Our kids are going back to school this fall. We must continue to foster an inclusive classroom and promote racial justice, no matter if we are virtual or face-to-face. With this in mind, HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools is launching a new resource for educators. We are providing a book list and lesson prompts that delve into education on anti-Black racism, Black history, skin color and racism experienced by Asian, Indigenous peoples and Latinx people.

On the last Wednesday of every month, check back here to see brand new lesson prompts to go with one of the books on our book list.

JANUARY LESSON PROMPT

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation. Duncan Tonatiuh. (K - 4) Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a “Whites only” school.

QUESTIONS

• What do these words mean?:
  • equality
  • inequality
  • segregation
  • desegregation
  • justice
  • injustice
  • inferior
• Why was Aunt Soledad told that the Mendez children could not attend the Westminster school?
• What does Sylvia realize when she compares her and her brothers to their cousins? How are they different?
• Imagine that you are one of the Mexican children in the illustration of San Bernardino. How would you feel reading the sign “No Dogs or Mexicans Allowed”?
• How does Sylvia decide to deal with the students who bully and make fun of her?

ACTIVITIES

• Explain what a petition does. Find an issue that is important to you and create a petition on a position to circulate either in person or by email to your peers.
• Write a letter to Sylvia and explain that you want to be her friend and ally. Explain what you can do to support her.
• Learn more about the Mendez v. Westminster School District Supreme Court case and the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court Case and compare the two cases. Explain the similarities to at least one other person.

DECEMBER LESSON PROMPT

The Parker Inheritance. Varian Johnson. (3 – 6) Candice discovers a mysterious old letter describing an injustice from decades ago. With the help of Brandon, a quiet and often bullied boy, she begins to decipher the clues with a story that leads them deep into their South Carolina town’s history, a history full of ugly deeds and forgotten heroes. Good historical detail and LGBTQ characters included.

QUESTIONS

• What do Candice and Brandon have in common, including in their family structure?
• How was the “treasure” promised in the mysterious letter supposed to be discovered?
• Why was Enoch Washington bullied as a child and what was his solution as an adult?
• What does “passing” mean in the story?
• What does it mean when someone identifies as gay?
• What important Supreme Court decision was made in 1954 that began the end to school segregation?

ACTIVITIES

• Learn about the National Negro Baseball League. Select a team or player to research and make a presentation.
• Learn about the Brown v. Board of Education, Briggs v. Elliot and Plessy v. Ferguson court cases and present what you learn to at least one other person.
• Explore one of the websites linked below and try your hand at logic, math or language puzzles:
  • https://www.pleacher.com/mp/puzzles/mlogic.html
  • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/games/ken-ken-180958307/
  • https://blog.agradeahead.com/post/25-free-online-logic-puzzles-kids/
  • https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-games

NOVEMBER LESSON PROMPT

M is for Melanin. Tiffany Rose. (Toddler – K) Each letter of the alphabet contains affirming, Black-positive messages, from A is for Afro and F is for Fresh to P is for Pride and W is for Worthy. Teaches children their ABCs while encouraging them to love the skin they’re in. Be bold. Be fearless. BE YOU.

Questions

• What are the letters that start your first and last names?
• What are some words from the book that start with those letters?
• What are your favorite words and pictures in the book?
• What does melanin do in the human body?

Activities

• Write your name vertically on a sheet of paper. Pick a word to go with each letter of your name. Have someone help you write the words next to each letter in your name. This will make a poem!
• Select four words in the book and find out what they mean.
• Draw a picture of something that begins with your favorite letter and share it with one other person.
• Draw a picture of yourself using crayons that represent your skin color.

OCTOBER LESSON PROMPT

A Good Kind of Trouble. Lisa Moore Ramée. (3 – 7) Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. As the school year goes, Shayla gets into “good trouble” as John Lewis would say.

Questions

• What does Shayla mean by saying she is “allergic to trouble”?
• Describe Shayla’s group of friends. Why do they call themselves “The United Nations”?
• How and why does Shayla’s view of Bernard change over the course of the story? What does she learn about him and about the authority figures in her school?
• How did Shayla’s mother react to the discipline that was given to Shayla because of her protest activity? Did you expect that reaction? How did the principal respond?
• What do you think is meant by “good trouble” as described by the late Congressman John Lewis?

Activities

• Create an “eyeball journal” by making notes about things that you observe - behaviors, activities and events in your family, community, school and the news; for example, the current political campaigns and your family members’ reactions to these events. Share some of the entries with one other person.
• The story mentions NFL football player Colin Kaepernick; sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos; boxer Muhammad Ali; and other athletes who have protested police brutality, racism, and other injustices. Choose one of these figures to research and prepare a presentation to give to at least one other person.

SEPTEMBER LESSON PROMPT

Ruth and the Green Book. Calvin Alexander Ramsey. (1 – 4) Ruth was so excited to take a trip in her family’s new car! But she soon found out that many hotels and gas stations refused service to African-Americans. Finally, a friendly attendant at a gas station showed Ruth’s family The Green Book.

Ruth and the Green Book, Center for Puppetry Arts Music Video

Questions

• Why was it difficult for Ruth and her family to find places to eat, sleep, and use the restroom during their trip?
• What kind of information was included in The Green Book?
• What are some services that you take for granted or expect when you are in a public place?
• What are some of the states the family had to travel through where segregation was the law?
• What was the system of laws called that made it legal for businesses to discriminate against African-Americans?

Activities

• Draw a picture of a place you have visited or want to visit.
• Make a travel advertisement for a place you’ve visited or want to visit. It can even be to a home of a relative or close friend.
• Write a letter to Victor Green explaining what The Green Book meant to African-American travelers.
• Write and perform a commercial for Esso Gas (the only gas stations African-Americans could own at the time of the setting of the story) or a commercial for The Green Book.

AUGUST LESSON PROMPT

JULY LESSON PROMPT

March (Trilogy).

By John Lewis. (Grade 4 and up) Winner of the 2016 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. March is a vivid first-hand account of Congressman John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation while reflecting on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.

Questions

• What was John Lewis’ life like as a child?
• What things did Lewis experience during his childhood trip north that opened his eyes to the bigger picture of what the country could be like? What things were new to him?
• What kind of protest did Lewis participate in as a college student? How was it dangerous?

Activities

• Prepare a speech about something you like or something that is important to you. Gather objects or pets or other people in your house and deliver your speech the way Lewis preached to the chickens.
• Make posters to advocate for something you believe in and stage a march around your house or outside in your neighborhood.