teaching resource

Black History Profile: Thomas Mundy Peterson - Comprehension Worksheet

Google Slide, PDF | 3 pages | Grades: 3 - 6

Review our profile on history-maker Thomas Mundy Peterson and answer questions to reinforce understanding.

Who is Thomas Mundy Peterson?

Celebrate Black History Month in your classroom with this reading exercise about the first African American to vote under the 15th Amendment.

In March of 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson cast his ballot in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, for a new town charter. While that might seem like a typical act of citizenship, this momentous demonstration came weeks after the United States made it unlawful to deny men the right to vote based on race, color, or previous servitude.

In this 2-page worksheet, students will read an informational passage about Thomas Mundy Peterson. They’ll practice word recognition and decode unknown words and phrases through context clues. Then they’ll answer 4 reading comprehension questions to confirm they grasp the significance of this event in Black and American history.

An answer key is included with this resource for easy grading.

Ways to Use This Reading Comprehension Activity

This download is more than a worksheet!

In addition to being an inspiring figure to study during Black History Month, use this worksheet as a:

Fast finisher activity
Reading center activity
Post-lesson exit ticket
Homework assignment
Whole-class review (via smartboard)

Sustainability Tips: Print on cardstock and slip the pages into dry-erase sleeves. Students can record their answers with a dry-erase marker, then erase and reuse. You can also project the worksheet and work through it as a class, having students record their answers in their notebooks.

More Meaningful Black History Month Activities for Kids »

Before You Download

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the Google Slides version, full-color PDF, or black and white PDF. Depending on your lesson, you can also opt to:

Print the poster on tabloid paper and display it as a poster in your classroom during Black History Month.
Print the poster and comprehension questions on letter-size paper for your students to use independently.
Download the Google Slides version and print it as in-class worksheets or assign it virtually to your remote learning students.

Get more in our collection of Black History Month teaching resources »

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Curriculum

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.4

Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.4.B

Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.10

By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.4.4

Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.10

By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.5.4

Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

ELAR 3.4

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--fluency. The student reads grade-level text with fluency and comprehension. The student is expected to use appropriate fluency (rate...
1. TEKS ELAR
2. TEKS ELAR 3
ELAR 3.5

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--self-sustained reading. The student reads grade-appropriate texts independently. The student is expected to self-select text and rea...
1. TEKS ELAR
2. TEKS ELAR 3
ELAR 3.6(I)

Monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, and annotating when understanding breaks down.
ELAR 3.7(B)

Write a response to a literary or informational text that demonstrates an understanding of a text;
ELAR 3.9(D)(ii)

Features such as sections, tables, graphs, timelines, bullets, numbers, and bold and italicized font to support understanding; and
ELAR 4.4

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--fluency. The student reads grade-level text with fluency and comprehension. The student is expected to use appropriate fluency (rate...
1. TEKS ELAR
2. TEKS ELAR 4
ELAR 4.5

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--self-sustained reading. The student reads grade-appropriate texts independently. The student is expected to self-select text and rea...
1. TEKS ELAR
2. TEKS ELAR 4
ELAR 4.6(I)

Monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, and annotating when understanding breaks down.
ELAR 4.7(B)

Write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts, including comparing and contrasting ideas across a variety of sources;
ELAR 5.4

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--fluency. The student reads grade-level text with fluency and comprehension. The student is expected to use appropriate fluency (rate...
1. TEKS ELAR
2. TEKS ELAR 5
ELAR 5.5

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--self-sustained reading. The student reads grade-appropriate texts independently. The student is expected to self-select text and rea...
1. TEKS ELAR
2. TEKS ELAR 5
ELAR 5.7(B)

Write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts, including comparing and contrasting ideas across a variety of sources;
ELAR 5.9(D)(ii)

Features such as insets, timelines, and sidebars to support understanding; and
ELAR 6.2(B)

Use context such as definition, analogy, and examples to clarify the meaning of words;
ELAR 6.3

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--fluency. The student reads grade-level text with fluency and comprehension. The student is expected to adjust fluency when reading grade-leve...
1. TEKS ELAR
2. TEKS ELAR 6
ELAR 6.5(F)

Make inferences and use evidence to support understanding;
ELAR 6.6(B)

Write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts, including comparing sources within and across genres;
Social Studies 3.1(A)

Describe how individuals, events, and ideas have changed communities, past and present;
Social Studies 3.1(B)

Identify individuals, including Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, Benjamin Banneker, and Benjamin Franklin, who have helped to shape communities; and
Social Studies 3.9(A)

Identify characteristics of good citizenship, including truthfulness, justice, equality, respect for oneself and others, responsibility in daily life, and participation in government by educating oneself about the issues, respectfully holding public ...
Social Studies 3.9(B)

Identify figures such as Helen Keller, Clara Barton, and Ruby Bridges who exemplify good citizenship;
Social Studies 3.11(B)

Identify and describe the heroic deeds of individuals such as Harriet Tubman, Todd Beamer, and other contemporary heroes.
Social Studies 4.15(A)

Identify important individuals who have participated voluntarily in civic affairs at state and local levels such as Adina de Zavala and Clara Driscoll;
Social Studies 4.15(D)

Identify the importance of historical figures and important individuals who modeled active participation in the democratic process such as Sam Houston, Barbara Jordan, Lorenzo de Zavala, Ann Richards, Henry B. González, Wallace Jefferson, and other ...
Social Studies 5.18(A)

Identify past and present leaders in the national government, including the president and various members of Congress, and their political parties; and
Social Studies 5.18(B)

Identify leadership qualities of national leaders, past and present.
Social Studies 6.2(A)

Identify and describe the historical influence of individuals or groups on various contemporary societies; and
Social Studies 6.2(B)

Describe the social, political, economic, and cultural contributions of individuals and groups from various societies, past and present.

Author

Garrett

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