By Tamar LaSure-Owens, NJEA Consortium Design Team Ambassador
To honor the diverse nations that make up the Caribbean, students are engaging in a vibrant learning activity: coloring 24 country flags while exploring the rich histories, languages, and cuisines that define the region. The unit launched with a thought-provoking video, USPTO Celebrates Caribbean American Heritage Month, which highlighted the diversity of the Caribbean—from Haiti and Jamaica to Guyana and beyond. Students learned how the region’s cultures, carnivals, music, dance and languages have enriched American life. The video also emphasized the powerful contributions of Caribbean Americans to innovation through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Inspired by the video, students became especially intrigued by the linguistic and racial diversity across Caribbean nations. They were surprised—and excited—to hear people who looked like them speaking Spanish, English, Creole, Japanese and other dialects. This sparked meaningful discussions around the Trans-Atlantic Human Trade, colonialism and how enslaved Africans were transported to various islands, where they developed distinct languages and cultures.
Students also recalled the class read-aloud Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson and made deep connections to the passages about the Kingdom of Ndongo. They reflected on the rich culture, language, and history of African people prior to enslavement. These reflections helped them understand that the Caribbean is not just a region of beautiful islands—but a place where African traditions were transformed and preserved in new and powerful ways.
“I didn’t know people in the Caribbean spoke so many languages. It made me think about how Africans kept their culture even after slavery.”
“When I saw the flag of Haiti, I got excited because that’s where my family is from. I want to learn more about what food they eat and how they got free from slavery.”
“I liked learning about the Kingdom of Ndongo from Born on the Water. It reminded me that we had our own language and kings and queens before slavery.”
To deepen their learning, each student received a research packet featuring 24 Caribbean nations. For each country, students are answering three essential questions:
- When did slavery begin and end in this country?
- What is the official language of this country?
- What is the national dish of this country?
Students are expected to write in complete sentences to produce a polished and thoughtful packet. This approach strengthens academic writing skills while encouraging students to take pride in their heritage and research. The independent research sparked excitement as students discovered that some of the countries—such as the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and Cuba—are connected to their own family histories. Caribbean American Heritage Month has become more than just a social studies unit—it’s a celebration of identity, history and pride that resonates deeply in Triumphant Third Grade.