Out of the millions of teacher-created materials in the Quizizz library, some of our content serves as more than just resourceful information for an academic class — it is valuable knowledge for our society and our world. At Quizizz, we believe Black History Month provides a special opportunity to amplify our site’s high quality content that celebrates Black achievements, honors Black voices, and acknowledges the injustices faced by Black communities.
Although the commitment to explore this content and expose students to it is encouraged year-round, it is especially compelling to do so throughout February, which is recognized by the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as Black History Month. For anyone not familiar with the celebration’s origin, National Geographic for Kids provides a thorough background. During our current era, when culturally responsive teaching (CRT — explained further in this Edutopia article) has finally received its long overdue recognition, educators seeking informative and engaging materials need to look no further than Quizizz.
In our company’s mission to empower every teacher and motivate every learner, here are some highly played and strongly rated quizzes and lessons that Quizizz can contribute to your students’ commemoration of Black history.
Celebrate Black achievements
- What is Black History Month? Lesson by Michele Graf, grades 4–6
As is clear from the title, this lesson starts with the very basics of Black History Month. Using an appealing mix of photos, videos and multiple choice questions, the nine-slide deck breaks down key concepts, figures and timelines of why we celebrate this month each year. This lesson is a great beginning point to explore more Black history content as the school year continues.
- Black History Month Quiz by Kyle Hamline, grades 6–8
This 10-question quiz is a classic, but with a twist, and it has been played nearly 7,000 times! Students are asked about a diverse set of successful Black figures in the Supreme Court, the beauty industry, and even country music! If a few questions are too easy (ehm, Barack Obama and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), copy and edit this version to cater it to your own class.
- Black History Inventors Quiz by Dannette Lyons, grades 2–5
It’s never too early to learn about Black history! This elementary-level, 18-question quiz asks children about the heroes who invented everyday items like the hairbrush, pencil sharpener, and potato chips (very thankful for this man!) If the longer length won’t sit well with squirmy little ones, no worries — the self-paced style of Quizizz allows kiddos to work at their own speed. Looking for more? Quizizz user, Ms. Dawkins, teleported Ms. Lyons’ questions, and then added an additional 28 items to create her own mega version — fantastic move, Quizizz pro!
Honor Black voices
- Black History Trivia Quiz by Coach Miles, grades 3–12
Who doesn’t love a good set of trivia? This quiz asks about everything from literature and politics, to athletes and celebrities. Perhaps that’s why the creator, Coach Miles, found it suitable for such a wide age range. Need to tweak it closer to your students’ grade level? The Quizizz teleport feature can help! Our library provides a perfect start to any assignment, but you can still customize, repurpose and reuse. Thank us (and Coach Miles) later!
- The Movement to End Slavery Lesson by L Hodges, grade 6–8
Want to dig a little deeper for Black History Month? This 21-slide lesson, with multiple choice questions sprinkled throughout, will definitely deliver! It addresses multiple angles of the 1800’s anti-slavery movement, including the Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act, so it’s well-suited for a history class. Prefer a quiz on this topic instead of a full lesson? Patrick Rausch made this 22-question Abolitionists quiz that may be a good alternative. Use one, or both!
- Ain’t I A Woman Quiz by Leanna Aguirre, grade 6
Coupling this quiz with a class reading of Sojourner Truth’s famous “Ain’t I A Woman” poem could be the foundation for a fantastic middle school English Language Arts lesson. The 10 standards-aligned questions touch on tone, figurative language, word meanings, inference-making, theme and more. With the comprehensive reports created by Quizizz, the results of this activity will serve as helpful formative assessment data.
Acknowledge injustices against Black communities
- Black History Month Vocabulary Quiz by Jonathan Carbonaro, grade 4
This simple, straightforward vocabulary quiz provides a perfect way to practice word work. The 10-question activity, already played by a whopping 13.5K Quizizz users, includes common terms like ‘compassion’ and ‘determination,’ as well as historically relevant vocabulary like ‘integrate’ and ‘segregate’. Notice the clever images added to each question? Try including pictures and videos in your next Quizizz activity to enhance engagement!
- Injustice Quiz by Whitney Kaulbach, grade 7–8
With all the key components for a challenging addition to your middle school classroom, this quiz is based on key moments of Black history-related political issues throughout the 1700s and 1800s. These tough questions will inspire competition, and give your history buff students a chance to shine.
- Stamped: Anti-Racist Key Terms Quiz by Hannah Ferris, grade 7
This quiz is based on Stamped by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds, but even if your students haven’t read the book, this is still a solid pick. Why? It teases a text and encourages extra-curricular reading! Pair it with another piece of teacher-created content from our library, like this Stamped Anticipation Guide. The prompts will spur curiosity and inspire conversation in your classroom. What began as a simple activity can become a high-caliber learning experience.
There’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ way to roll out Black History Month material in your classroom. That’s why, in our dedication to support full-scope instruction, Quizizz offers the above activities to serve teachers in a variety of capacities — direct instruction, formative assessment, group work and homework; both in-person and remote, synchronously and asynchronously.
As the shortest month of the year, February surely doesn’t provide enough time to celebrate, honor and acknowledge the deep meaning behind Black History Month. However, we hope educators will use these invaluable Quizizz resources year-round as a way to continue to learn about and lift up the brilliant, brave and bold members of the Black community.
