5th Grade Math Project Black History Month

5th Grade Math Review! Black History 5th Grade Project! Decimal rounding and comparison! Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing whole numbers and decimals! Measurement conversion and calculating volume! Now includes links for a Google Slides version of the project!

Black History Month is such an important time for students to celebrate and learn about the history of Black people across the world. Honestly, it should not be limited to just one month, it should be celebrated all year! It is often celebrated and studied in ELA/Literacy or Social Studies because of the obvious ties to standards in those subjects. However, it is important that it is not overlooked in Math class. I created this resource to show students the connections between reading, social studies and math, and to celebrate the history of Black people; the struggles, the achievements and the culture.

At this point in the year, it is also a critical time for students to spiral back and review math concepts that they learned earlier in the year. At this point, students should be fluent enough in their skills with whole numbers and decimals that they can apply these skills to story-problem situations.

This project reviews those whole number and decimal concepts such as whole number multiplication and division, decimal and whole number rounding, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of decimals, comparing decimals, measurement conversion and volume. The entire project is aligned to standards 5.NBT.A.2, 5.NBT.A.4, 5.NBT.B.5, 5.NBT.B.6, 5.NBT.B.7, 5.MD.A.1, 5.MD.C.5 (as well as 4.OA.A.2, 6.RP.A.3b and 6.NS.B.2). A standards-alignment guide is included on the following page.

In this resource, students will learn about 10 different famous African American people including: Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Sarah E. Goode, Langston Hughes, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Edna Lewis, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and Wilma Rudolph.

• For each historical figure, there is a paragraph-long mini-biography, with information about the history and accomplishments of that person. The approximate Lexile level of these paragraphs is 1,010-1,200 (with a few in the 810-1,000 range).
• Embedded within the biography is a single-step or multi-step story problem for students to solve related to that person’s history.
• There is also a multi-step story problem or fluency practice activity at the bottom of each page also related to the history of that person: a total of 10 pages and over 20 problems to solve!

There is also an extensions page at the end of the project which provides enrichment activities and challenges which go beyond the problems provided on each page! This is great for high-achieving and gifted students!

You can use the standards-alignment guide which includes a list by standard as well as a list by page to determine how you want students to work on this project. Students can work on it from beginning to end (it is in timeline order) to get a comprehensive review of all of the standards. Or you can choose which pages/people you want students to learn about and focus on based on the standard areas in which each student needs practice.

This is a great way to review prior to state testing in the spring, or just to give your students an engaging way to review and practice their problem-solving skills! It can easily be tied to Social Studies and ELA standards and can be made into a larger research-based project.

Resource opens as a ZIP file with printable and digital version included (link to a Google Slides version of this project also included).

I hope you and your students enjoy celebrating Black History Month while solving these engaging math review problems!