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Famous African Americans - Famous African Americans.org

Grades
6 to 12
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From the little known to the very famous, these people all have something in common: they have all made significant contributions to American history. Though far from complete, the...more
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From the little known to the very famous, these people all have something in common: they have all made significant contributions to American history. Though far from complete, the list has hundreds of names (listed alphabetically by their first names) and a wealth of categories from sports, singers, actors, writers, activists, scientists, politicians, and everything in between. Every person has a picture and a biography. If that isn't enough, investigate this site's engaging blog topics like 6 Must-See Malcolm X Posters, Top 10 Most Famous Black Actors of All Time, Top 10 Richest African Americans, and plenty more.
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tag(s): african american (121), biographies (94), black history (136), cultures (226)

In the Classroom

This is an excellent site to use as part of a biography unit to match biographies to individual student interests. Allow students to choose a category. Have them read several biographies from that category, then research an African American that hasn't been included on this site. Have students use these biographies as a model to write about the person they researched. Instead of using paper and pen to write down information, ask students to use Google Docs or Microsoft Word to begin research. Using these online documents affords many benefits, including the ability to add comments, highlight information, and add links to online information. Once research is underway, suggest that students use a bookmarking tool like Raindrop.io, reviewed here, to organize information. Raindrop.io includes the ability to add notes to bookmarks, making it easy for students to label and add information for later use. As a final project and to extend student learning, ask students to create their own book using OurBoox, reviewed here, that includes images, videos, and text. Math teachers could have students figure out which category has the most people in it, or what percentage of the site is dedicated to the category they are interested in.