Connecting to the 13 Principles of the Black Lives Matter Movement in Fifth Grade

By Taylor Parson, Fifth Grade Teacher, Anne Beers ES

I began by having a photo of a Black man drinking out of a water fountain labeled "White Only" hanging from my neck on a piece of yarn.

I led students in a “See, Think, Wonder” routine of the photo, and then asked them why do they think I was wearing this on a day where we would be talking about the Black Lives Matter Movement. They noticed things such as his facial expression, the way that he had his hand on his hip, where he is looking, and the quality of the water fountain.

Using information from their homework for that week, a NewsELA article on how Trayvon Martin's death help to spark the Black Lives Matter Movement, they made many connections as to why I was wearing the photo on my neck.

Then, the other 5th grade teacher and I got all of our students together. We gave them information about the movement, it's importance, and how the impact of what we learned in our Social Studies class still impacts us today.

Then, I had students break out into groups and gave each group one of the 13 guiding principles of the Black Lives Matter movement. They had to present to the class what their assigned principle meant and why it is important.

This lesson was impactful because students were able to make connections to their own lives, and see how everyone should be treated equitably with our differences being celebrated. They enjoyed being able to be creative.