Banned Books Week 2023

Banned Books Week is next week (October 1-7, 2023). As you can see from the infographic above, censorship continues to increase. I read about new books being banned or challenged almost everyday. Often they are books I love and have used in my classroom. Apart from supporting and celebrating librarians and libraries (as we advocated in our Banned Books Week 2022 post!), it’s hard to know what to do. Penguin Random House shares some resources and ideas for activism and advocacy here. For Banned Books Week in schools, we have some ideas below as well.

Attend this free webinar from the Illinois Library Association on October 2nd to learn about their important work and what you can do.

Request a Free RIGHT TO READ KIT from Rally for the Right to Read.

Participate in Let Freedom Read Day. This year is the first time Banned Books Week has included a day of action.

Read banned books with your students (if you are in a position to do so). Two books that would be a great place to start are and related author interviews are:

The Banned-Books Bake Sale | Author | Aya Khalil 

Interview with ARABIC QUILT author Aya Khalil - Storytime Solidarity

A Library by Nikki Giovanni 

Nikki Giovanni is against banning any book - The Washington Post

More ideas here: Books about Banning Books - ALSC

If you are in the classroom or in a school, you can talk to kids about Banned Books Week and take action. Start by asking students what they know about banning books or banned books. You can also introduce the vocabulary word censorship. Once they’ve shared what they know, I like to give students a real life example and then we come up with a definition together. 

For elementary school students, the best way to make banning books tangible is to show them books you have already read as a class that are banned in certain places. You can show students this image of some banned books in York, PA or this site with pictures of banned books and ask if there are any books they recognize. Penguin Random House also has a site with resources and banned books. For younger students, it would be helpful to have physical copies of banned books (if you are able/allowed to do so!)

Some books we love and recommend that have been banned are:

• Papa, Daddy, and Riley by Seamus Kirst

• Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora

• Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed

• Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts

This interview with Seamus Kirst about Papa, Daddy, and Riley being banned would work for students (until 0:51) Syracuse author speaks out about book banning | WRVO Public Media.

However you choose to introduce the concept and books to students, make sure you ask questions and let them ask questions afterward. I would start with:

What do you notice about the books that have been banned? 

Why might someone want to ban these books? 

Another potential question for older students could be: Is it ever okay to ban a book? Why or why not? If it is, when?

You can also show students the images above. The Native- Authored books graphic is from the invaluable Debbie Reese, more details here, and I took the 2018 Diversity in Children’s Books infographic from Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen’s blog and the updated 2021 version from this tweet. Students may need help reading the fine print on the 2021 graphic that says only 2% of children’s books feature Indigenous characters. So there are proportionally very few books with Indigenous characters AND many of those books are being banned. You can ask students the same questions above, or simply ask them what they notice and wonder. If applicable, you could also share how it feels to see yourself in a book and why that is important to you (for example, I LOVE daal, and having it so lovingly depicted in Bilal Cooks Daal is incredibly validating after a childhood “explaining” Indian food to non-South Asians).
Show them these posters as an example of students taking action against book bans: “Free Our Books” Say Fourth Graders After Studying Representation and Book Bans and ask students what they want to do to take action themselves. They might want to write letters, make posters, make videos, make a podcast, have a protest, or something else!

Disability Pride Month

July is Disability Pride Month in recognition of the fact that the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed on July 26th, 1990. I missed the opportunity to write about Disability Pride Month last month, but saw this event: Centering Disabilities in the Classroom and felt inspired so figured a week late isn’t too bad. Also, with classroom set up and back to school looming, I know I appreciate reminders about setting up my classroom in the most accessible way possible and thinking about all the different voices and perspectives I want to showcase.

I share some resources and ideas below, but really, this event on Wednesday, August 16th from Lee & Low Books with Patty Cisneros Prevo (author of Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes as pictured above) looks fabulous and valuable on many fronts. 

As Emily Ladau says, “language is one of the most important signals that we have to demonstrate our acceptance or rejection of a person’s identity.” This quote is a great place to start with students as you work to examine your language, how your class wants to choose their words wisely and thoughtfully, and language practices in your classroom/school/community.

This exhibit Disability Rights from the National Museum of American History is also a wonderful resource and would work for artifact or analysis work.

I’ve used All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel with students, but with caveats. This Book Review from Social Justice Books does a great job summarizing my concerns. I feel like so many children’s books minimize movements and decades (or more) of work to one person or one action when this is not how organizing and change making works. It feels like we are setting kids up to believe that there will be a dramatic moment that will change everything instead of recognizing the reality of activism and incremental change. 

Here are two disability rights timelines to help with background about the disability rights movement:

Disability Rights Timeline | Temple University College of Education and Human Development, Institute on Disabilities

DISABILITY RIGHTS HISTORY TIMELINE

When working with timelines and students, I really recommend putting the time into perspective by thinking about when you were born or when students family members’ might have been born (this happened when your grandparents were kids, etc), of course being sensitive to the fact that not everyone’s grown ups are the same age. 

