A Great Place to Start:
Arlington Public Schools Office of Equity and Excellence
National Museum of African American History & Culture – Talking about Race
Pretty Good Design: Are your kids too young to talk about race? Nope.
Books for Kids:
- Today’s Parent: 27 books to help you talk to your kids about racism
- A Kids Book About Racism – Jelani Memory
- Let the Children March – Monica Clark-Robinson
- We’re Different, We’re the Same (Sesame Street)
- Let’s Talk About Race – Julius Lester
- Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice – Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, & Ann Hazzard
Videos for Kids:
- YouTube – Animation Series: Something Happened In Our Town – Read Aloud
- YouTube – Systemic Racism Explained
- YouTube – A Kids Book About Racism by Jelani Memory – Read Aloud
- YouTube – The Tutu Teacher – Let’s Talk About Race – Read Aloud
Books for Adults:
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism – Robin DiAngelo
- How to Be an Antiracist – Ibram X. Kendi
- So You Want to Talk About Race – Ijeoma Oluo
- White Kids (Critical Perspectives on Youth) – Margaret A. Hagerman
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race – Beverly Daniel Tatum
Resources for Adults:
- Teaching Tolerance – It’s Never Too Early to Talk About Race
- Parent Toolkit – How to Talk to Kids about Race and Racism
- NPR – Podcast & Article: ‘Raising White Kids’ Author On How White Parents Can Talk About Race
- Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events – Discussion Guide for Families
- Raising Race Conscious Children – 100 RACE-CONSCIOUS THINGS YOU CAN SAY TO YOUR CHILD TO ADVANCE RACIAL JUSTICE
Resources for Teachers:
- TED Talk – Liz Kleinrock – How to teach kids to talk about taboo topics
- Teaching Tolerance – What White Colleagues Need to Understand
- Teachers Collage: Addressing Racism
- As Protests Erupt After George Floyd’s Death, Teachers Grieve With Students From a Distance
- National Association of Independent Schools – What White Children Need to Know About Race
- American Psychological Association – Uncovering the Trauma of Racism
- Dena Simmons: Without Context, Social-Emotional Learning Can Backfire
- Dena Simmons: Why We Can’t Afford Whitewashed Social-Emotional Learning
The Arlington School Board and APS has put out a statement pertaining to the events, which can be read here: https://www.apsva.us/post/a-message-from-the-superintendent-and-school-board/
For our students, Abingdon is being intentional about developing our social-emotional learning program. Over the next several years, we will be implementing Responsive Classroom into every K-5 classroom. That, along with our Second Step counseling curriculum and lessons from Teaching Tolerance, is a potent combination to help students develop positive social skills such as empathy, compassion, teamwork and collaboration. These skills are essential for students to grow academically. These skills also help students interact with one another more positively and lay the groundwork for a more inclusive and welcoming environment.
