FDR Teacher Creates Escape Room to Honor Black History Month

BRISTOL, PA---Janine Allen, a 6th grade ELA teacher at FDR Middle School, wanted to create an event in honor of Black History Month. Including a component that encouraged family involvement was also important. She created a Black History Escape Room, a project that unfolded during the month of February and culminated with a family escape room event in late February.

Allen’s students covered 30 African-American historians in 30 days. In researching the historians, the students learned new information, wrote essays, added photos and prepared posters. The information was loaded digitally and the escape room was created.

During the escape room exercise, teams used Chromebooks to unlock a series of questions related to what they learned about each historian. The teams received a folder of tasks and used their Chromebooks to research the answers. Each correct answer revealed a code that the team could input to move forward. After successfully completing five levels, the team received a code tha,t when submitted, determined the winners of the escape room challenge.

Students also participated in a class-wide effort that produced a colorful mural puzzle that features noted African-American historians.