This New York Times article pairs the moments featured with photographs, which is always a plus:  ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’: 16 Moments in the Fight for Disability Rights

As I shared in our Disability Awareness Month post from last year, always remember that representation matters. I remember when, “We invited a brilliant storyteller to our school to introduce our storytelling unit: Anne Thomas. She happened to use a wheelchair and it featured in her story. She also talked to the students about how strangers sometimes perceived her and then treated her as voiceless and only saw her wheelchair. Our students made connections to the stories she shared for months afterward. Children understand what it is like to be denied a voice or only seen a certain way. Anne visited us as an expert storyteller, not as someone with a disability to “teach” us about what it is like and we intentionally framed her visit this way. She shared an anecdote about how at restaurants, wait staff often ask someone else what she would like to eat or ignore her. It’s as if the wheelchair is all people see about her, to the point that they do not register when she is speaking. One aspect of her visit that was challenging was that our school is not wheelchair accessible. We talked to students openly about this and had to make alternate arrangements. They were frustrated we could not host Anne in our own classroom as it was on the second floor and felt that the lack of accessibility was unwelcoming.”

Two other resources I share in that post that are always worth re-sharing are the Disability in Kidlit blog and this amazing database of young adult and middle grade books featuring disability representation. You can find it here: http://yadisabilitydatabase.com. Huge thanks to Struck by Stories ☕ for compiling it!

I also wrote a post for Deaf History Month with some resources and lots of book recommendations.

Happy (belated) Disability Pride Month!

Juneteenth

With Juneteenth coming up, we wanted to share some resources. I have never actually taught about Juneteenth as school is usually out for us by then, but it is definitely worth addressing even as you finish up and get ready for summer. The book pictured above, Juneteenth for Mazie, would be a great place to start with elementary school kids, but more ideas from the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) are linked below.

 Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, but was a public holiday in Washington DC and many other places before that. Originally, it was celebrated in Texas and slowly spread through migration around the country.

We are including some reading lists and information for children and adults below.

Happy Juneteenth (and summer break or almost summer break!

Celebrating Juneteenth | National Museum of African American History and Culture

Understanding & Celebrating Juneteenth NMAAHC Kids

Juneteenth Reading List | National Museum of African American History and Culture (for adults!)

Teaching About Juneteenth Educators 4 Social Change

Teaching Juneteenth- Learning for Justice

Juneteenth: Teaching Outside the Textbook -Zinn Education Project

Lesson Plan: History of Juneteenth and why it's now a ...PBS

Five Ways to Learn About Juneteenth With The New York Times

Martin Luther King Day in 2023

When Barbara Walters died at the end of December, I saw a tweet noting that she and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were born the same year (1929) and that is how much (potential) life was stolen from him. It was a stark reminder for me. This year marks 55 years since Dr. King was assassinated. 

How to best address Martin Luther King Day in the classroom is a constant question for us. We’ve written about it before and always wonder what the best approach is. Doing or saying nothing doesn’t feel right, but neither does a quick one day activity. You can read about our approach last year here: MLK Day 2022: Reminders & Ideas and our approach with 5th graders here: Observing MLK Day in the Classroom. Teaching the History of Voting Rights in the USA is also always a timely reminder and important lesson.

There are so many book lists out there already, so we will just share a few books for read aloud ideas below. I keep coming back to thinking about his larger legacy and the legacy of his family members (especially Coretta Scott King) as well. Even if you don’t end up reading the books to your entire class, you can have them available for students who would like to learn more.  (Thanks to Diverse Book Finder for inspiration in my search for read alouds).

Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange and Kadir Nelson (pictured above).

I have a dream by Martin Luther King and Kadir Nelson

Love will see you through by Angela Farris Watkins and Sally Wern Comport (written by Dr. King’s niece),

Someday is now by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and Jade Johnson (I definitely need to learn more about Clara Luper!).

One last note - many schools and communities have a day of service in honor of Dr. King. Make sure your students know why this is taking place and answer their questions (they will have questions!).

Human Rights Day

Saturday is Human Rights Day! From Human Rights Day 2022 | OHCHR, “Every year on 10 December, the world celebrates Human Rights Day, the very day when, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).”

While you won’t be at school on Saturday, you can still have your students learn about Human Rights Day. I would start by asking my students what they know about human rights. Let students reflect and share out, and then share this definition (or modify it to make it work best for your students): 

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. 

I’ve paraphrased for students that human rights are the things that every human being is entitled to have.

Next, I would ask students what rights they think are the most important. 

They can make lists in small groups and compile a list of the 5 most important rights. Expect a lot of discussion and negotiation - it is hard to choose just 5! Once they have agreed upon a list, they can share out to the whole class and/or post their list somewhere in the classroom.

Next, use a read aloud or watch, listen, or read about the UDHR more here.

Two picture books that I’d recommend are: 

We Are All Born Free: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures (image above)

I Have the Right to Be a Child

After learning more about the UDHR, ask students if they would change their list or if there are any rights they are thinking about now that they didn’t consider earlier.

Then, give students an opportunity to share their learning or act! Remember that human rights are applicable to so many situations and can provide a helpful lens for students to think about injustice or action. Some ideas for further learning or actions are:

• Make your own zine and see ARTE’s UDHR & UPR zine here! ARTE is a great organization and resource, in general, but especially on Human Rights Day.

