The most important lessons you will ever teach is about diversity and the importance of Celebrating Different Cultures.
Every student deserves an equal chance to learn and succeed. These nine tips will help promote equity in your classroom, so that all students can reach their potential.
There are many ways to create a multicultural classroom – a classroom where students explore and appreciate other cultures and diversity. The benefits of having a multicultural classroom are endless. Students break through cultural barriers, they learn to appreciate different ways of celebrating or communicating, and it brings the classroom community closer together. Here are some tips to
Children of the World multicultural activities provide an engaging way for Montessori preschool students to learn about different cultures. With a variety of activities and printables, children can explore and […]
About this resource: This resource can be used in your ECE classroom and links to the Identity, Connecting and Contributing and Wellbeing outcomes within the Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines (Australia). This resource can be used as a small group or whole class activity and is a great way for students to learn about their peers and the diversity within their classroom. How I use this resource: At the beginning of the year I send out a “Meet the Student” form to gain background information about each student (see link/my store for resource). We begin our “We All Belong” lesson/unit by reading a multicultural story e.g. Whoever You Are by Mem Fox, Celebrations of the World by Mike Ingram and I’m Australian Too by Mem Fox. We then have a sharing session where students share information and stories about their family and culture. We explore the world map and point out the different countries students come from. In small groups, students (or teacher) fill out their “We All Belong” information sheet (including our photo/drawing) and pin it to our “We All Belong” display with a piece of wool linking our sheet to the country we/our family come from. We add photos, pictures and craft to the “We All Belong” wall throughout the year when learning about different cultural celebrations. Includes: We All Belong Template - Colour We All Belong Template - B&W We All Belong Bunting (Circles - "We All Belong")
This post is dedicated to Sara Esther Regalado Moriel. Sara and her husband, Adolfo, will be deeply missed by their friends and loved ones. Sara and Adolfo were parents to […]
February begins Black History Month. It is a perfect time to reflect and teach tolerance, acceptance and diversity in your classroom.
This post contains affiliate links. If you search for ideas to teach diversity in the classroom, you will find dozens of articles about helping children to learn about and appreciate multi-cultural and racial differences. This is wonderful. This is important. This is necessary. And this is a missed opportunity to also teach about differences in ability. It is quite simple to weave in conversations of ability when teaching diversity. I have shared some great examples: Most popular: Teaching Diversity AND Inclusion – The Egg Activity My favorite (and the one I use in disability inclusion training most often): Teach Diversity Using Oranges And a great one where students can take the lead: Teaching Disability Acceptance and Diversity - A Survival Kit Here is another great activity you might use: Using M&M’s to Teach Diversity: Display a bowl of M&M’s. Do not let students touch the bowl or the candy. Ask: What do you see? What can you tell me about these M&M’s just from looking at them? (e.g. different colors) Are there any of these M&M’s better than the others? (acknowledge that some may have a favorite color, steer conversation to the value of the candy itself) Make the following statement: We are just like this bowl of M&M’s. We may appear different on the outside, but we are very much alike on the inside. Let each student have one M&M to eat. Ask them to bite into it, if they can, to look at the inside. Compare insides, noting how they are all the same. Say: We may like the red ones or the green ones best, but that does not mean the yellow ones aren’t as good. This is the same with people. There may be some people we like a lot, but this does not mean other people are not as good. The M&M’s are all made of the same ingredients to make chocolate. Just like M&M’s, people are all made of the same things. We all have blood, muscles, skin, a heart that feels, and yet we all look different on the outside. What if you were all the same size, shape or color? This class would not be as interesting or fun. Our differences are what makes life exciting. Highlight differences in ability along with difference in size, shape or color. Eat the M&M’s! As an extension: Read the poem Different. It can be read as a class and discussed, read in small groups and discussed, students can read and then write their own poems, etc. Different Hey! Hey! I’m just me! I’m different from anyone else you’ll see! Taller than John - shorter than Sue... Hair that is darker than Nancy’s too. Eyes not black or really green Nor really blue, but in between. I’ve got more freckles than Don or Fred. Jane reads better but I can add, And Jim runs faster (which makes me sad!) Johnny’s arms are chocolate brown, And he’s got the happiest grin in town. Judy’s arms are almost white And I’m dark tan - and it’s all right ‘Cause Johnny is him, and I am me, And Judy is Judy, plain to see, And we’re all as different as we can be! -Unknown What are some of your favorite activities for teaching diversity? How can you be sure to include diversity of ability? Never miss a post from Removing the Stumbling Block:
At the beginning of each school year, I have the students create their own personal banner. We do this on the first day of school. Instead of going over more rules with my students on the first day (because they hear the same ones from every teacher in the middle school), I do a fun activity with them to break up the sitting and listening. I call each student to an area in my classroom and take each student's picture. This works great, especially in middle school, because they all come dressed to impress on the first day in their new clothes and new hair-dos. While I am calling each student for their "own personal photo shoot," the other students are designing their banners. One one side of the banner, the students design the banner with his/her name, photo (to be added the next day), and any creative designs and colors they choose. On the other side of the banner, the students list their goals for the school year and list the ways they are going to accomplish those goals. The following day, I bring their printed photos and they glue them to their banners. I laminate the banners so they will last all year, and so they will be as good as new when the students take them home at the end of the year. They absolutely love this! Next comes the task of hanging and displaying these banners. I use fishing line and paper clips, and they work wonderfully. Depending on the number of students I have, I divide the banners equally so that they balance out the classroom. Anyone who witnesses me hang these banners knows that it is an act of love for my students! There are a several of reasons why I chose to do this activity with my students year after year (although there have been years that I swore I was never doing it again because of the workout my arms get from hanging them). They provide my classroom with a wonderful display of my students' faces smiling at me and greeting me every morning when I walk into my classroom. The banners are a daily reminder of the goals each student made for the academic year, and it keeps them on track when I simply point to the ceiling. The banners teach diversity, individualism, and tolerance. All of my students are unique individuals, and for at least one time during the year, they are able to be themselves on paper. They are not worried about what others think; they are simply letting their individuality shine. Last, but not least, the students enjoy them and love having them in the classroom all year. I have students in lower grades ask me all the time if they are going to get to do the banners, too. If you would like to use this activity in your own classroom, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I think it will definitely be something that you find enjoyable! These banners can also be used during the beginning of the second semester when the students come back from break.
