Choose four fruits native to Africa such as mangoes, melons, pineapple, bananas and oranges. Dice your choice of fruits, placing them in separate containers and bring the prepared fruit to your classroom along with a mixing bowl and large spoon. The first fruit represents black inventors such as Benjamin Banneker, whose carving of an intricate wooden clock that struck every hour became the first one built solely in the United States, and potato chip inventor George Crum. The second fruit represents civil rights heroes like Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old girl who became the first African-American child to attend her elementary school. The third fruit represents the history of blacks in the field of science, including Guion S. Bluford Jr., an astronaut who went to outer space in space shuttle Challenger. Advances by black people in the field of medicine, such as the first successful open heart surgery by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, are represented by the last container of fruit. After showing the children the separate fruits and discussing what each represents, choose a child to pour the fruits together in the mixing bowl and stir them with the spoon. While your student mixes the fruits, explain to the class that the actions of these inventors, civil rights activists, scientists, and healers all came together to change history and make our lives better. Provide each child with a serving of fruit salad and encourage the class to give feedback on what part of the information they find most interesting and wish to learn more about in the future.
This project involves tracing, cutting and coloring hands out of paper, then stringing them across a single piece of yarn to hang across the classroom wall.
Provide each child with a piece of solid white paper. Printing paper is ideal. Have children trace each of their hands onto the paper then cut the paper hands out with safety scissors. Before the class colors their paper hands with crayons, help them choose colors by discussing which ones remind them of Africa and why. For example, a child may wish to color with a gold crayon to represent the color of lions, green can represent plantains, and many African flags contain the color red. When the children complete the cutting and coloring segment of the project, use a hole puncher to punch a hole near the palm area of each cut-out hand. One by one, allow each child to come and string their paper hands onto the yarn. When all the hands are joined together, hang the display against a wall of the classroom in a straight line. Allow students to take turns showing which hands they made and the meaning of the color or colors they chose.
Martin Luther King had a dream and so does every first grader. This activity unites the dreams of every child in the classroom by putting their ideas together in picture book form. Begin this activity by inspiring the class with a short discussion of Martin Luther King's dream and the impact of his dream on others. Ask each child to think about what they or others might do to help others. Provide each child with a piece of heavy duty construction paper and crayons or markers to draw a picture of their dream in action. As children finish their picture,ask each child for a simple explanation of their drawing. Summarize each student's main idea and write it in neat lettering at the top of their paper. When everyone finishes their page, use a sturdy three hole paper punch to create evenly lined holes in the construction paper. After putting a blank piece of construction paper on top for the cover page, stack the papers to align the holes. To bind the book together, take a length of twine or ribbon and insert it into the top row of holes, tying it into a knot. Repeat with the other two rows of holes. Give the class two possible book titles and have them vote on which one they would like best, then write the title on the cover page. Have each student sign her name on the remaining space of the cover and display the dream book in the classroom.
This simple game requires consists of students finding hidden paper peanuts with information written on them. To prepare for this activity, cut peanut shapes out of paper ahead of time. On each peanut, write a different use George Washington Carver found for the peanut. Make sure there is at least one paper peanut for each first grade student. Before students arrive, fold each peanut in half to hide the words. Tape the folded peanuts to different areas of the walls and doors. For the activity, choose a student to find and retrieve a peanut and bring it to the front of the class. After the student opens the peanut, read the invention to the class. When finished, the student keeps that peanut then chooses the next person to retrieve the next one. The activity continues until every child has a peanut. If desired, this activity can be extended by asking children to write his name on his peanut. The student is then asked to take the peanut home and memorize his peanut's information for the next day. Those who successfully repeat the information the following day receive a small prize or treat. This game may be altered to contain broader information. For example, try writing a different fact about black history on the peanuts.