for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

A Black History Month Research Project is a great way to help your students learn more about and celebrate the impact African Americans have made to the United States.  It's also a good way to help students learn about obstacles African Americans have had to face in this country.  But having 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students conduct research and complete a project based on that research can be an overwhelming task.

Scaffolding this process is essential in order for your students to be successful - and for them to actually stay engaged and excited!

After I fine-tuned the process, this Black History Month Research Project was one of my students' favorite projects all year.  It included researching a famous African American, writing an essay, creating a timeline of their life, and labeling a map.  The upper elementary students remained engaged throughout the entire project and were always very proud of the outcome!

Choosing an African American Hero to Research

Part of making a Black History Month Project meaningful is exposing students to people that they might not be familiar with.  If you let 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students choose who they want to research, you'll probably find that everyone wants to research Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, or Barack Obama.

Instead of simply letting students choose people they are already familiar with, collect a variety of biographies on different African Americans - or find some  kid-friendly biographies online.

Do whatever works for your classroom, as long as you give students an opportunity to introduce themselves to different African Americans.

How I Organized This in My Classroom

There are a lot of different ways you could do this with your students. I would always have my librarian collect enough child-friendly biographies for each student in my class.  We would sit in a circle, and each student would get one of the books.  They had about a minute to look through the book, and then everyone passed their book to the left.

After everyone had looked through every book, students would write down the top 5 people they were interested in researching.  Then, I would look through everybody's choices and assign each student their famous African American to research.

This process got students excited and gave them more ownership over the project.  However, it also allowed me some freedom to make adjustments that would help students be successful and be exposed to different people.

My students used a book from the library as their main source for research, so I wanted to make sure the reading level of the books was appropriate for each of my students.  (If you have a really well-organized classroom library checkout system, this might be easier for you!)

Scaffolding a Black History Month Essay

As all upper elementary teachers know, having students complete research and then use that to write a successful essay is much harder than you would think.

You have to teach students not to copy paragraphs straight from a book or website.  And how to organize a research paper.  And you have to motivate students so that they will actually WANT to write.

This No Prep Black History Month Research Project scaffolds the entire process so students can succeed.  And even better, it will minimize all the one on one time and help students complete their project much more independently.

But there are ways you can scaffold on your own.

1. Model the Project for Your Students

Modeling an entire project takes up a lot of class time, but it makes a huge difference in your students' success.  Plus, it will prevent a lot of student questions later.

This No Prep Black History Month Research Project has all the information you need to use Martin Luther King, Jr. in your modeling.

2. Provide a Research Page with Clear Topics

Instead of having students do their own research on note cards or a blank sheet of paper, provide a research page that tells them exactly what sorts of topics they should be researching.

Otherwise, students have the tendency to copy paragraphs and collect information on irrelevant topics.

Decide what exactly you want your students to learn about - for example, their African American's family, accomplishments, and impact - and create a research page that helps students easily organize that information.  (And, of course, this project also includes research pages.)

3. Scaffold the Writing Process

This might be one of the most important ways to help your students write a successful, organized research paper. Simply providing students with paragraph frames can make a drastic difference and give students more confidence in their writing.

This is similar to this scaffolding you can use when having students write a compare and contrast essay.   Or, use the no prep option with this already ready-to-go Black History Month Project.

Use the Research to Create a Timeline and Map

Use this opportunity to address some other social studies skills - timelines and maps!

Have students use their research to create a timeline of important events in their famous African American's life.  Then, provide students with a blank map and have them color in different states that were important to their African American.

This is a very simple way to make these skills more meaningful to students.

Presenting the Black History Month Project

There is no one right way to have students share their projects.  It really depends on how much time you have!

Here are some options:

• Have students simply turn in their projects.  You could use them to create a bulletin board or just take a grade.
• Have students create a poster with their essay, map, and timeline.  They can present it to the class, or you could make a display.
• Have a Living Wax Museum!  This takes a lot more preparation, but your students and parents will love it.  Find more information on Living Wax Museums here.

If you think this scaffolding would be beneficial to your students as well, then you might like my Black History Month Research Project – Essay, Map, and Timeline Resource.   It includes everything I used to help my students be successful – even a model using Martin Luther King, Jr. so you can show students what is expected of them!

