Haitian Heritage Month

May is Haitian Heritage Month! There are many ways to celebrate Haitian Heritage Month, but why not start with asking students what they know about Haiti, finding Haiti on a map, and learning more about Haiti? 

After Gabby and I took a social justice educators’ tour to the Dominican Republic, we shared some of our experiences with our students and they were fascinated by the fact that Haiti and the Dominican Republic share an island, but are two completely separate countries that speak different languages. This led to a great discussion about why certain languages are spoken where and how borders are created and are a social construct. Our trip encouraged me to learn more about Haiti as what little I knew came from books (I definitely recommend American Street by Ibi Zoboi) and a few friends of Haitian origin. I was embarrassed that I knew almost no Haitian history and had no idea that the US occupied Haiti for almost 20 years (from 1915-1934)!

Some picture books with Haitian or Haitian American characters that we’ve enjoyed (and that were a success with students) are below.

Malika's Costume by Nadia Hohn is now the start of a series of 3 books! I’ve only read the first one and used it with students. They made a lot of connections to wanting a specific costume for Halloween, missing parents, spending time with grandparents, and being creative. They also had a lot of questions about celebrating Carnival and why someone’s mother might be working in another country.

Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation by Edwidge Danticat

Our students had a lot of questions about refugee status after we read this book. We also talked about how a quick and successful resolution to immigration challenges is very unusual. You can find more ideas for relevant picture books here (I’m also a big fan of The Journey by Francesca Sanna). Students may have different levels of familiarity about immigration status and varied understanding (or lack thereof) of what the word “refugee” means, so be prepared to teach into this.

You can find more read aloud ideas here: Children's Picture Books: Stories about Characters of Haitian Ethnicity | Diverse BookFinder and here: Teaching About Haiti - Social Justice Books.
My students were also intrigued to learn more about Haitian Creole as it wasn’t a language they had heard of before and they had a lot of questions about its connections with French. I always love teaching students about food (and cooking and eating, if possible!), and music is a great connection to the language(s), history, and culture of a place. Of course, the best way to learn about a place is to actually speak to people who have connections there. We also love looking at photographs through Google Earth so students can dispel any misconceptions about what certain areas of the world have or do not have.

As I mentioned earlier, our trip to the Dominican Republic made me wish I had learned about the Haitian Revolution much earlier. Haiti was the first modern state to abolish slavery and the first state in the world to be formed from a successful revolt of enslaved black peoples. Why isn’t this history featured more (or at all) in (American) schools as an example of resistance and revolution? It is an important counter narrative to slavery in the United States (Thomas Jefferson, who was the US president at the time, was very aware of this). 'The Greatest Heist In History': How Haiti Was Forced To Pay Reparations For Freedom : Planet Money : NPR details what happened after Haiti became an independent state, in particular France and the USA’s attempts to delegitimize and destabilize the new nation. 

This story, Haiti faces disasters and chaos. Its people are most likely to be denied U.S. asylum, from 2021 could help students see how history affects the present and why and how past actions and policies continue to matter and leave their mark today. 

Teaching students about slavery is challenging for so many reasons, but learning about the Haitian Revolution could help students understand the many different systems at play and how slavery wasn’t an isolated event happening in the United States. Students could analyze economic, political, social, and geographic factors and ask questions and formulate theories about who was trying (and continues to try) to control narratives and perception and why we still only learn certain parts of history and hear certain perspectives. Looking at two timelines side by side (US slavery and the events in Haiti) or looking at primary sources like photographs would be an accessible and age appropriate way for elementary school students to start this rigorous and engaging work. 

We know it is May and you don’t have time for anything, let alone creating and teaching an in depth history and analysis unit, but maybe this is something to think about for next year or a future opportunity. Acknowledging Haitian Heritage Month and giving your students space to think about what they might want to learn could be a great morning activity and read alouds always help calm students down and dissipate some of that end of the school year energy. However you choose to recognize this month, we wish you a peaceful and calm May and happy Haitian Heritage Month!

Black Lives Matter at School Week and Black History Month

It is suddenly February and BLM at School Week (February 6-10) is here! I am not in a classroom this year, so am sharing some of our past work below in case anyone is looking for a new angle, read aloud, activity, or any other reminder.

One quote that has been sticking with me lately is from Walidah Imarisha as she masterfully explains Why Aren’t There More Black People in Oregon? She says, “I call it a living legacy not history because it walks with us everyday.” That seems like a perfect way to conceptualize Black History Month and how to center what we teach our students in the present and the future.

Black History Month (from 2022)

Black History Lesson: Sit-Ins (from 2021)

Black Lives Matter at School (from 2021)

Black History Month: Past Ideas & Thoughts (from 2020)

Ideas for Black History Month and Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action (from 2019)

Reflecting on Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action (from 2018)

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Happy LGBT History Month

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.” 

