[February 10, 2009]
Mansfield ISD announces the Black History Month observances that several campuses have chosen to provide to their elementary, intermediate, middle and high school communities.
Elementary Schools
Willie E. Brown Elementary - The reading specialist (Erica Bynum) has put a Black History bulletin board in the hallway with several people and their descriptions on display. At announcement time in the morning, she reads off a question about a famous African-American person and the students make a guess and insert their answer into a draw bag. The name chosen will receive a prize and come to the office. She will do that every morning for February.
Thelma Jones Elementary – Campus observances include:
- Announcement clues
- Each day a clue to a famous historian will be read over the PA. After announcements finish, the teachers may e-mail their guess for the clue. Each day the first one to e-mail will receive a point. At the end of the month or every 2 weeks, the class with the most point will win a party. Ideas include popcorn, ice cream or other approved snack.
- Day for traditional attire
- Feb. 12, 2009—Students/Staff will wear traditional African attire or wear the traditional colors of red, black and green
- Program—Performed on Feb. 26, 2009 at 1:15PM and 2:10 PM
- Intro with why we celebrate Black History Month
- Fashion Show
- Students will wear clothes to showcase African American designers. A description/background of each designer will be read while students model their own clothes by that designer. Parent permission slips will be sent home and a practice will be held prior to the show.
- Maddox’s Class
- Mrs. Maddox’s class will recite “I have a dream” by MLK Jr.
- Shark Band
- Mr. Long’s “Rhythm Band” will perform a drum routine.
- Star Spangled Banner
- Mr. Long will create a group to sing for the program
- Peabody’s Class
- Mrs. Peabody’s class will sing “I believe I can fly”
- Peabody Sings
- Mrs. Peabody will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing”
D. P. Morris Elementary – The campus will announce a moment in Black History every morning by focusing on a person each day. On the 24th, the campus will have their annual oratorical contest for K - 2nd at 8:15 a.m., and 3rd & 4th at 1:15 p.m. All poems will feature historical black authors.
Martha Reid Elementary – Campus observances include:
3rd Grade: Social studies and L.A. classes are reading the novels Who is Martin Luther King, Jr.? and or I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. With the info. from the novels we are completing time-lines, comprehension activities, acrostic potery, sequencing events, and making inferences. We are also doing mimi books over other famous African Americans. Our Black History unit lasts about three to four weeks.
2nd Grade: Creating a scrapbook on Famous Black Americans and their contributions to our country.
4th grade: poems by Langston Hughes, tying it into our own writing.
Enrichment: Enrichment is studying various multi-cultural dances. Among the dances we are learning are African dances that we will be sharing during Parent Dance Day at the end of the month.
Mary Jo Sheppard Elementary
The campus has invited school personnel and people from the community to be one of their guest readers during our 2nd Annual Read-In. The school theme for 2009 is “Living the American Dream: United We Stand Divided We Fall.” The focus this year is not just about one culture's fight for freedom, but how many other cultures “UNITED” together for a great movement. Guest may bring a book of their choice or can choose one from the selection in the library. This special event will be held on Friday, February 27, 2009. Please RSVP with Nikki Wright at (817) 299-6600 between the hours of 9-2 P.M. by Friday, February 20, 2009, if you would like to be apart of the Read-In.
Elizabeth Smith Elementary – Campus observances
Librarian: I will put up a display of books of important black people who have contributed to our history. I will also display posters. I will discuss the books on display as well as the importance of these people.
First Grade: We are reading different informative books on African American heroes of the past. We will be writing to tell important facts about influential African Americans. We will be talking about our new president- present day hero.
Second Grade: We introduce BHM by reading Ruby Bridges. We then show the students a Biography Book Bag on her life. A Biography Book Bag is a bag with either props from home or hand made props to help summarize the life of a "famous" person. The students are then introduced to 5 other African Americans that have changed our history. Martin Luther King, Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall and George Washington Carver. The students then choose the African American that they would like to do a Biography Book Bag on. The students (now in 5 different groups) summarize the book, decide which props to make or bring from home. The groups then assign parts and practice retelling the life of their chosen African American. Some of us video tape the groups and show their performances at Open House. We also read many books on the Underground Railroad, especially ones that discuss freedom quilts. The students get to look at a real freedom quilt that a mom has made and try to figure out the meaning of the symbols. The students then choose a symbol that might have been used on a freedom quilt and we create our own. My class is also making a quilt of kindness to collaborate with Mrs. James' Martin Luther King lesson on kindness. Mrs. Taylor's class also wrote their thoughts on President Obama, our first African American president. To finish up BHM we watch the video of Ruby Bridges.