• Human Rights Education - Amnesty International

• Human Rights Text Set on Newsela

• 13 Teaching Ideas on Human Rights - Facing History & Ourselves

• ABC: Teaching Human Rights – Practical activities for primary and secondary schools - Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR)

Happy Human Rights Day!

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Teaching about Elections

Happy Election Day Eve! I know many of us are feeling a lot about the election, and waiting for the results will make for an anxiety ridden late night. I often end up staying up too late for inconclusive results, so I have learned to turn off the TV, put my phone down, and go to bed! 

Two years ago, when we were all waiting for the presidential election to take place, addressing the topic on everyone’s mind and Teaching the History of Voting Rights in the USA actually gave me some relief and channeled some of all of our nervous energy into learning about participating in democracy and civil rights. Also, students were excited to share the way many of their family members voted (by mail, early voting, etc). We read Granddaddy’s Turn, A Journey to the Ballot Box for that lesson, but another great picture book to use to start the lesson is Lillian's Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Teaching is inherently political as you are always choosing what to teach, how to teach, whose voices to include, and more, but depending on your school situation and whatever is best for you and your students, you can also just teach about the process and answer student questions instead of leaning into the political discussion. Remember children pick up on the anxiety adults are feeling around them and they hear, see, and notice EVERYTHING. So giving them time to talk and process and put words to the feelings going on around them and for them is always helpful. 

Also, in case election results are rough, here is a reminder from an incredibly hard day in the past: Post-Election in 5th Grade.

Newsela has some great resources too. This article: What's at stake in midterm elections? Here's what to watch before Election Day could also be a great starting place as a way to give students background information, or this text set: Midterm Elections 2022: Introduction  would work for a more in-depth exploration.

Two books that I haven’t yet gotten the chance to read, but look intriguing and potentially good fits for an election related lesson are The President of the Jungle and Equality’s Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America. For younger students, Grace for President or Duck for President have both worked well for me in the past.

One other thing to consider is talking to students about local elections, as the national elections often occupy most of the news coverage, but local issues might resonate with students more and give them more of an opportunity to relate to the lesson and see how things work in their community.

Some other useful election resources are below. The first link is a video I have not yet had the opportunity to share with students, but think it has potential for a lot of learning, discussing, and more. Some students might be very familiar with disenfranchisement of specific populations, while others will be shocked to know it takes place today.

Should People Convicted of a Crime Be Allowed to Vote?

2022 Election Teaching Resources for Midterms

The Election Collection | PBS LearningMedia

Teaching Resources for the US Elections - Facing History

Voting and Elections | Resources for a Civil Classroom

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Navigating Fall Holidays

Rebecca Nagle reminded me that it was suddenly fall and a perfect time to share resources and reminders for the upcoming holidays. Her tweet thread explains it beautifully and shares helpful resources. Our blog posts below share different strategies and ideas for addressing Columbus Day (Indigenous Peoples Day), Halloween, and Thanksgiving in the classroom. 

We taught these lessons with elementary school students (3rd or 5th grade), but they can easily be adapted for older learners.

Columbus Day (Indigenous Peoples Day): October 12th

Unfortunately, Columbus Day is still a federal holiday, although more and more communities have voted to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day instead. We facilitated Columbus Day Debates with our students one year and led a Holiday Inquiry: Columbus Day another year. If you choose to have a similar debate in your classroom, make sure you have time for debrief and a more general conversation about critical literacy and historical narrative. The holiday inquiry post also shares how we celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day in our classroom.

Halloween: October 31st

Halloween is already a lot for elementary school teachers without adding racist or appropriative costumes to the mix. We found it really helpful to talk to students beforehand and share notes from our conversation with families so everyone knew what the expectations around costumes were before they got around to bringing anything to school. Prevention and preparation are key for Halloween! We also loved having our students investigate and analyze different commercial costumes and share out what they noticed. Read more at Holiday Investigations : Halloween! 

Thanksgiving: November 24th

Here are some Gratitude Activities We Love and Thanksgiving & Native American Heritage Month Resources & Reminders. The second post includes general tips to keep in mind when looking for resources about Native Americans, as well as some of our ideas for addressing Thanksgiving in our 3rd grade class that year. 

We also wrote this post earlier this school year to help frame your thinking as you choose books or other resources for your classrooms (and yourselves!): Choosing Nonfiction Resources Critically.

Happy October!

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Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week, from the American Library Association (ALA) is September 18-24th this year. Their website has lots of ideas, resources, and more information. We worked with a wonderful librarian in the past who always recognized Banned Books Week with students and we learned a lot from her. While the ALA has been recognizing Banned Books Week for 40 years, this year librarians are facing unique challenges and a record number of book bans (or attempts). These book bans and attempts to control or limit curricula are affecting teachers as well on many levels. Here are some ideas for how to recognize and introduce this week to your students.

