Black history is American history – teach it every day with these Black history ELA activities and rap songs!
Based on rap songs, these activities will keep your students’ attention using song lyrics as reading activities while they practice a variety of reading skills. Easily incorporate them into independent activities or complete them together as a class lesson.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Amazing resource for my students! Engaging and interesting for them!” – Maria P.
Students will listen to the songs then use the song lyrics as reading passages to complete the activities detailed below.
These activities are:
– no prep to save you time,
– super simple and easy to use,
– with high-interest reading passages based on rap songs!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Great resource and easy to use.” – Kaili C.
The songs for these activities explore exciting topics such as:
– the origins of Hip Hop, rap, and jazz music
– and the lives and accomplishments of:
- Bessie Coleman,
- Frederick Douglass,
- and Rosa Parks and the truth behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Why wait for February? Black history is bigger than that!
Black history in America covers hundreds of years – let’s move beyond one month and include it all year long! Use this bundle to integrate Black history into your reading lessons every day while adding music and excitement with Black history rap songs.
Click here to integrate Black history into your ELA curriculum!
Reading activities + Black history rap songs = high student engagement!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “A great resource for my intermediates….covered a wide array of topics including history, key figures….engaging resource!” – Music Comes Alive
The activities in this bundle cover the following reading skills:
– cause and effect,
– compare and contrast,
– context clues,
– decoding multisyllabic words,
– fiction vs. nonfiction,
– figurative language,
– main idea and supporting details,
– making inferences,
– personification,
– root words and affixes,
– sequencing events and timelines,
– synonyms and antonyms with rap song lyrics.
All of this while presenting a diverse range of Black history topics and heroes using rap song lyrics as reading passages.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This was an excellent resource to use with the school-wide study on dance. My class studied hip hop and this was a fun way for them to learn about it and to work with the information.” – Amy Z.
Click here to include Black history all year long!
Every time you introduce or review a reading skill, throw one of these activities in the mix to represent Black history.
And it doesn’t have to be awkward. Use one activity each day like any other activity as it matches your curriculum.
Listen to the songs with subtitles using the links below! (Click here if you have trouble viewing the videos.)
– Bessie Coleman biography song
– Claudette Colvin, “the Original Rosa Parks” song
– Black Heroes of the American Revolution song
– the Black Panther Comic History song
– Frederick Douglass biography song, part 1
– Frederick Douglass biography song, part 2
– George Washington Carver biography song
– Harriet Tubman biography song
– Henry “Box” Brown biography song
– Hip Hop and Rap Music History: The Beginning song
– Hip Hop and Rap Music History: Then to Now song
– Jackie Robinson biography song
– Jackie Robinson civil rights song
– James Armistead Lafayette song
– James Armistead and General Lafayette song
– the origins of jazz music song
– jazz musicians biography song
– Maggie Walker biography song
– Phillis Wheatley biography rap song
– Phillis Wheatley, Black female author song
– the truth about Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycott song
– Sojourner Truth biography song
Click here to use engaging songs to teach history while covering ELA!
Lights, camera, readers theater!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Used this resource for our third grader’s annual Black History Month program. It was a hit! Love the experience and information it gave myself, my students, and their families. Will use again next year!” – Angela L.
We have also included our highly-acclaimed, reader’s theater plays. Use them to:
– give your students practice with reading with expression,
– a chance to express their theatrical side,
– or as a group activity.
All of this while they learn about Black history heroes such as:
– the Revolutionary war spy,
– James Armistead Lafayette,
– and Claudette Colvin, “the Original Rosa Parks.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This was a great resource for our 4th graders for our Black History Program. It was engaging and relevant and easy to include everyone and make props for. Highly recommend.” – Jaime G.
Click here to explore a variety of Black history heroes and topics through music!
Hip Hop history and comicbook hero bonuses!
Our Hip Hop and rap music history and Black Panther comic history, reading activities are included as bonuses.
This covers the whole year, really?
Including the bonus activities, this bundle contains:
– 90 complete activities!
- 60 of these activities can be used for multiple lessons. For example, the root words and affixes activities have three sections that can be completed over three days, and the Black history plays can be used to cover a week’s worth of instruction.
- In total, the activities in this bundle can be used to cover 150+ days of instructions. Based on a school calendar of 180 days, this bundle allows room for 30 days of assessment, class parties, field trips, school assemblies, inclement weather, and/or other special school events.