Testimonial:

"This has made doing this research project so much easier! The best part is that samples of the completed steps are included. They always want to copy full sentences instead of making notes, and displaying the sample while they worked led to many more children succeeding without my one to one help."

You might also like these other ideas and resources for teaching during Black History Month - including a freebie!  

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Mrs. Nelson Teaches

Engaging ela education.

Black History Month Research Project

If ever there was a time to celebrate Black History Month in our classrooms, it is now! This Black History Month Research Project is the perfect activity for middle school students! By researching an influential African American, students will not only learn invaluable research skills but will also engage in thoughtful discussions about current events!

Research Best Practices

When I teach this unit in my classroom, I spend approximately two and a half weeks. I spend the first few days teaching basic research skills. This helps set students up for research success! We don’t want students to waste their precious researching time because they aren’t equipped with the right tools! Several Slides presentations included in my TpT product discuss types of resources, evaluating sources for credibility and bias. I believe that it is imperative that students know how to find credible, balanced sources– especially in today’s world when so many “news sources” overtly express their bias and opinion masquerades as fact! I’ve always felt strongly about teaching students to use primary sources and think for themselves, but this issue feels even more important to me now due the current political climate. Teachers are in a prime position to help stop the spread of misinformation!

We also spend time talking about how to find sources through an internet search. My Slides presentations help students learn the most effective ways to find the information they are seeking. We also discuss Wikipedia [teacher eyeroll]. While I try to make it abundantly clear that Wikipedia cannot be used as a “source,” I do show students one way that Wikipedia can be used to find other credible sources.

Once students have a base understanding of research best practices, they will spend time researching their individuals. I’ve included some note-taking graphic organizes for students in the product. These graphic organizers help students organize their information while they are researching.

Drafting and Revision

Students will then create an essay outline and begin the drafting process. I’ve included some teacher models to help students see exactly what is expected of them for this assignment. Another great teaching tactic is to actually draft a paper of your own live for students. With your projector running, simply demonstrate how one takes the gathered information and creates something new with it!

Following a peer edit, students revise and complete their final essay! I find it is also helpful to do a live peer edit and revision to model for students how to make it an effective use of time instead of an exercise in futility. Too often, students breeze through the editing process and, instead of revising their essay, simply rewrite their first draft. Definitely not the result we want. Modeling this live is a great way to get better results from students!

Black History Month Posters & Presentations

Once their essays are finished, the fun part begins! Students will create a poster to serve as a visual representation of their individual. I require my students to have 7-10 bullet points highlighting the most important and most interesting facts about their individual and at least two pictures. They can design and decorate their poster any way they choose.

The students always have fun with this creative portion of the project. I love to have a few low-key days where students can use the creative side of their brains after the hard work of researching and writing! Sometimes, we will put on some school-appropriate music to make it really enjoyable! [Side bar: A great and free way to reward great behavior is to allow well-behaved students the opportunity to choose a song they like on days like this!]

After students have had enough time to finish their posters, the presentations can begin! I love, love, love doing class presentations! Public speaking is such an important skill to have–even (maybe especially) for students who tend to be more reserved and timid in regular class discussions. Before we begin, I like to model both a great oral presentation and a poor oral presentation. I usually begin with the poor oral presentation. It’s fun to step out of the classroom and throw some grubby clothes on over my regular work clothes and skulk in and very poorly and very briefly talk about my individual slumping into poor posture while waving my poster around so no one can see it and other antics I’m sure all teachers have seen many times. My students always seem to get a kick out of it!

I then juxtapose that with a proper oral presentation: well-dressed (although I don’t like to make a big deal out of this one so that no student feels uncomfortable about their clothes), good posture, making eye contact, speaking clearly, etc. Like always, students do better when they have sometime to model!

Black History Month Hallway Decorations

When the students have all presented their posters, I love to hang them up in the hallways! It’s fun to see all students stop and read about the countless African Americans that have broken barriers and made a difference in the world! I am always inspired by this Black History Month project and I hope you and your students will be too!

How do you like to celebrate Black History Month with your students?