*Important reminder: Always support librarians! They are amazing humans who do everything under the sun for our communities. We always knew this, but it was reinforced yet again during the early days of the pandemic when libraries provided meals, technology, and resources for students, vaccine clinics, COVID tests, resources and support for people experiencing homelessness, access to books, computers, and information for all, and so much more. So many of us trace a love of reading aloud or books or learning to libraries and librarians. They are also incredible researchers and know (or can find out) about ANYTHING. School librarians do so much for kids and teachers and can be incredible allies and sources of support for us. Banned Books Week is a great opportunity to collaborate with your school or local librarian! 

I would start by asking students what they know about banning books and what banning books means. ALA provides these webinars, but a simple definition might be all you need to make sure everyone is on the same page (ha). I explain banning books as removing books or not allowing people to read or access certain books because of their ideas or content. You can add that book banning is a type of censorship as well, depending on your students’ ages and what you want to introduce.

Historical book bans are also a great entry point, but of course so much depends on the grade level you teach. With elementary school students who developmentally are not ready to differentiate between ten years ago and one hundred years ago (both were a long time ago/potentially before they were born!), I usually find it best to either stick to the present or use a few international historical examples (this timeline is very helpful) for upper elementary. 

You can also ask students why they think someone might ban a book. They will have lots of ideas! Next, have students analyze who or what ideas are represented in and who is writing and illustrating frequently challenged children’s books. Looking at representation (either through characters, ideas, author or illustrator) might lead students to notice certain trends and wonder why so many books by or about LGBTQIA+ people and/or people of color were targeted. This is an activity students of any age can do - younger students could look at picture book covers and share what they notice.

Newsela also has articles about book banning, but some are only available if you have a school subscription. I also enjoyed the book Ban This Book a lot and really recommend it for middle grade readers. 
The ALA provides many other ideas about how to get involved and share how you’re celebrating. However you celebrate, happy reading and remember to appreciate a librarian next (every) week!

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Learning & Teaching about Ramadan

It is hard to believe, but Friday is April 1st (get ready for April Fool’s Day!) and Saturday is the beginning of Ramadan! Of course, it depends on the sighting of the new moon, but it seems likely that will occur on Saturday, April 2nd.

Even if you think you don’t have any students who observe Ramadan, it is still something to teach and learn about as over two billion people participate all over the world! Also, you don’t always know how people identify or who they might have in their life. At my current school, I’ve had one student who shared with me that they were Muslim and appreciated when I shared a book with the class that felt relevant for them (which of course happened before Ramadan because we learn about the world and everyone who lives in it every single day). 

When I taught in New York City, many of my students followed Islam and often had to miss school for Eid or other important holidays which I know sometimes felt stressful for them. However, after I moved on, New York Public Schools added both Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr to the school holidays list. Later, Lunar New Year was added as well. It’s great to see a public school system respecting the holidays that many of their students celebrate, but in my experience, this is unusual, even in districts with large numbers of families that observe Ramadan or celebrate Lunar New Year. Hopefully this will continue to change!

I always start by asking my students what they know about Ramadan and going from there. It’s important to dispel the myth that Ramadan is something that only happens in other countries as many Americans observe Ramadan as well. As always, it’s a good time to look at a map! This interactive map shows the Muslim population by country and students love interacting with it. I also found this graphic showing the different fasting hours based on location interesting and very clear. It’s also another opportunity to practice our map skills! My next step would be to have students read something to learn more information (or multiple things) and my go to is always a read aloud followed by a Newsela article. Providing a bin of books for students to continue learning more on their own is always helpful as well. Brainpop also has a movie about Ramadan, which is a good way for students to build some background knowledge before moving on to learn more on their own.

Resources to Highlight and Bookmark:

• I found this letter for educators from Dr. Sawsan Jaber, a high school English teacher in Illinois, very helpful and informative. It includes some great resources. Please read it and share it. 

• I also discovered a great new blog: Notes from an Islamic School Librarian. There are so many wonderful book recommendations! Again, please read and share. Remember that everyday is a good day to read books with varied representations. 

Books!

A Party in Ramadan by Asma Mobin-Uddin: I have this one in my classroom! The characters are very relatable and students often find both windows and mirrors in this story as they have friends who follow different traditions. The book includes an author’s note at the end that shares more information about Ramandan.

Rashad's Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr by Lisa Bullard: I haven’t had the pleasure of reading this book yet, but it comes highly recommended and has a glossary and information boxes sprinkled throughout for more learning. It also seems to be appropriate for younger learners (K-2).

All books by Rukshana Khan! I have to give Big Red Lollipop a shout out as we used it as a mentor text when writing our own stories, but also because my students connected with it on so many levels. They had so much to say and didn’t require any questions or prompts to think deeply about the characters and text. Her books are beautifully written and illustrated and while many of the characters are Muslim, their stories are bigger than a sole focus on identity..

A Sari for Ammi by Mamta Nainy: this book is full of bright, gorgeous illustrations and saris. It always makes me happy to see saris in a book because I remember both of my grandmothers wearing them. I also appreciate how this story disrupts the single story about India and teaches us all about a mostly female and Muslim artisan community. The book includes a glossary and an information page about Kota Doria sari weaving in Kaithun, Rajasthan. There is a reference to Eid, but this book is not specifically about Ramadan.

