Black History Month Lesson Plans that Feature Ella Fitzgerald

Black History Month, celebrated each February, is an excellent time to share books and music that celebrate African Americans. While February is a wonderful time to celebrate black history, black history should be celebrated all year long.

Make quality resources a priority when planning lessons for Black History Month. Avoid choosing books that are not appealing or age appropriate simply because they include black history. These lesson plans are intended for primary grade students.

Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa is an excellent example of a quality book that conveys black history in kid-appealing way. Ella's story is told through the perspective of a cat, "Skat Cat Monroe," who pulls in readers in with rhythm and rhyme: "Got my name from knowin' Ella. Ella Fitzgerald. The Queen of Skat. What's scat? you ask. Skat's the sound that don't hold back. Ella's sound- that was skat. Singing so supreme. Music's velvet-ribbon dream."

READING:

Read Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa. After a break, be sure to read A Note From the Author, Andrea Davis Pinkney and A Note from the Illustrator, Brian Pinkney as well as their bios at the end of the book.

LANGAUGE ARTS:

Working on number of syllables?

Use words from this story to practice finding the number of syllables in words. How many syllables are in Skat? Ella? Fitzgerald? virtuosa? determination?

Learning to use the dictionary?

Have students look up words from the story share reports either written or verbal. Good examples from this story include determination, Harlem, opera, jazz, timpani and lyrics.

Let students determine alphabetical order of the words for presentations.

Working on capitalization?

Notice that opera is not capitalized but Harlem Opera House is. Notice that orchestra is not capitalized but Chick Webb Orchestra is. Have students find the many capitalized words in this story and determine why they are capitalized.

WRITING IDEAS:

This story is divided into four "tracks" like a CD.

Track 1: "Hoofin' in Harlem"
Track 2: "Jammin' at Yale"

Track 3: "Stompin'at the Savoy"
Track 4: "Carnegie Hall Scat"