In honor of Black History Month, Shmoop, a Silicon Valley-based learning resource website, has compiled 47 free learning guides for high school students. Shmoop salutes those - from the biggest names to the most ordinary people - who've shaped the African American experience over nearly 400 years. Those highlighted include David Walker, Toni Morrison, Malcolm X, and Jay-Z, among others.

Shmoop offers free Learning Guides in seven subjects: literature, poetry, bestsellers, U.S. history, civics, biography, and music. Shmoop uses a conversational tone in combination with pop culture, trivia and humor to help make topics approachable and relevant to high school students. Shmoop Learning Guides are written by educators and experts, and contain analysis, questions, quotes, and multimedia for each topic.

Shmoop also offers Teacher's Editions for 18 of its Learning Guides, including Hamlet and Twilight. Its Teacher's Editions provide free access to standards-based activities and related interdisciplinary readings. Premium teacher resources are also available, including discussion and essay questions, quizzes, and activities for relating the topic to current events and pop culture.

For more information on Shmoop's Black History Month learning guides, visit http://blog.shmoop.com/2010/02/01/black-history-month-2010/.

Source: Shmoop, www.shmoop.com