Another author to check out is Reem Faruqi for both Lailah’s Lunchbox: a Ramadan Story  (cover photo) and Amira’s Picture Day. Both books address Ramadan directly and the main characters’ simultaneous excitement and trepidation about managing at school. They both include a glossary and address the challenge of a home/school balance when your classmates might not share many of your traditions or customs.

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Disability Awareness Month

Happy Spring! Before we move on to April, don’t forget that March is Disability Awareness Month. I also saw that both Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month and Students with Disabilities Awareness Month are in March as well. I recently discovered that March is National Noodle Month, too, so lots to cover this month. Disability Awareness Month has been celebrated since 1987, and like all awareness or heritage/history months, it really is just a reminder that disabilities are part of life and our teachings, materials, and classrooms should reflect that. So while we are close to the end of the month, the reminders and materials below are really for every single day. 

This year, I have been thinking a lot about people who are immunocompromised, at high risk for COVID and/or can’t safely get vaccinated and how mask mandates are ending and many people seem ready to move on. My child is not yet vaccinated and his daycare is closed today, again, because someone in the center has COVID. So while others are moving on (whatever that means), it is still real for us (even though this is, of course, only a minor inconvenience) and for so many other people. It really demonstrates who we value as a society. I won’t start talking about all of the related ageism because then this post will never end. 

Reminders for Disability Awareness Month:

• Disability should not be something you “study” once, but rather part of everyday life and teaching students about the world and everyone in it. We make choices with the people, books, videos, and language we use with students everyday. Some of those choices may be unconscious or mostly out of our realm (for example, materials you are provided with from the district etc), but they are still choices.

• Person first language vs. identity first language: the language we use often reflects our choices, attitudes, biases, and more. Different individuals and communities have different preferences. As much as you can, ask people how they like to be identified. I prefer person first language with children as I find it more humanizing and they do better with clarity instead of nuance, but there is no hard and fast rule.

• Representation matters. Make sure students see people with disabilities going about their lives through your guest speakers, media, books, and more. We invited a brilliant storyteller to our school to introduce our storytelling unit: Anne Thomas. She happened to use a wheelchair and it featured in her story. She also talked to the students about how strangers sometimes perceived her and then treated her as voiceless and only saw her wheelchair. Our students made connections to the stories she shared for months afterward. Children understand what it is like to be denied a voice or only seen a certain way. Anne visited us as an expert storyteller, not as someone with a disability to “teach” us about what it is like and we intentionally framed her visit this way. She shared an anecdote about how at restaurants, wait staff often ask someone else what she would like to eat or ignore her. It’s as if the wheelchair is all people see about her, to the point that they do not register when she is speaking. One aspect of her visit that was challenging was that our school is not wheelchair accessible. We talked to students openly about this and had to make alternate arrangements. They were frustrated we could not host Anne in our own classroom as it was on the second floor and felt that the lack of accessibility was unwelcoming.

• Make sure the books and media you share with students are humanizing stories and not ableist framing or representation. Think carefully about who is telling the story and if it is their story to tell. The Disability in Kidlit blog is a really great place to start and to find more books. I recently learned about this amazing database of young adult and middle grade books featuring disability representation. You can find it here: http://yadisabilitydatabase.com. Huge thanks to Julie (@StruckbyStories) for compiling it!

• Ask students (and yourself) to answer the question: What is a disability? You can look up a dictionary or legal definition or try something more creative or investigative. We asked our students and they worked in groups to come up with a list of disabilities and an overall definition. It led to some very interesting discussions and realizations. They had reflections on who and what skills or abilities we as a society value.

A Few Book Recommendations (but make sure you peruse the sites I shared above):

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper: this is such a good book! It is one of my favorite book club books and would also make a great read aloud. It’s consistently popular with students as an independent reading book. One student said this book changed the way he thought about disabilities. Also, as an added bonus, a sequel came out recently. It’s titled Out of My Heart. The main character, Melody, has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair and a communication device. 

The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca. There is so much to learn from Dr. Grandin and this lovely picture book gets that process started. The book also includes a timeline which is such a great tool for young (but really all) learners.

King For a Day by Rukhsana Khan. I haven’t actually read this one, but it is on my list! It is set in Lahore and features a child who is determined to win a kite fighting battle during Basant, the festival of Spring. He also happens to be in a wheelchair, but the story is about his quest to become the King of Basant as a kite fighting champion and how he tries to defend another child from a bully along the way.

All the Way to the Top: How One Girl's Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel. This is a true story from Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins’s life (she is the author of the foreword to the book) and her activism in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act. My students loved it, especially the suspense and identified strongly with the injustice of being denied rights or access. The book includes a glossary and a timeline, which are always helpful tools.

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International Women's Day & Women's History Month

Happy International Women’s Day! There are so many ways to celebrate! We love showing our students how this is an international holiday that has been celebrated for over 100 years (starting in 1911). It’s also fitting that this holiday takes place during Women’s History Month.