Third Grade:
The students will research a famous African American and share with the class what they learned. The students may research through books or internet.
Fourth Grade: We will be reading about different people in Black History in Reading this month. We will be incorporating this into Social Studies and reading, reinforcing context clues, sequencing, and basic comprehension skills. Special Education; Each morning a student shares a fact during morning announcements and displayed information on the bulletin board. P.E. The students will be naming and discussing famous African American athletes.
Art: We will be doing a unit on musical art where the children will listen to different styles of music and draw the images that come to mind. During this unit we will discuss Alma Thomas a prominent abstract expressionist painter. Alma Thomas was the first African American woman to have a solo art exhibition at the Whitney in New York.
Music: We will be learning some songs that correspond with the civil rights movement. We will also be learning and studying African American spirituals, and completing an activity about African music.
Technology: Lesson/Discussion on Black Technology Inventors.
Reading Specialist: We are reading different books and writing a Cinquain
PPCD: In PPCD we have lessons and activities that deal with inventions/discoveries from African American people. On Friday we are having pancakes for example. We will explore inventions like the traffic light, clock, talk about the first heart surgery, etc.
Roberta Tipps Elementary – ESL Lead Teacher, Tuyet Huynh, and Thea Gansert, Technology Applications Teacher are putting on their 3rd Annual Multicultural Parade on Friday, Feb. 13th, at 8:30 a.m. The parade will highlight all of the cultures represented here at their campus. Students are invited to dress in costumes representative of their cultural background. They will also carry flags from the country they are representing. We have also added some Black History elements this year. There will be 3 students portraying famous African American leaders from American History. (Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Harriet Tubman)
Carol Holt Elementary – During morning announcements, third and fourth grade students present Black History Facts of the day to the school. The librarian has a display of books by or about famous African Americans for students. A bulletin board also displays African American figures past and present.
Cabaniss Elementary – Campus observances
Library - focus on African American authors and African American themed books
Art - focus on African American art history and appreciation
Daily important African American facts during the morning announcement
Back to top
Intermediate Schools
Mary Orr Intermediate - Will host an African-American Read-in Opportunity. The Multicultural Club of Mary Orr Intermediate School has invited many school and community members to be guest readers as they participate for the seventh year in this exciting literacy event. The guests will be reading literature written by African-American authors to the students as they begin their day in their classrooms.
Back to top
Middle Schools
Danny Jones Middle School – The campus is conducting readings of famous African Americans that have made a contribution to the American society. The campus will hold a Black History program at the end of the month; date and time is not confirmed.
Check back as new information becomes available
Back to top
High Schools
Mansfield Summit High School – Campus observances include the theme I Can, You Can, We Can: Celebrating Black History Month
Essay Contest: Students will write a 500 Word Essay reflecting on the theme, “I Can, You Can, We Can: Celebrating Black History Month”. Essays are due on Tuesday, February 24th and 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will be announced on Friday, February 27th. Essays will be given to Mrs. Madison in Room I-4.
Art Contest: Students will submit art work (photography, collage, painting, drawing or mixed medium) reflecting the theme, “I Can, You Can, We Can: Celebrating Black History Month”. Art entries are due on Tuesday, February 24th and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be announced on Friday, February 24th. Give Art entries to Ms. Demick in Room K-2
Black History Month Trivia Question:
Each Friday in February, students will listen for a Black History Month Trivia Question. They will then place their answers on a piece of paper with their name on it and put it in the box on the stage. The winner will be announced on each Monday.
