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Grade: K One pre-k class and 7 kindergarten classes to date have participated in a recently developed lesson using skin tone colored crayons. We introduced these crayons to the students by providing for guided discovery in naming the crayons that best matched each of their skin tones. Then, students had the opportunity to make a classroom palette of colors by comparing shades of crayons to other class members' skin tones. The vocabulary words introduced in this lesson were: melanin, ancestors, and the sun, through a collaborative bilingual Spanish read aloud of All the Colors We Are: The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color with Mrs. Yamira Raimundi, Region 15 parent and PHS Assistant Principal Secretary. This lesson was designed to foster awareness, love, and celebration of all skin tones and a healthy identity when it comes to skin color. | Grade: 3 Third grade students have been working in an opinion writing unit called "Changing the World: Persuasive Speeches, Petitions, and Editorials," which rallies students to practice the craft of opinion writing in the context of persuading their readers about causes they feel strongly about. This image is from a draft of GES third grade student Lalah Brown's compelling piece on racism. Students included a range of evidence for their opinions and reasons, including quotations from interviews, examples, etc., and applied elaboration and craft strategies to inspire their readers to agree with their topics and positions. | Grade: 5 Fifth grade students recently completed a nonfiction writing unit where they published feature articles. In doing so, students dug beyond important facts and into detailed descriptions of people, places, or ideas they were interested in. LMES fifth-grader Amanda Jose selected social injustice as her feature article topic, and excerpted here is her introduction. Still other students focused on related topics, such as justice for Breonna Taylor, for example. Students practiced the art of research using trusted sources and giving credit where appropriate, in addition to explaining different aspects of their subjects, balancing the discussion of facts with offering their own thinking. |
Grade: K
One pre-k class and 7 kindergarten classes to date have participated in a recently developed lesson using skin tone colored crayons. We introduced these crayons to the students by providing for guided discovery in naming the crayons that best matched each of their skin tones. Then, students had the opportunity to make a classroom palette of colors by comparing shades of crayons to other class members' skin tones. The vocabulary words introduced in this lesson were: melanin, ancestors, and the sun, through a collaborative bilingual Spanish read aloud of All the Colors We Are: The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color with Mrs. Yamira Raimundi, Region 15 parent and PHS Assistant Principal Secretary. This lesson was designed to foster awareness, love, and celebration of all skin tones and a healthy identity when it comes to skin color.
Grade: 3
Third grade students have been working in an opinion writing unit called "Changing the World: Persuasive Speeches, Petitions, and Editorials," which rallies students to practice the craft of opinion writing in the context of persuading their readers about causes they feel strongly about. This image is from a draft of GES third grade student Lalah Brown's compelling piece on racism. Students included a range of evidence for their opinions and reasons, including quotations from interviews, examples, etc., and applied elaboration and craft strategies to inspire their readers to agree with their topics and positions.
Grade: 5
Fifth grade students recently completed a nonfiction writing unit where they published feature articles. In doing so, students dug beyond important facts and into detailed descriptions of people, places, or ideas they were interested in. LMES fifth-grader Amanda Jose selected social injustice as her feature article topic, and excerpted here is her introduction. Still other students focused on related topics, such as justice for Breonna Taylor, for example. Students practiced the art of research using trusted sources and giving credit where appropriate, in addition to explaining different aspects of their subjects, balancing the discussion of facts with offering their own thinking.
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Read The National Museum of African American History and Culture has a comprehensive site for parents/guardians and caregivers on helping children understand what race is, how it operates in society, and why it is important in America. Information centers on fostering healthy racial identity, working with children as family members on the complexities of race, and how to support students in being change agents in their own lives. | Watch In this talk, Verna Myers asks us to "walk toward your discomfort...do an inventory...expand your personal and professional circles... Who's in your circle? Who's missing? How many authentic relationships do you have with young, Black people...or any other major difference from who you are?" She emphasizes that "it's the empathy and compassion that come out of having relationships with people that are different from you. You start to realize that they are you, they are part of you, they are in your family." And she shares so, so much more wisdom, too... | ListenMartin Luther King, Jr. Day is January 18, less than a month away. While created for educators, this episode is highly recommended - on teaching and learning an accurate version of Dr. King's life and activism. This brilliant podcast focus on "deconstruct[ing] the mythology surrounding the [Civil Rights] movement's most iconic figure," Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
Read
The National Museum of African American History and Culture has a comprehensive site for parents/guardians and caregivers on helping children understand what race is, how it operates in society, and why it is important in America. Information centers on fostering healthy racial identity, working with children as family members on the complexities of race, and how to support students in being change agents in their own lives.
Watch
In this talk, Verna Myers asks us to "walk toward your discomfort...do an inventory...expand your personal and professional circles... Who's in your circle? Who's missing? How many authentic relationships do you have with young, Black people...or any other major difference from who you are?" She emphasizes that "it's the empathy and compassion that come out of having relationships with people that are different from you. You start to realize that they are you, they are part of you, they are in your family." And she shares so, so much more wisdom, too...
Listen
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is January 18, less than a month away. While created for educators, this episode is highly recommended - on teaching and learning an accurate version of Dr. King's life and activism. This brilliant podcast focus on "deconstruct[ing] the mythology surrounding the [Civil Rights] movement's most iconic figure," Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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