Social Justice with the Little Ones

One of things that got cancelled when our quarantine season started, is our Social Justice Wax Museum. I assigned each student a historical figure and a book to go along with it. The plan was to research that person together and each student made a backdrop collage of their book. On the day of the presentation we were going to dress up like person and the students had a little speech they were memorizing.

Social Justice is a concept that has many different definitions. For me, it's about people fighting for equal treatment-either for themselves or for others. These some of the books we chose this year:

Beautifully written and illustrated story about a girl growing up in Cuba who would not give up her dream of becoming a drummer. Only boys were allowed to play the drums-she changed that.

Carter was the inventor of Black History Month. He grew up with parents who were slaves and wanted more for the African American Community.

Charlie Sifford was not allowed to participate in golf tournaments just because of the color of his skin. He broke down barriers in the sports world.

Jane Goodall has always fascinated me. She fights for the rights of animals all over the world.

This book is all about John Lewis and how he grew up to have the strength to walk with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma.

Mae Jamison became the first African American female astronaut.

This is a very age-appropriate story about Malala's fight for allowing girls in her country to get an education.

Jacques Cousteau fights for our oceans. From a young age he strove to bring awareness to the pollution and devastation we are causing in our underwater communities.

Basquiat is one of my favorite artists. He broke barriers in the art world by painting about life in poverty.

I LOVE this book. A little long for our littles, but I think it gives a picture not only into what Rosa did for Civil Rights but also into who she was as a person.

Even when they tried to make her right-handed as a child Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented. She fights for equality for women even to this day.

I have to admit, I had never heard of Sylvia Mendez until I read this book. She fought for Mexican children to be allowed to attend school with everyone else.

There is so much injustice going on in the world today. Some people believe Kinder students are too young to deal with that. I think it's important for them to know not only what is going on but how we can help combat it. They can handle it!