Black Lives Matter at School Early Childhood Stories
Featured
By Vanessa Williams
DCAESJ and EmpowerEd DC’s third annual Unapologetically Black Educator Story Lounge was just as powerful, moving, and joyous as the previously held events.
In recognition of BLM at School, students and I read two books, Hey Black Child and M is for Melanin, both of which focus on who you are as a Black child and how you can affirm and celebrate yourself.
By Vanessa Williams
There were no fresh baked, chocolate chip cookies in sight. No peppermints being discreetly offered and passed from big to little hands. All of the sweaters appeared to be store-bought, not hand knit. Yet everyone at Smothers Elementary School (DCPS) the morning of their Intergenerational Read Aloud were wrapped in the love, wisdom, and laughter only grandmas can give.
On March 24, the entire school community at Bruce-Monroe ES @ Park View (DCPS) was invited to participate in the Black Lives Matter at School Celebration of Learning. The school was transformed into a Marketplace of Knowledge that was the culmination of a six-week project that involved all grade levels in deep explorations of Black Lives Matter.
The D.C. Teaching for Black Lives study group, made up of 14 educators from Brent Elementary (ECE–5), meets once a month. According to Jon Berg, the study group’s coordinator, they started the group “to help educators reflect on their practice and to identify resources that center our Black students in our classrooms — with an emphasis on what is taught and how classrooms are set up to help students engage in civic life.”
Gearing up for the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action is no small feat. While educators in the D.C. area likely have already been uplifting BLM at School work with participation in the Year of Purpose, the Week of Action is often taken as an opportunity to engage in more and perhaps larger scale efforts to uplift the guiding principles and national demands…
Athena Kopsidas, art teacher at Seaton ES (DCPS), led students through projects that incorporated books and art during the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.
A Week of Action. A Year of Purpose. A Lifetime Commitment. And all of this can start with just a few hours of planning. On Saturday, January 7th, all DCAESJ working groups joined together and invited fellow D.C. area educators to share advice, build on resources, begin planning their BLM at School Week of Action, and continue to participate in the Year of Purpose.
By Bridget Fuller
On February 26, the Anti-Bias Early Childhood Educator working group met to connect as a community, discuss challenges and successes with the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, and share ideas on using biographies in early childhood classrooms.
By Makai Kellogg
During this session, Rapoport led participants in an activity where we thought about our favorite place and associated a color with it. We then added feeling words, more colors, and sensory experiences connected to the place.
Using the Black Lives Matter guiding principles and the book Don't Touch My Hair to discuss consent with young children.
Early childhood students at School Within School @ Goding explore Black joy through the Afrofuturist art of Cyrus Kabiru, who creates glasses (he calls c-stunners) out of discarded materials.
Kindergarten students study the Black Lives Matter Principle “intergenerational” during the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, developing a deep understanding of the principles by reading and discussing multiple books.
Over the course of two weeks, an early childhood teacher explores each of the 13 Black Lives Matter Movement guiding principles with her students through discussion and read alouds.
Jamila Felton, librarian at St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School in Washington, D.C., read What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?: The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan to her kindergarten classes for Black Lives Matter Week at School of Action.
Ashley Chu read This Is the Rope by Jacqueline Woodson in her Kindergarten class in D.C. for Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.
Preschool students in Makai Kellogg's class at School for Friends explored the guiding principles of queer and trans-affirming during a story-time reading of Jessica Love’s Julian is a Mermaid .
Every grade participated in the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action at Inspired Teaching Demonstration School.
All students and staff at Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS were invited to contribute to a Black Lives Matter mural as part of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. Each grade level responded to a different prompt on colored post-its that were then placed on the banner.
Parents of children in a pre-K class at Anne Beers Elementary School (DCPS) were featured guest readers (part of the Teaching for Change Roving Readers program) in honor of Black History Month and Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.
An afterschool ceramics class explores the Black Lives Matter guiding principle of globalism.
At Langdon ES (DCPS), parents and grandparents were featured guest readers (part of the Teaching for Change Roving Readers program) in honor of Black History Month and Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. They read in Ms. Louis' 3rd grade class and Ms. Scott's PK class.
Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS observed Trayvon Martin Memorial Day on February 5, 2019, which would have been his twenty-fourth birthday. Students were invited to wear hoodies to school if they chose as a sign of solidarity and respect, signifying the beginning of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Maureen Ingram’s early childhood PK3 class at Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS launched the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action with activities around the theme “Black is Beautiful.”
We hosted two sessions for D.C. area early childhood teachers in January to prepare for the 2019 Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. Read more >>
On December 19, 2018, D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice hosted an Educator Open House at the Teaching for Change office for Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools. Read more >>
Kindergarten students in Sandhya Rajan's class are solidifying their commitment to valuing and protecting Black lives by adding their signature to the "BLACK LIVES MATTER" banner at LaSalle-Backus Education Campus.
For the DC Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools, Inspired Teaching Fellow Brittney Henderson (‘13) and her kindergarten students at West Education Campus (DCPS) read One by Kathryn Otoshi, a book that addresses the importance of inclusion in a diverse community. Afterwards, the class discussed why everyone must be kind to each other even when people aren’t kind to them, and created posters to demonstrate how to be kind.
Early childhood students and families at The Inspired Teaching Demonstration School began to work on a #BlackLivesMatter mural this morning. Students in Pk through 8th grade will have the opportunity to add their messages throughout the week as part of the D.C. Area Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools.