April 7, 2023 · curriculum
Happy Arab American Heritage Month! Some reminders and tips: Note that Muslim characters or a Muslim author or illustrator is NOT the same as Arab. Not all Muslims are Arabs (as this map of the Muslim population by country shows). If you feel like going down a maps rabbit hole, here are some more maps: 40 maps that explain the Middle East ! Arabs are not all Muslim . Arabs are speakers of Arabic which is different from Middle Eastern people. Read more here: Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim? What’s the Difference?! - TeachMideast Persians are not Arabs. Read more here: MYTH vs. FACT: Persians and Arabs - American Iranian Council . (We’ll have to do a separate post about some of our favorite Persian authors and books!) If these designations are confusing for you and your students, start by looking at a map (cover photo) and talking about what you know and brainstorming how you could
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March 1, 2023 · curriculum
Happy Women’s History Month! We last wrote about how we recognized Women’s History Month in the classroom in 2018 when we were co-teaching in 3rd grade with this post: Womyn's/ Womxn's/ Women's Herstory Month . All of those books are still wonderful and the general tie ins with other subjects, March Book Madness , and celebrating International Women’s Day are all things I would be bringing into my classroom if I was teaching this year. I also am intrigued by the FairPlay Home (Eq)uity Tool Kit . I haven’t used this myself and still need to investigate more, but love the idea (and the tagline “Close the Chore Gap!”). Instead of stopping at acknowledging women’s invisible labor (or expressing gratitude to all the amazing women in our lives), let’s teach kids to be aware of it and think critically about it. You know kids will find a creative solution to the “chore gap” and be reflective
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October 13, 2022 · curriculum
October is LGBT History Month ! While the month has already started, it’s never too late to join in and introduce (or re-introduce) your students (and yourself) to some LGBT icons. As explained on their site, “Each day in October, a new LGBT Icon is featured with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images and other resources.” You can find out more in the 2022 Overview Video . Remember that LGBT History Month is a reminder only - we should be learning about LGBT people every day of the year. If students ask why LGBT people have a specific history month, just ask the question right back to them: why do YOU think we celebrate a specific history month for LGBT people? You can have them generate a list of names of LGBT people they’ve learned about at school in the past. I had a student ask why there wasn’t a “straight history month” and another student responded, “That’s EVERY month.”
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