African American History & The Five Senses

By Kate Johnson

Grade Level:  First Grade (can be altered for other primary grades)

Time Frame: 4 -5 weeks

Subject Matter:  social studies, science, literacy, religion, social skills

Curriculum Standards: 

1. To understand the importance of famous African-Americans from the past; to understand the contributions of certain African-Americans in history to their fields of work. 
2. To identify the five senses; to understand how each of the five senses is used in everyday life.
3. To create community and understand family tradition through a pot luck event.
4. To promote reading and writing in everyday life such as cookbooks, invitations, and signs.

Description:  This is a month long unit that ties African-American history month with the five senses.  For each week of African-American History month, the class studies one of the five senses with one area of African-American History.  The sense of sight is paired with African-American art, the sense of hearing with music from African-American history, the sense of touch with African-American athletics, and the senses of taste and smell are matched with food.  The unit then ends with a family pot-luck event where the families of the students are invited to school with favorite dishes from their family and/or history.

Technology Used:  PowerPoint, Digital Camera, Library of Congress and other websites, The Great American Potluck collection on the Learning Page.

Lesson Plans:  Detailed lesson plans are available by week through the links below. 

                   Week One: Sight/Romare Bearden               Week Two: Hearing/Music

                    Week Three: Touch/Athletes                        Week Four: Smell/Taste/Food

                                                                             Class Cookbook

Created By: Kate Johnson

katej59@hotmail.com