INFOhio provides this information from various SIRS Discoverer messages and is not responsible for the content or the reliability of Web links. Your INFOhio username and password may be needed to open some links.

February is Black History Month. Black History Month, along with other ethnic celebration themes, is an excellent way for teachers to build student understanding of how African-American culture and the struggle for equality benefit us all.

The annual celebration of Black History has existed since 1926. Much of the credit can go to Harvard scholar Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who was determined to bring Black History into the mainstream public arena. Woodson devoted his life to making the world see African-Americans as participants rather than as lay figures in history.

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 the Black History Month that we know today--a four-week-long celebration of African-American history.

Activity: This month, teachers will ask students to navigate Web sites to get information for their reports. This navigation is almost always more challenging than reading articles from newspapers and magazines. SIRS editors select these Web sites for their appropriateness to the K-8 curriculum and the reading levels of these students.

	Type African American History Month in the Search box and click the Subject Headings option before searching.
	Click the link for African American History Month.
	Click the WebFind sites tab.
	Assign a different Web site to each two-person research team.
	More than one Web site will be about Dr. King. Select the best ones only. If more than one person is featured, select the most interesting one to summarize.
	Students will present a two-minute oral report to share their new knowledge, OR...
	Students can summarize the message of the Web site in about 150 to 200 words.
	Students will print a picture of central figure honored in the Web site using a separate search on the name of that central figure.
	Summaries should include the following types of information:
	When did this person live and what was their world like then? For what was this person most famous? How did this person's accomplishment affect African-Americans and our world today?

Questions? Contact INFOhio at webmaster@infohio.org.