Let me start by saying that Black history IS American history. They are one and the same.
And though I love focusing in on Black history in the month of February, we shouldn’t only be studying black history in February. We should be learning and understanding Black history 365 days out of the year.
So! I came up with a helpful and handy little interactive visual that would allow for the learning of Black history within your home anytime.
These are my Historical Heroes Hexagons (I’m a teacher, so I had to throw a little alliteration at ya!). And I am super excited to be sharing these with you! They’re super easy to use, and make a wonderful visual display when grouped all together.
So let me explain what the objectives for these hexagons are:
Your child will be able to name and identify influential and important Black people in American history and present day
Your child will be able to understand the important role and contribution the person made in history and/or present day
Your child will be able to recall fun facts and/or quotes by and or about the person
Basically, I want you to be able to have a conversation with your child about the important contributions and influences Black people have and have had on American History.
Now, I’m sure you’re probably wondering, “Well these are great, and the idea is great, but where am I going to come up with all that information?” And my answer? You don’t have too. You can obviously take to google and find all kinds of wonderful information about different influential Black Americans with just the click of a button. But, I know that can seem overwhelming, and often tedious. And so I have already done it for you! I found three amazing books on Amazon that cover a range of influential Black American figures and their contributions to American History.
This one is probably the most comprehensive as it covers a wide range of influential Black historical figures, both male and female. The author also does a great job of providing websites, and extra information on each person for you to continue learning about and studying. Which I appreciate.
I absolutely ADORE the artwork by Vashti. Seriously, her pictures are some of my favorite they make my heart so happy. This is a great one, especially in conjunction with next month and Women’s History. This book does focus solely on women.
This last one is also by Vashti, but the focus is solely on influential men. Both books are great on their own, but you will obviously get more variety from both.
Now I want to offer some quick tips and information to help make the use of these hexagons smooth and easy:
It is up to you if you or your child writes out the answers. (Though if your child is past 2nd grade, and enjoys writing, I’d encourage your child to do the writing.)
Just like it is up to you if you or your child write out the answers in complete sentences - remember this is FOR YOU, so whatever is easiest for you to do, and understand, do that.
When you download your PDF, your last hexagon will be blank. This is for you to put a picture of of the person you learned about in. I am allowing you creative freedom on this - you can draw, paint, sketch, copy, print and paste, whatever makes you happy.
I’m so excited to share this Historical Heroes Hexagons project with ya’ll and I cannot wait to hear and see the many people you learn about and discover. Click here to download the PDF :)
One last thing (and a bit of foreshadowing …) These hexagons are great because they can be used to study and learn about many different people throughout American history. For example, next month is Women’s History month… So stay tuned for new ways in which to use these hexagons throughout the year.
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