February 13, 2022 · curriculum
The tracking table we gave students to guide reflection and record observations during our investigation. Congratulations to teachers who have made it halfway through February! It is always a feat of endurance, but even more so this year. Last year, my co-teacher and I decided to find a way for students to exchange cards (no food) despite all of the challenges as we felt that they needed the joy and celebration. We were back in person, but only for half days, and the adults at our school had just started to get vaccinated. So we had the students bring in cards earlier in the week, distribute them in bags they decorated, and then had the bags “quarantine” so we would all feel comfortable touching them. This was before the revelations about how COVID actually spreads and we wanted to bring some connection and fun to a very odd school year. Of course, we said no food, and specified that
holidaysValentine's Dayvalentineracesocial class
November 30, 2021 · curriculum
My 3rd graders and I have been learning all about maps! We learned about different features of maps, different kinds of maps, made our own maps (which were so creative) and more. This week, my co-teacher and I asked students to bring in a map from home. We told students it was their “homework” so they took the assignment very seriously, reporting talking to their parents to get permission and reporting back to us that they looked at different maps they found at home and decided not to bring in some that were too large or fragile etc. Once we all had maps at school (and we of course had some extra ones for students who forgot), we started our map exploration. First, as a class, we watched a Brainpop (not Brainpop Jr.) video about map skills and reviewed features of maps we might look for and reminded ourselves to use the map key or legend to help us understand the information the map was
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November 9, 2021 · blog posts
We ran a Students of Color affinity group for grades 3-5 at our school and hope to be able to meet again later this year. We used to meet during lunch (pre-COVID) which was so lovely, but since that’s currently not possible with all of our protocols, we are trying to find another time and space. We’ve found that many schools have affinity groups for older students, but want to share support and ideas for starting an affinity group with some of the younger ones as well. Our crew really benefited from it and it was a time we all looked forward to as a breather during the week! What to Prepare A general overview of your proposal/plan to share with administrators so they know and take this endeavor seriously. Everything about this process is easier if you have administrator buy-in. They will be bombarded by at least a few parents as you get going, soon enough. Maps/globe Vocabulary: Race,
affinity groupsStudents of Colorlower schoolelementary schoolrace
February 28, 2018 · curriculum
Now that February is ending (how is it already March?!), we are looking back to the beginning of the month when we participated in the nationwide Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action . When talking about something like Black Lives Matter with third graders, we work hard to make sure that the points of entry and examples are tangible, accessible, and developmentally appropriate. As we reflected on Dr. Martin Luther King Day , anti-bias education is not something we do just one week (or day, or month) out of the year. It is something we try to do all day, every day as part of our curriculum, teaching philosophy, and classroom culture. The people we highlight and celebrate in our classroom day to day reflect the diversity of our world (just like we the teachers do!). Image from https://wearoutthesilence.org We started our BLM week by asking students: What do you know about Black
Black Lives Mattersocial justice educationanti-biasrace
March 15, 2017 · curriculum
We submitted a piece about an experience from our classroom to Embrace Race, a multiracial community of people supporting each other to help nurture kids who are thoughtful and informed about race. It was published recently! Please read T he Message We Send When We Try Not to Talk About Race and let us know what you
racemediumpublished piecesdiscussion
November 20, 2016 · curriculum
"It's personal." "No one has ever talked about race in front of me so I think you don't talk about it. Ever." "My parents have only talked about it once in front of me and they were REALLY uncomfortable, so I learned you shouldn't talk about race." Earlier this school year, we asked our students what they know about talking about race. A few representative responses are quoted above. All of our students also agreed that race is confusing and they don't know much about it. We discussed how when something is confusing or we don't know much about it, the way to learn more about it IS to talk about it, even if it is uncomfortable. So, this week was "race week" in our classroom. We started with a drawing activity , challenging students to realize stereotypes and expectations they've internalized without realizing, and continue on to learning about institutionalized racism and learning
raceanti-biasdrawingstereotypesilent conversation
October 19, 2016 · curriculum
The newly opened National Museum of African-American History & Culture ! What an AMAZING museum. Our minds are still reeling with personal thoughts and our own identity politics, along with the incessant thinking that teachers do about every single one of their students and their learning. Our brains are on museum-fire! Here are few things we are thinking about post-trip. As adults -- we were reminded yet again the beauty, pain, and necessity of education. We especially loved the quote above. We also felt immensely grateful to be teaching at a (progressive and independent) school where we have autonomy over our curriculum and discussion topics. We feel even more well-equipped (even just taking photos at the museum has given us so many resources and jumping off points). In addition, we feel even more charged to continue educating, re-educating, and unlearning with our students this year!
field tripsracecivil rightsprotestsNMAAHC