8 Anti-Bias Activities for the Home & Classroom
To foster acceptance and understanding of others, I've put together a list of my favorite diversity tools and toys that celebrate preschool and kindergarten
description of diversity, culture, and cultural awareness, as well as activities
Anya, the founder of Montessori From The Heart, is an educational coach, a blogger, an author, a digital creator, and an influencer.
Unlock the power of inclusive education! Read on for an insightful look at why representation matters so much in the classroom!
This post is dedicated to Sara Esther Regalado Moriel. Sara and her husband, Adolfo, will be deeply missed by their friends and loved ones. Sara and Adolfo were parents to […]
Raise kids who are loving, kind, and inclusive with these great diversity books for kids. Multicultural and diversity children's books that will help your..
8 Anti-Bias Activities for the Home & Classroom
Package Includes: 86 cutouts; 24 diversity borders in 2 designs, 48 kids cutouts in 12 patterns, 8 kids with different diverse phrases, 5 words cutouts show our differences make us special, 1 cutout displays the kids embrace the earth hand in hand Size: Cutouts vary in size from 2.6 to 14 inches and are plentiful; Suitable for children's activities and decorations Diversity Theme: Diverse children borders and cutouts, motivational words like "better together" and more, which help children understand multiculturalism and learn equality, tolerance and respect Multiple Uses: Suitable for back-to-school days, classroom doors, windows, and walls, bulletin boards, rooms or hallways, as well as various learning events and diversity themed parties Our Advantages: Large quantity; Bright color printed; Great material
As educators, one of our main jobs besides teaching to the state standards is making everyone feel welcome in our classrooms. Welcomed, appreciated, and celebrated. One of the easiest ways to do that is to
Hi there! It's Cheryl and I just started a new school year with a new group of kids. I'm teaching EAK (Early Admission Kindergarten) to a...
teaching kids to appreciate differences, teaching kids to be friends with people of all cultures and colors, activity to promote unity
If you want to begin teaching diversity to young kids, then you will definitely want to check out these crafts and activities that are fun and hands-on!
This diversity collection is geared towards younger students and helping them recognize and embrace differences among their classmates.
