Black History Month Spanish Class Activity: New and Engaging!

Black History Month takes place in February in the US. Need an idea for a Black History Month Spanish class activity? It’s a great time to celebrate the diversity of life experiences of people of Hispanic cultures by learning about some famous and influential Afro-Latinos! In this post, you will find suggestions for how to acknowledge the contributions of this group of people to our world!

Where Do I Start?

To get started with a Black History Month Spanish Class Activity, begin with thinking about your students and their interests. A lot of teens like sports and music. Others like the arts or politics. Here is a list of names of influential Afro-Latinos that you could use to begin thinking about how to teach your students about their contributions!

Celia Cruz: musician
Pedro Albizu Campos: political leader and activist
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg: historian and activist
Roberto Clemente: baseball player and humanitarian
Zoe Saldaña: actress
Arlenis Sosa: fashion designer
Cardi B: musician

These are just a few people who have had careers in fields that might be of high interest to your students! Another starting point could also be using the countries from which your students and their families come.

Need a Specific Idea for a Black History Month Spanish Class Activity?

To be honest, sometimes I struggle to find new ways to engage students when learning new content. They do a lot of reading and a lot of watching videos, not only in my class, but in all their other classes too. So I was really trying to be creative with how we would learn about Black History Month and the influence of Afro-Latinos. I came up with this gamified way to learn by reading!

I call it a scavenger hunt, because students need to read a total of 10 cards and find the answers to the questions on each card. The twist? The answers to the question cannot be found on that same card. Instead, they have to scavenge the answer from another card which is somewhere else in the room!

Other features of this Black History Month Spanish class activity that make it feel like a game and not just another reading comprehension activity include:

Students will be out of their seats- the reading cards are hung up on the walls around the room!
Students can work alone or in groups.
There is a mystery to solve! An important artifact has been stolen from the Afro-Latino History Museum!
You can make it into a competition! Anyone who finishes the challenge can get a good score, but only the first 3 groups who find the thief will get a prize!

Sound Interesting?

This Black History Spanish class activity is a hit with my students! And it’s so easy to use! First, I print the story cards and hang them around my room.

Second, I print the instructions and mission (1 page) and the answer grid (1 page), and I photocopy them back to back. Together we set the stage by reading the instructions and the mission, and then I let them go!

One of my favorite elements of this activity is that there is no instant gratification. Since the answer to each question cannot be found on the same card, students need to work for a while before they start to be able to find the answers they need. I think it’s really good for them to engage in productive struggle! And of course, there are differentiations and scaffolds for those that will need them!

Follow-up Black History Month Spanish Class Activities

Another great feature of this learning activity is the follow-up activities! I created a bunch, and I decide which ones will be best suited for each of my classes. I can check for learning with the T/F exit ticket. There’s a graphic organizer where students can fill in the names of important Afro-Latinos and do some basic research on their lives. And for a writing extension, students can work in groups to explain who the thief was, and what their motive was!

Click HERE to check out this activity already done for you!