Also, don’t assume students know what LGBT stands for - go ahead and teach into it. If you think your students need more vocabulary instruction, the LGBT Resource Center provides some general definitions. Make sure your students have the language to ask questions and make connections!

Don’t worry if you don’t have a lot of class time to spare - just telling students about the month and some of the icons featured is a great start! Introducing each icon could also be part of a sign in or morning routine. The videos for the icon of the day go live each day and are very brief. The site also has biographical information for each icon and links to other resources.

Subscribe to our blog:

Holiday Inquiry: Columbus Day

Last week, we reconsidered Columbus Day. While our school does not recognize the holiday and remained in session on Monday, it is still a federal holiday and many of our students’ parents had the day off.

To lead up to our inquiry work, we asked students to respond to the question, “If you could create a holiday, what holiday would you create and why?” for their Morning Work. They had predictably fun and silly ideas - Kids’ Day when you get unlimited candy, Pets’ Day when pets can go everywhere, etc. However, the idea emerged that a holiday is about celebrating someone or something POSITIVE.

Later that week, we did a read aloud of Encounter by Jane Yolen and David Shannon, which tells the story of Columbus arriving in San Salvador in 1492 from the perspective of a Taino child. After reading the story, we had students complete an I think/I wonder chart about the the events described in the book.

We then had a whole class discussion about who Christopher Columbus was, with students calling into question the idea that “he discovered America.” We found San Salvador on a world map, and looked at this map showing his Columbus’s four voyages. Students were surprised that he never actually came to the continental United States, and confused by the idea of “discovering” a new place when people already lived there.

One student clarified, “He discovered the Americas for white people in Europe.”

Other students had questions about how Columbus and the other Europeans with him treated the Taino people. In Encounter, the narrator (a Taino child) describes touching a sword and getting “bitten.” We discussed how there will be an imbalance of power between someone who has weapons and someone who does not. Students asked what Columbus did that should be celebrated with a holiday (other than the previously mentioned “discovered the Americas for white people in Europe.”)

Next, we watched Reconsider Columbus Day. Some of our students had heard of Indigenous People’s Day, but most had not. They liked the idea of going back to their original idea of a holiday to celebrate someone or something positive. One student asked, “Why would there be a holiday for someone who was bad?”

We let students reflect and discuss that question, and then had them write responses to what they had learned and what they were still thinking or wondering about. Many of them still had questions and continued to grapple with the idea of a holiday for someone who hurt other people.

One of our student's written responses after our discussion.

On Monday, in honor of Indigenous People’s Day, we watched Indigenous People’s Day and Daunette on Being Native American. We will continue our investigation of holidays, monuments, and whose perspective is heard, valued, and prioritized all year.

Subscribe to our blog:

75th Anniversary of Executive Order 9066 (Japanese Incarceration) Resources

Sunday, February 19th is the 75th anniversary of the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 (in 1945) which led to the removal and internment of approximately 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry. Many of them were US citizens. Many of them lost property or were forced to sell at a loss when they were removed and relocated. I personally find “relocation” and “internment” misleading as people were incarcerated and given no choice about their removal from their homes.

Image credit: http://hdjapaneseinternment.weebly.com/uploads/6/8/7/3/6873644/9418554_orig.jpg

While this shameful occurrence in American history is and always will be relevant, it feels especially relevant today with the recent Muslim ban, fears of a Muslim registry, and frequent executive orders. You know your students and school best, so I compiled some resources to potentially use in the classroom. This list is by no means exhaustive, so please comment if you have other resources you’d recommend.

In our class, we will start with a sign in on our front board with images and the writing prompts “I think..” and “I wonder..” We will respond to students’ questions and clarify misconceptions.

Image credit: http://katieyamasaki.com/work/fish-for-jimmy/

Later, we will do a read aloud of A Fish For Jimmy by Katie Yamasaki. It has gorgeous illustrations and is a tale of an older sibling taking care of a younger sibling, so many of our students find the main character relatable.

We will also look as some images from this photo essay: Photo essay with some background information from the Atlantic

We will watch the video below by Frank Chi. This video is poignant and clearly makes the parallel to today without directly saying anything political. It’s worth watching yourself and sharing with others even if you don’t share it with your students.

Muslim Kids Read Heartbreaking Letters From WWII To Show How History Is Repeating Itself

Other resources:

Eight Essential Japanese American History Books for Young Readers

Life in a WWII Japanese American Internment Camp (educator resources from the Smithsonian Museum of American History)

Oral histories from of Japanese Americans from Telling Their Stories (Elders interviewed by students - this is a great resource for Social Studies teachers in general!)

Information about the Supreme Court case, Korematsu v. U.S., which legalized Japanese-American internment.

Zinn Education project related lesson and materials archive

We'd love to hear if you use any of these or have resources you'd recommend of your own!

Subscribe to our blog: