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…
During a middle school assembly, there wasn’t an empty seat in Washington International School’s theater — unless the students and teachers were up dancing to Sweet Cherie’s music! Cherie dove deep into the history of go-go, speaking to students about the different sub-genres and their many bands.
By Kimberly Ellis
At MacFarland Middle School (DCPS), Melanie Holmes’ students spent the week contemplating how to ensure all Black lives matter at their school.
Middle school students from the class of Lia Bengtson and Tarja Lewis at Kendall Demonstration School in D.C. created a video to kick off Black Lives Matter Week of Action at Schools. They challenged viewers to think about why Black lives should matter to EVERYONE.
Ms. Corliss, a special education teacher at Jefferson Middle School Academy (DCPS), led a Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action lesson aligned to the guiding principle, “Black Women.”
Teacher Yolanda Whitted led her eighth grade English students at DC International School through a visual rhetoric exercise where they analyzed Childish Gambino's "This is America" music video. This was a lesson during the DC Area Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action in February, 2020.
Students at Jefferson Middle School (DCPS) engaged in a social justice printmaking workshop.
Fifty seventh and eighth grade students at McKinley Middle School (DCPS) learned about the history of Black Muslims in the U.S. in a lesson led by Alison Kysia.
Middle school students at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, a D.C. school serving deaf and hard of hearing students from birth through grade 8, created a video outlining the 13 Principles of the Black Lives Matter movement in their own words.
On February 8, 2019, fifth graders in Ashli Wilson’s class at DC Edgewood Prep in Washington, D.C. read Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March as a part of the Black Lives Matter in Schools Week of Action.
Students read articles and discuss the media portrayal of black victims of racial violence versus white perpetrators of mass shooting as well as articles about "missing white women syndrome."
Middle school students at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, a school serving deaf and hard of hearing students from birth through grade 8 on Gallaudet University’s campus, learned about the thirteen principals of the Black Lives Matter movement throughout the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.
Students from Kendall Demonstration Elementary School and Model Secondary School for the Deaf wrapped up their observation and celebration of Black History Month on March 27, with a biographical performance and arts program.
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.
Students from the Culture at Home homeschool community met at the National Gallery of Art for a tour of the exhibit Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940-1950, then engaged in group discussion, photo analysis, a poetry slam and a writing assignment inspired by the book 12 Million Black Voices by Richard Wright.
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 >>
I used a number of lessons from D.C. Area Black LIves Matter Week of Action resource page and others I collected at that BLM curriculum share. #Lastwords was one of the most powerful lessons for many of my students.I have a number of students with significant learning disabilities as well. So in their classes, I used the lesson related to the book Milo's Museum. We're still working on this unit, but they seem to really be enjoying it!
An Inspired Teaching Demonstration School educator wrote… "In a school where Black Lives Matter, we embrace uncomfortable, messy, and yet essential conversations about race. We recognize the systemic injustice of our society and we work daily to provide a school environment that is safe, inclusive, and affirming for every student, without exception." While a Student at the Inspired Teaching Demonstration School wrote...
This week, HB Woodlawn Program (Arlington Public School) educator, Christy Gill, had her 8th grade students explore the meaning of justice.
Kenmore Middle School educator, Dr. Tiffany Mitchell, started her class today by asking her students to share what they know about the Black Lives Matter movement. Student responses included, “people marching and saying Black Lives Matter in response to police brutality,” and “football players taking a knee during the national anthem as a form of protest.”
This week, in my middle school and high school Spanish classes we have engaged in discussion about the Black Lives Matter Movement and also Black people of Latin America in many different ways. These have been meaningful discussions, and my Spanish 1 class is working on a project that will turn into a Socratic Seminar next week (here's the lesson) and a video news report on their research.