We wrote about different ways we recognized and celebrated Women’s History Month in our classroom a few years ago. Here are some new ideas we have either already started or hope to try soon:

• We attended a virtual event at Politics & Prose with Michelle Duster and Laura Freeman for the new book Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth (pictured above). Michelle Duster, the author, is actually Ida B. Wells’s great-granddaughter which added an extra level of excitement for students as well as helped them understand the time frame for when Ida B. Wells was alive a bit better. I’m a huge fan of author and bookstore events! We are still only able to attend virtually, but my students were still excited about it, especially when we could submit their questions over chat. We also paired this event with reading a Newsela article about the new Ida B. Wells barbie, and one of my students actually owns that barbie, so she brought hers in to show everyone. There are so many things to admire about Ida B. Wells and this gorgeous picture book, but I especially appreciate how she is portrayed in a way that makes it clear how multifaceted (and talented) she was, instead of being reduced to one aspect of her life like a journalist or an activist.

• Why isn’t there a men’s history month? This is a question students have brought up in the past (less and less recently though, interestingly enough). We asked students what they thought and they came up with a lot of ideas! One idea they felt strongly about was that there has never been a female president and how that shows that women “don’t always get a turn.” Another student remarked about how you often hear about men and learn about men, but less about women because sometimes people forget “that women were helping too.” One student noted that in our class, we seemed to hear from more women (we only had female guest speakers that year), and we asked them why they thought their teachers made that choice. We felt that addressing this question directly helped make it clear we were focused on representation and equity instead of thinking about men vs. women. 

• Newsela is always a great resource so just a reminder to share articles with students! They have different text sets (a collection of articles) available for Women’s History Month. There are so many great articles and they are not just about famous women but also about kids and women who are doing inspiring work today. We’ve had students read Newsela articles individually so we can tailor articles to their interests and have them practice some nonfiction reading skills and in pairs or small groups to continue practicing those skills, build fluency by taking turns reading out loud, and discuss and share their reactions and questions.

• Brainpop and Brainpop Jr. also have some lots of informative and kid friendly videos that can help students establish some background knowledge before reading which boosts comprehension or just teach them about someone new and inspiring. They have an entire Women’s History Month unit.

• Student shares are always an excellent place to start. Our students loved writing letters to women who they admired or just sharing relevant news or updates. Sometimes they would read about someone and then want to tell the class just how amazing that person was/is and why as well as put in a plug for why others should read that book/article. It truly was an authentic use of literacy in action.

Below are some picture book biographies we love.

Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating. We saw the author at Politics and Prose (pre-COVID)! Also there is a movie about her (preview here).

Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston by Alicia D. Williams and Jacqueline Alcántara (illustrator). We virtually attended a Politics & Prose event for this book and Jacqueline Alcántara shared some of her sketches and preliminary plans with us.

Shirley Chisholm: two great books published recently (in 2020)! You can find them here and here. I couldn’t choose one so had to include them both. As we slowly gain more representation of women in government, it’s important to remember Shirley Chisholm who was a trailblazer in every way. We also shared how Kamala Harris wore a white suit in homage to Shirley Chisholm when she accepted the vice-presidential nomination and talked about what she might mean when she said, “I stand on their shoulders” to credit the women before her.

The Girl Who Thought in Pictures by Julia Finley Mosca. This book is about Temple Grandin and is always a favorite in our classroom.

Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Traci Sorell and Natasha Donovan (illustrator). This is a relatively new book that my co-teacher discovered at a bookstore. The author specifically addresses how Mary Golda Ross makes choices influenced by Cherokee values. 

Latinitas: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers by Juliet Menendez. This is another relatively new book that I have not gotten to read yet, but I’ve heard great things and definitely hope to get my hands on a copy of it soon. Anthologies are always popular in the classroom and often when reading them I learn more about people or learn about people I hadn’t heard about before.

Also, my third graders love the Who Was series and that series seems to keep expanding to add more people for kids to learn about. Apparently, they have surpassed 250 titles at this point and plan to keep going.

Happy reading and learning!

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Talking to students about Ukraine

If your household is anything like mine, the news has been on A LOT lately. Or you’ve been reading on your phone. Or both. I have a toddler so I try to watch the news when he is asleep and he can’t read what I’m looking at on my phone (and doesn’t let me look at my phone when he is around!), but I imagine it’s harder with older kids. One thing I’ve learned from teaching elementary school is that kids are aware of much more than we think and pick up everything we are thinking and feeling. So they know something is happening in Ukraine and it’s something that adults have been talking about a lot. They might come to school with facts to share, unanswered questions, misconceptions or incomplete information, or a combination of all of these. It’s hard to know where to begin and how to approach such a complex topic especially with younger students.

It’s pretty much always a good idea to start with a read aloud. Ask students what connections they can make to the story. Can they make text to self connections? Model by thinking of a time you yourself were homesick or scared or missed someone. What about text to world connections? How does the story connect to events happening in the world today?

I had a hard time finding read alouds about Ukraine or set in Ukraine (although The Mitten by Jan Brett is set in Ukraine!). There are some very compelling picture books about war here. You can also learn more about Ukraine with your class here.