Wednesday, Feb. 25th: Open Mic: Poetry, Dance and Song (Mrs. Davis-Martin is in charge) 2:45 PM in Summit PAC
Thursday, Feb. 26th: Open Forum: A Panel Discussion (Mrs. Davis-Martin is in charge) 2:45 PMin Summit PAC
Mansfield Timberview High School – Campus observances include
- Daily quotes of historical African American Leaders will be read with the daily announcements by students.
- Display cases throughout the school will focus on prominent Afircan American Leaders.
- Here are a few activities that the SS teachers are doing in their classrooms:
World Geography Activities: What is racism? http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/discrim/race.asp
Fannie's Life--How much control did slaves have over their life? Why?
Famous Black Americans - students will make cards that depict the life and accomplishments of famous black Americans.
Essays of Famous Black Americans - students will read the essays of 5 famous black Americans and then put character traits that they see match up with that person & then justify their choices.
Sociology and World History Activities: Discussed change from negative message to positive message in hip hop culture as a result of Obama's presidency (discussed straight from article in Star Telegram), got in depth with the Triangle Trade and the political and economic environment in Africa and Europe at the start of importation of slaves to determine why slavery came into existence in the first place, begin each class with excerpt or poem from historical black authors. Daily reflections will become TAKS daily reflections and the first 3 daily essays will be 13th, 14th and 15th amendments respectively, will be showing parts of PBS documentary footage from school library narrated by Morgan Freeman on the political and economic effects of abolishing slavery. Will also be scanning for articles in newspaper and online to share with kids as available. Additionally, first themed unit in Sociology is Race and Ethnicity.
World History Activity:A report on influential people in Black History. The students will be allowed to choose their person.
Economics Activity: Constant discussion re 13th, 14th, 15th, amendments; Bill of Rights match scenarios including equal protection of the laws of the 14th w/analysis of possible civil liberty infringements; Federalism group activity re state/federal power; Marbury v. Madison (1803) case brief analyzed from summary and compared to Plessy v. Ferguson and later Brown v. Board of Education; analysis of "equal opportunity for all" regarding "free enterprise" as a basic characteristic of a market economy; analyzed Alabama Gov. George Wallace and his compliance later b/c of Pres. Kennedy federalizing the Alabama National Guard pursuant to the Supremacy Clause.
Government Activity: History channel clips with interactive time line dating back to 1619. Students will be responsible for marking the date and taking notes of the importance of each date. Showing clips from the movie Amazing Grace. CNN students news will be shown in class and students will have several stories on prominent African American people in history as well.
AP US History Activity:Class discussion on what it was like to be a second-class citizen. In this process we review literacy tests and discuss what a poll tax is, which kept African Americans from exercising their voting rights until the mid-1960s. This includes the efforts of Civil Rights leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The race riots that broke out in the northern states, specifically in Detroit, are also discussed. Also the students discussed the integration of the military and what the African American role during WWII.
Back to top
Please note: The above is not a comprehensive list, just a compilation of information received from the campuses. If you do not see your school on this list and would like to know more about the campus observances, please contact them directly. Check back as new information becomes available from the schools.
 February is celebrated as Black History Month - an annual celebration that has existed since 1926.
Much of the credit for Black History Month goes to Harvard Scholar Dr. Carter G. Woodson (pictured at right). In 1926, Woodson organized the first annual Negro History Week, which took place during the second week of February. Woodson chose this date to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln -- two men who had greatly impacted the black population.
Over time, Negro History Week evolved into a four-week-long celebration of African American History. Because of the variation in terms used, February is also known as African American History Month, Afro-American History Month and Black Experience Month.
February has much more than Douglass and Lincoln to show for its significance in black American history. For example:
• February 23, 1868: W. E. B. DuBois, important civil rights leader and co-founder of the NAACP, was born.
• February 3, 1870: The 15th Amendment was passed, granting blacks the right to vote.
• February 25, 1870: The first black U.S. senator, Hiram R. Revels (1822-1901), took his oath of office.
• February 12, 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by a group of concerned black and white citizens in New York City.
• February 1, 1960: In what would become a civil-rights movement milestone, a group of black Greensboro, N.C., college students began a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter.
• February 21, 1965: Malcolm X, the militant leader who promoted Black Nationalism, was shot to death by three Black Muslims.
|
