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Equality. Justice. Humanity. These are just three aspects to address during Black History Month. However, equality, justice, and humanity did not happen overnight. Additionally, Black History Month was not always celebrated. It took countless years for brave and courageous people to stand up for what is right. Dr. Woodson started out learning about African-American figures because a professor claimed that Black people lacked a history. Carter did not agree and proved him wrong. Carter G. Woodson did not just read about history. The Black History Month Picture Book Unit shows how he taught others through conversations, research, books, and passion.
Carter Reads the Newspaper by Deborah Hopkinson
By reading the newspaper each day, Carter became inspired to learn the history of his people. However, he didn’t want to keep this information to himself. He wanted to teach others about it.
Carter’s father did not get to have an education as an enslaved man. However, he understood the importance of being an informed citizen. Therefore, Carter read him the newspaper every night. As Carter began working in the coal mines, he continued to read to the other miners. However, they had questions and requested that Carter find out more information on interesting topics.
Although Carter enjoyed teaching people around him about history, it just wasn’t enough. He began traveling around the world to learn all that he could. Ultimately, he worked on expanding what people knew about history. Carter’s passion and curiosity for untold stories led him to be known as the Father of Black History!
Reading Strategies
After reading Carter’s incredible story, students are going to be fascinated with how Black History Month Started. Many students may have never realized that Black History Month wasn’t always around. However, this Picture Book Unit will show students how Carter’s interest left a lifelong impact on every citizen. There are over 65 pages of activities and resources included!
After reading the book, students are going to have the time to work on several reading strategies.
Discussion Questions
Students will be able to answer several thought-provoking questions about Carter. Additionally, they will talk about how he became remembered as the Father of Black History. Students may answer alone, in small groups, or as a class!
Character Education
In order to build comprehension, students will have a detailed look at characters. They will be able to analyze a specific character while bringing in evidence from the book. Furthermore, they will also complete text-to-text and text-to-self activities. By building connections, students will see how they can achieve anything they set their mind to- just like Carter!
Vocabulary
Students are going to learn new words in this unit, such as transform and grueling. By completing the KIM chart, students will be able to explore the part of speech, definition, and draw a picture! Additionally, there is a concept map activity. In this, students will bring in similarities and opposites of their words. Furthermore, there is a word splash activity, which is where students will write sentences with context clues.
Writing and Research Strategies
Biographies
Students are going to learn all about Carter and his determination to inform others. However, they will also have several activities where they get to explore another person. Furthermore, biography activities are a great way to increase interest and excitement in students! By learning how others overcame obstacles and persevered, students will see how much they can accomplish. By creating an Instagram page and newspaper article, students will be truly inspired to make a positive change!
Writing Prompts
This unit is filled with a variety of writing activities! First, students will identify subjects and predicates within a variety of sentences. Secondly, there are several writing prompts included! While the prompts relate to Carter, they also relate to students’ lives. By doing this, they will see how similar they are. More so, they will see how they can become leaders.
Students are going to love reading about Carter’s journey! Between his childhood to being remembered as the Father of Black History, he is truly an inspiring individual. Additionally, students are going to know where Black History Month originated. Lastly, they will have an even deeper meaning on the purpose of celebrating. The Black History Month Picture Book Unit is filled with so many standards through the telling of one inspiring individual!
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