The Journey by Francesca Sanna is about a family who must leave their home and country to escape war and hopefully find safety. After you read it (warning, it is emotional!), talk about what the word “refugee” means. You can find more ideas for relevant picture books here. Naturally, there are many more out there- please comment below with your suggestions!

Discussion Ideas

Make sure you start with a map (or multiple maps!) so students know where you are discussing. The example above might help students with clear reference points, but I would start with a world map and go from there. Then, talk about the news. I like to start with an image and a table for responses with two columns: "I think"and "I wonder." You can do this on a large whiteboard or piece of chart paper, or individually (or in small groups) with handouts. It helps less confident students feel ready to share their thoughts and provides you with a way to find out what misconceptions versus accurate information students have and understand. The "I wonder" column also gives you a better sense of where to go to answer all of their questions and prompts them to ASK questions, which is always an excellent place to begin. You know best what image might be most impactful and appropriate for your students, but here is one of a teacher and her students (something kids can relate to on some level) or here is an article with images from protests around the world (including one in New York City). Students often respond well to images of other children.

Newsela articles are also a great way to give students a chance to learn more about a situation on their own time and inclination. This way, they can read and re-read, underline, ask questions, or just take time to process without having to hear it from you. It’s also an excellent way for students to practice media literacy and read an article to understand a situation in the world better. I’ve offered articles as an option and had most students choose to read them or given one to each student with choices to read in small groups, pairs, or independently, and come together again for questions or share at the end.

Remember, vocabulary instruction is (always) key! Make sure you define any words students might be unfamiliar with or have heard but not completely understand.

*If you are worried about backlash or concern from families: 

My go to response to parents who worry that topics are too “scary” is, “We totally agree this is a complex topic that must be addressed thoughtfully and with intention. Here is a resource to help you as we work together to keep answering your child/student’s questions. Thanks for your partnership in this important work!” I also note how rigorous asking and answering critical questions about the world is and how students are practicing media literacy.

However, I have the backing of my administration and I teach at a school with a social justice mission. I also have an amazing co-teacher so I am not facing these confrontations alone. Many teachers are in very different positions and may have students who do not wish to discuss the war in Ukraine for a variety of reasons. Do what feels right for you and your students. You always know best. If you decide to go ahead with these discussions and do receive pushback, try to make it about the students when you respond. Go back to the questions and concerns they had and how you were trying to answer them (which is your job, after all). The news was and is scary, but ignoring it won’t make it go away or reassure your students.

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Teaching the History of Voting Rights in the USA

Before the election, we wanted to focus on something other than the actual candidates as many students (and teachers, including me) were feeling so stressed about the outcome. So we learned about the history of voting rights in the United States of America. We started, as we so often do, by reading a picture book to the students. We read Granddaddy’s Turn, A Journey to the Ballot Box and talked about what we knew and what we could infer about Grandaddy and the narrator. 

In this excellent book by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein, a young boy goes with his grandfather to vote shortly after the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. It appears that they are in the rural South. The narrator’s grandfather is dressed up and has waited a long time to be able to vote. However, they are turned away and disrespected. Granddaddy is told he needs to read a complex text, and when he cannot, his ballot is taken away and ripped up. His grandson (the narrator) is shocked and devastated to witness this and see tears in his grandfather’s eyes. Later, when the narrator is older, he votes for the first time, and takes a picture of his grandfather with him.

Our students were so upset about what happened to Grandaddy and felt both happy and sad when the narrator was able to vote and did so with a picture of his granddaddy with him. They also had questions about if it was still like this for some Black people when they vote. To answer this question and provide some historical background, we used this history of voting rights titled Who Got the Right to Vote When? from Aljazeera. It has images and a useful list on the left side titled “Able to Vote” (in 1776, only “white property owners” are listed in green). 

Our students are in 3rd grade, so we could not use every listing on the timeline as it would be too lengthy and overwhelming, but instead focused on some important dates and images. As 3rd graders are very concrete and don’t always understand relative units of time (10 years ago and 50 years ago don’t always feel that different to them without any context), we tried to give context by saying this might have been in your parents/grandparents lifetimes. I used my parents, who immigrated from India in1975 and are now US citizens, as examples as well, especially as we talked about how who could become or was considered a citizen tied into voting rights as well. 

The literacy test Granddaddy encountered was one example of disenfranchisement tactics, and we also told students about poll taxes, voter ID laws, intimidation, and decreased access to polls (closing polling places or limiting the number of polling places in certain counties). We also talked about voting by mail and early voting as those are two ways many people in our community voted this past year due to the pandemic (DC and Maryland both have early voting and DC sent mail in ballots to all registered voters). 

Some questions to talk about with students: 

Why do we vote?

Who should have the right to vote?

Who has always had the right to vote? How does that compare to voting rights today? 

How do people vote?

How can the US government make voting more accessible for everyone? What could we do to help?

What barriers still exist to voting today?

After the horrendous attack on our democracy last week, as we get ready to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and as we lead up to Inauguration Day on January 20th, critically examining voting rights through America’s history and today feels more relevant than ever. It’s also something tangible that students can relate to as who doesn’t want to have their voice heard? Children also can understand what it is like to feel silenced or without a say. 

