INTRODUCTION
Looking for an exciting way to learn about the African American experience? Want to make social studies, American history, economics, and geography come alive? This is it! A program developed for elementary and middle schools and one of the most exciting educational activities for students and teachers. It is the Award Winning educational activity called The Black Saga Competition.
The Competition offers an exciting, fun-filled forum for students to learn about the experience of African Americans in the United States. Students are responsible for knowing the answers to more than 800 questions about the African American experience, an integral part of America's heritage.
BLACK SAGA IS ...
A learning competition that tests students' knowledge of the African American experience as a part of American history.- A learning experience for elementary and middle schools. All students (grades 4 through 8) are invited to participate.
- A team competition. Students participate in the Black Saga Competition only as a team made up of 3 students. (Between 5 and 18 teams in the "within" school competition). The building of friendships and community is evident.
- A multi-grade school competition. On each team (3 students), different grade levels can be represented. One student may be selected as team leader. Students in lower grades learn many skills from those in higher grades.
- A rigorous examination of a team's knowledge of the African American experience. Character and maturity are taught and many skills are sharpened.
- An examination of the historical and contemporary African American experience from before 1492 to the present. The development of mental timelines becomes essential to more effective learning.
- A learning experience through which students gain a number of valuable lessons, including working together in a multi-cultural setting to achieve academic excellence and to accept individual and team responsibilities.
- An experience that promotes and enhances self-esteem, improves academic excellence, builds community, and complements leadership.
- An experience that allows for the building of community; within the school as teachers work across disciplines to help students become competitive.
A multi-cultural learning experience in which teams are comprised of racial and ethnic group members. Individuals, families, communities, and society benefit from helping teams work toward common goals.