This post is dedicated to Sara Esther Regalado Moriel. Sara and her husband, Adolfo, will be deeply missed by their friends and loved ones. Sara and Adolfo were parents to […]
Hi friends! Welcome to another Five for Friday where I share 5 things from my week! 1. I Like Myself Writing My teammate shared this activity with me and I knew we had to try it too! My kids loved looking at the mirror and drawing themselves. I set out the book "I Like Myself!" and and the prompt "What do you like about yourself?" to encourage discussion and writing :) I had a lot of questions on Instagram about the faces. My teammate says they are from Scholar's Choice! 2. Measurement Bulletin Board Last week we wrapped up measurement so we finally put up our learning on our outside bulletin board. To show our learning we put out comparing names writing, capacity writing... hot and cold t-charts and heavy and light t-charts. Some of the girls also decided one day to measure the length of the table using unifix cubes so I documented that as well. All of the printables you see on the bulletin board can be found here. 3. Tower Building We learned about 3D figures after measurement. One activity they enjoyed was this tower building activity! Students were encouraged to make a tower and record their tower. I also asked the students to tell me about their tower and documented what their knowledge of 3D figures. I also challenged some of them to find all of the different ways they could build the tower using the figures they were given! If you want to try this activity with your class, you can grab the sign and recording sheet by clicking here or on the image below: 4. Sight Word Play Dough Most of my kiddos this year have learned most of their letters and sounds already but they still love play dough so I wanted to make something a little more challenging than the alphabet play dough mats I had been setting out. So I made these: I like them because the kids who are still working on letters can still practice forming them and identifying them but the kids who are ready can start to practice making sight words! I also added the "read it" section at the bottom. I used pre-primer sight words and a picture cue so that it would be easily decodable by emergent readers. If you would like to grab these mats, you can find them in my TPT store. Click here or on the image below to check them out! 5. Literacy Assessment Binder So many of you have been asking about my literacy assessment binder after I shared my numeracy assessment binder. You can read that post if you are interested here. Truth be told, my literacy assessment binder is nearly not as comprehensive. But I thought I'd still share in case it is helpful to somebody. In my inside pocket I keep my Reading Progress Letters that I send home after I do running records (with the SK's and the JK's who are ready) to help parents understand their child's areas of need and what they can do at home to support them. Our board's expectation is a PM Benchmark level 6 at the end of Kindergarten, so that is stated on the sheet. You can grab the Reading Progress letter for free by clicking here or on the image below: The back of the reading sheet are the reading strategies. Often times I will write a reading strategy to practice on the front and then highlight the strategy on the back. You can find this sheet in my Reading Strategies pack on TPT here. The first thing I have in my binder is this clear binder pouch where I keep the letters/sight words my intervention kids are working on. I put 10 letters or sight words on their ring at a time and they practice them for a week. I check their rings once a week and if they have mastered the letter/word it gets a checkmark and I take it off the ring and replace it with a new word/letter from this pouch. The printables for the letter and sight word rings can be found in the packs below: The tabs I have in my literacy assessment binder are: - Whole Class Data I keep a whole class data sheet of: 1. Letter ID (Uppercase) 2. Letter ID (Lowercase) 3. Letter Sounds 4. Running Records This helps me see general progress and needs of the whole class. - Letter ID I assess all kids on their letter ID at the beginning of the year and reassess as needed throughout the year. I keep track of this using the sheet below (included in the alphabet ring pack above). - Oct - Concepts of Print - Nov - Hearing Sounds in Words - Dec - Word Test - Jan - Writing Vocal The four tests above are all taken from Mary Clay's Observation Survey. We submit this data to our admin each month. I keep the originals in each tab. - RR - Sept - RR - Oct - RR - Nov - RR - Dec - RR - Jan - RR - Feb - RR - Mar - RR - Apr - RR - May - RR - Jun Each month I do running records with the kids who are reading. They go into each tab by month. - Writing - Term 1 - Writing - Term 2 Although I am assessing during guided writing, through inquiry writing etc. I also make sure I pull out my writing rubric and assess at least one piece of writing at the end of term 1 and term 2. I staple the writing to the rubric and keep a copy in my assessment binder. My writing rubric can be found here. - Intervention Planning/Tracking I keep my tracking sheet for my sight words here so I can highlight them as they master the words on their sight word ring. These can be found in my sight word ring resource above. I try to highlight in a different colour each week so that I can see how much progress they are making week to week. I get a lot of questions about the printables I use in my literacy binder. I pulled them from various files originally, but I recently put them all in one place. You can find the bundle by clicking here or on the image below: That's it from me this week! Click on the image below to check out more Five for Friday blog posts! SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave SaveSave
This is my door to match my superhero -themed classroom Get comfy, I have lots of pictures for you today! This year our principal challenged us to each come up with one adjective that fit with our theme, Be All You Can. The rules were simple. 1. Doors had to have the word "be" spelled correctly. 2. We could not have anything 3-D (due to fire marshall rules) and 3. We had each had to choose a different word. So, we thought of our words and planned our door over the summer!! Here is the result. 60 something doors - - Each totally unique! Photo credit goes to my really good teaching friend, Tracy G. Have fun looking and leave a comment about your favorite door. Who knows, maybe I'll pick your comment to win an item from my store! This is our registrar's door. Perfect, right? close up of book titles on the Be a Reader door Thanks for looking!!
As educators, one of our main jobs besides teaching to the state standards is making everyone feel welcome in our classrooms. Welcomed, appreciated, and celebrated. One of the easiest ways to do that is to
A few weeks ago our little daredevil had her first x-ray due to a little jumping on the bed incident. Yup 1 little monkey jumping on the bed, she fell off and bumped her head… broke her clavicle. Well ever since, she has been fascinated with the bones inside her body so there couldn’t be […]
description of diversity, culture, and cultural awareness, as well as activities
There are many ways to create a multicultural classroom – a classroom where students explore and appreciate other cultures and diversity. The benefits of having a multicultural classroom are endless. Students break through cultural barriers, they learn to appreciate different ways of celebrating or communicating, and it brings the classroom community closer together. Here are some tips to
Kids are curious by nature. These fun activities are the perfect way to teach kids about different cultures around the world & get them excited about learning.
There are many ways to celebrate diversity and honor a multicultural classroom. Help create a classroom environment that has students explore and appreciate other cultures and diversity. Allow students to break through cultural barriers, so they learn to appreciate different ways of celebrating or communicating, and bring the classroom community closer together.