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Resources for Teachers for the Insurrection at the US Capital

Here is a list of resources that I found helpful after last Wednesday’s attack on the US Capitol. Please comment below if you have more to add. As always, sending support to all of the teachers out there who are holding it together and holding it down for their students.

• Beyond the Stoplight: Resources for teachers on the days after the attack on the US Capital

  • This post has a really important reminder that teachers do NOT have to “teach” about this horrific event, but if you are going to talk about or give your students space to talk about it, do so “with intention, care, and an explicit commitment to justice and equity.” 

• Twitter thread by the Zinn Education Project: “Teach About the Coup AND the Georgia Victory. They are connected. Now more than ever, students need lessons and inspiration from organizing in the face of white supremacy.” (Thanks to Teaching for Change for spotlighting this for me.)

• From the Zinn Education Project: Teach the Roots of the 2020 Rebellion 

  • Lessons and resources on white supremacy and resistance in the United States

• Teaching Tolerance: Leading Conversations After the Insurrection in Washington D.C.

• We shared this Newsela article with our students on Thursday - it can be adjusted for multiple reading levels, starting at 3rd grade.

• Facing History and Ourselves: Responding to the Insurrection at the US Capitol 

• PBS: Classroom resource: Three ways to teach the insurrection at the US Capitol

• New York Times: Teaching Resources for the Storming of the U.S. Capitol by Pro-Trump Extremists

• NPR Article: How To Talk To Kids About The Riots At The U.S. Capitol

  • This has resources and could be helpful to share with parents if they have concerns or want to continue the discussion at home 

If you are worried about backlash or concern from families: 

My go to response to parents who worry that topics are too “scary” is, “We totally agree this is a complex topic that must be addressed thoughtfully and with intention. Here is a resource to help you as we work together to keep answering your child/student’s questions. Thanks for your partnership in this important work!” I also note how rigorous asking and answering critical questions about the world is and how we are tying history into events unfolding around us. 

However, I have the backing of my administration and I teach at a school with a social justice mission. I also have an amazing co-teacher so I am not facing these confrontations alone. Many teachers are in very different positions. Do what feels right for you and your students. You always know best. If you decide to go ahead with these discussions and do receive pushback, try to make it about the students when you respond. Go back to the questions and concerns they had and how you were trying to answer them (which is your job, after all!). The news was and is scary, but ignoring it won’t make it go away or reassure your students. 

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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.

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Creating Monuments of Our Classroom Rules After Charlottesville Published by Teaching for Change

Gabby's post, Creating Monuments of Our Classroom Rules After Charlottesville, was published on the Teaching for Change website! It details what we did next after writing postcards for Charlottesville and how we eventually developed our class "contract" or rules. Please read and let us know what you think!

Writing Postcards for Charlottesville with 3rd Graders

One of the activities on our (very long) to do list for the first week of school was writing Postcards for Charlottesville through the #DearYoungPerson campaign with our new third graders. On Friday afternoon, we carved out some time and got started.

We started with a read aloud of Painting for Peace in Ferguson by Carol Swartout Klein and used the book as an segue into a conversation about using art and images to help people feel better. Next, we asked students if they had heard of Charlottesville and looked at Charlottesville on a map to see how far it was from our school (less than 3 hours).

We received a variety of responses to our question, from “I’ve heard of it before” or “my family member works there”, to “there was a violent riot there.” We had two students who knew more details and shared longer explanations about white supremacists, torches, and terrorism. We confirmed details and explained to students that there was indeed a violent protest that hurt peaceful protesters and that the violent protesters were against anyone who wasn’t like them, be it a different skin color or race, or different religion.

Next, we shared that this made young people in Charlottesville feel scared and like they weren’t welcome or didn’t belong in their community because of hate. We told the students that we were going to design and write postcards to young people in Charlottesville and asked:

What images and messages could we send them through our postcards to help them heal?

What images and messages of peace could we send them?

How can we communicate that love is more powerful than hate?

At this point, one student expressed anger and the desire to punch people (related to a personal Jewish identity) who were marching in Charlotteville. In response, we reminded our students that love is stronger than hate, and while it’s natural to feel angry, we wanted to fight hate with love and send supportive messages to people who were hurt.

Finally, we gave students blank postcards and quiet time to illustrate and write. The results were wonderful and heartwarming. We wrote some ideas for what to say on the board, but students wrote messages of hope and how all religions should be respected all on their own. They also wrote “you are welcome here” and asked how to spell “community” to write “we’re a community” without any prompting. Some students really focused on the images as a way to convey comfort instead of trying to put messages into words.

While we refuse to act as though nothing is wrong or events in Charlottesville don’t affect us, (because they do and they definitely affect the lives of our students) we wanted to give our students an outlet and constructive action to complete as third graders are still very egocentric and literal so open ended conversations about the news can be anxiety inducing and confusing for them. We were proud and touched to see the images and messages of hope and unity that our students came up with on their own, as well as how inspired they were to lend comfort to others in a negative situation. We know there is so much more work to do and so much more progress needed, but it was a brief moment of hope, light, and respite.

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