January 2021 Lessons that Make Cents
To celebrate African American History Month this February, the Mint is highlighting educational resources, games, and coins that honor the stories, contributions, and experiences of Black Americans.
Monthly Mint Trivia: The America the Beautiful Quarters® Program will end this year with the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site Quarter. Which quarter launched the program in 2010?
Celebrating Black History
The Mint has honored the stories of notable Black Americans and events through various coins and medals. Visit the Black History Congressional Gold Medals collection and share these stories with your students. Other coins that celebrate important contributions of Black Americans include the American Innovation $1 Coin South Carolina (Septima Clark), the District of Columbia Quarter (Duke Ellington), and the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site Quarter.
Lessons on the U.S. Mint website to dive deeper into the coins and medals mentioned above include:
- Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lesson page
- Frederick Douglass National Historical Site: Champion a Cause (Grades 4-6): Students will identify causes Frederick Douglass believed in. Students will define and discuss being involved in a cause and share causes they personally believe in.
- Frederick Douglass National Historical Site: A Notable Narrative (Grades 2-3): Students will learn how Frederick Douglass fought for equality and justice for all people.
- Music to My Ears (Grades 4-6): The student will identify qualities, histories, and persons associated with different musical genres.
- Let’s Do a Biography (Grades 2-3): Students will correctly sequence a series of events. Students will examine the lives of people who have influenced the District of Columbia.
- Musician Extraordinaire (Grades K-1): Students will understand the role of a musician, composer and conductor.
Want more ideas? Reach out to education.outreach@usmint.treas.gov for recommendations on lesson plans and activities for your students.
Coin of the Month: Rosa Parks Congressional Gold Medal
2020 marked the 65th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. The Mint honors the woman who started the boycotts and was an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement: Rosa Parks.
Rosa Parks was a seamstress who found herself in jail one evening in 1955. The reason she was arrested was that she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. Her quiet dignity sparked a bus boycott that helped to change the unfair way Black Americans were treated in the South. She kept working for civil rights for many years after.
This medal was given for her contributions to the nation as the “first lady of civil rights” and “mother of the freedom movement.” Her “quiet dignity ignited the most significant social movement in the history of the United States.”
Plinky’s Presidential Challenge
Celebrate Presidents’ Day early with Plinky’s Presidential Challenge.
Legacy of Frederick Douglass
Learn about Frederick Douglass in this America the Beautiful Quarter video.
Play the Updated Memory Match Kids Game
Use the America the Beautiful Quarters to test your memory skills with Memory Match.
We Want to Hear from You!
Are you interested in incorporating coins into your classroom next year, but aren’t sure where to start? Let us help you! The U.S. Mint offers K-12 lesson plans, 12 online educational games, 100+ videos, online quizzes, a free 2020 Coin Coloring Book PDF, and other resources. Reach out to us at education.outreach@usmint.treas.gov to request resources that fit your education needs.
Trivia Answer: The Hot Springs National Park Quarter launched the American Beautiful Quarters Program in 2010.