I love when ETFO releases their heritage month posters. They are such a valuable resource that teachers can use all year long and not just during heritage months. Annually, ETFO releases heritage month posters for Black History Month, Asian Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, and Jewish Heritage month. You can find the past years’ posters on the ETFO website.
These posters are an important way to bring acknowledgement and celebration of different identities to the classroom. You can be rest assured that the poster designs were created by artists who self-identify with that heritage and they are engaging and beautiful. Accompanying each poster you will see background information for you, the educator, to feel confident in teaching and learning about the message of the poster. You will also find a lesson plan or discussion prompts with some of the posters that help to guide conversations with students around the visual. Because they are posted on the ETFO website, you can project past and current posters to a screen or on a device so that you can look at all the details together.
There are a few different strategies that I’ve used to engage with the heritage month posters. I do suggest that you read the background information for educators to prepare for questions and guide conversations as students usually have lots to look at and ask questions about when they first see one of these designs. While I sometimes will engage in a whole class discussion or follow one of the ETFO lesson plans more closely, other times I will have an opening activity for students to engage with a few different posters. Two activities that I’ve used this year are:
Carousel Walk
- Select a few posters to display around the room. I’ve kept physical versions of past year’s posters, but you can display them on devices or project them onto a board.
- Place a chart paper with each poster. Have students circulate in small groups and with a marker or pencil, they write down anything they see on the poster or one word about how the design makes them feel.
- Discuss and debrief their ideas together as a large group. I always like to end with an exit card asking the students what they are inspired to learn more about from the posters.
Think & Mingle
- When I use this strategy, I engage with one poster at a time and display it so everyone can see, whether projecting or a physical poster.
- Each student receives a sticky note and writes down what they notice and wonder about the visual.
- After a few minutes, ask students to stand up. I usually play some soft music and ask them to move around the room and when the music stops they find a partner
- They share what they wrote with their partner and discuss. It’s great when the teacher also participates in sharing ideas with a partner and really listens to what the students are noticing and wondering
- To wrap up, we create a class t-chart and to use their wonderings to guide a class inquiry
If you’re looking for resources that will spark conversation and inquiry in all grade levels, the ETFO Heritage Month posters are a perfect start. They provide a launching point for so much rich conversation and are well researched documents that are ready and easy to use in the classroom.