Brenna (Mrs. Nelson)

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Black History Month Research and One-Pager

Description.

Celebrate Black History Month with this one-pager project that requires students to research important African American figures in history. Completed projects make beautiful hallway or classroom displays; students’ artwork also makes for great bulletin boards that highlight Black History Month.

Included in this purchase is:

• Student directions for the one pager project (2 Versions: PDF and word document)
• Rubric for the one pager project
• Example one pager (Maya Angelou)
• 10 BLANK TEMPLATES (printable — optional)

Some research options include:

Ruby Bridges Toni Morrison Langston Hughes Zora Neale Hurston Alice Walker Maya Angelou Jesse Owens Langston Hughes Martin Luther King Jr. Jackie Robinson Frederick Douglass George Washington Carver Muhammad Ali Rosa Parks W. E. B. Du Bois Jesse Jackson Thurgood Marshall Harriet Tubman Malcolm X Barack Obama Booker T. Washington Ella Baker Shirley Chisholm Ida B. Wells Benjamin O. Davis Sr. Robert Sengstacke Abbott

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Influential Black Leaders - Research Project

Updated:  11 May 2023

Help your students learn about and recognize some of the most influential Black leaders in history with Black History Month Research Project.

Editable:  Google Slides

Non-Editable:  PDF

Pages:  1 Page

• Curriculum Curriculum:  TEKS

Grades:  3 - 6

• Adobe Reader (pdf) Sign up to Plus
• Google Slides Sign up to Plus

Looking for Black History Month Activities? Let Us Help!

Black History Month is an opportunity to teach children about the contributions and achievements of Black leaders throughout history. You can introduce many influential Black leaders to your students during your lessons this year.  Try teaching them about

• Martin Luther King Jr.: A civil rights leader and activist who fought for equal rights and justice through nonviolent means.
• Rosa Parks: A civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a bus, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• Harriet Tubman : A former slave and abolitionist who helped many slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad.
• Frederick Douglass: A former slave, abolitionist, and suffragist who became a powerful orator and writer.

Our Black History Month Lessons & Materials Make Learning Fun!

There are thousands more amazing Black leaders you can teach your young learners about, so we’ve put together an interesting research project to help your students learn who some of these leaders are, and how they’ve contributed to history.

This resource includes a set of materials for your students to use to research a Black history leader of their choice. This project pack includes

• Black History Project Rubric
• Biography Research Template
• Interesting Facts Organizer
• Event Timeline Organizer
• Descriptive Language – Characteristics of a Leader Worksheet
• Qualities of a Leader Writing Prompt
• Inspirational Black History Quote Template
• Reflection Sheet

Learning about these influential Black leaders can help children understand the importance of fighting for justice and equality and inspire them to positively impact their communities.

This resource is available in both PDF format and an editable Google Slides file, just in case you’d like to make a change before printing. Use the dropdown arrow on the download button to select the file you prefer.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and Teach Starter Collaborator.

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Black History Month Biography Poster Project Research, Plan, Write, Present

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Description

Looking for an engaging, ready to go project for Black History Month? Immerse your students in the research process with this Black History project!

What's Included

• 30 point rubric
• Note-taking planning pages
• Biographical information shapes for poster
• A list of 50 names to research.

In this project, students will...

• Research an African American and create a biographical poster
• Record notes on a research planning page
• Transfer this information to shape cut outs for their posters
• Cut and paste their information shapes and photos onto a poster board of any size
• Poster shapes include space for students to write about what they have learned, important dates and places, and add a photo of the person they have researched

More Information

• Research topics: date/place of birth, family, childhood, impact on the United States, where the person is now or cause of death
• Rubric includes points for punctuation, capitalization, and the inclusion of a photo or drawing of the person.
• Ready-to-go rubric makes explaining expectations and grading easy. Rubric is editable to meet the unique skills of your class.
• Posters can be presented to an audience and displayed for all to see and learn from!
• Students may present in class, families could attend, or you could host an entire family night for students to present!
• Project can be used for building Social Studies and/or Language Arts skills
• This could be a homework assignment, something parents and families could help with, or used as an in class project.

Check out the preview for a closer look!

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