Elementary Working Group
D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice has launched a working group for D.C. area elementary (3rd-5th grade) educators.
The goals of the working group are to:
Act as a space for collaboration and lesson planning together
Facilitate a space for teachers to share best practice for social justice and anti-racist pedagogy
Innovate and create projects to get published, create projects and plans that lead to action to address injustice
The Elementary working group brings together individual pedagogies to form a collective practice of learning and teaching. They co-create their shared language and definitions and build plans and take actionable steps to address injustice. They are cultivating a space for joyful, creative experiences as educators.
The group meets monthly on weekday afternoons.
If you are interested, please fill out the application. For more information, write to D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice.
Sessions
Many sessions are described below, starting with the most recent session and working back.
October 26, 2024
Twelve teachers from the DCAESJ elementary and secondary working groups gathered at the Teaching for Change office. Co-facilitated by teacher leaders Mollie Safran and Raphael Bonhomme, the gathering covered complex topics of race, identity, and stereotypes in art, offering new perspectives on how to foster an inclusive classroom environment through a thought-provoking workshop led by Diamond Gray of the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. Read more.
May 13, 2024
The May working group meeting was held at the Teaching for Change office, and it was a reflective time for educators across all three groups to connect over a collaborative art project. Mollie guided the first activity, directing participants to reflect on the year and color a cherry blossom image in a way that represented how the year went based on the working group and/or their educational institutions’ experiences. This reflection laid the foundation for the second activity—dreaming into next school year (and beyond).
Members thought both concretely and abstractly about what they wanted out of the working groups and wrote their thoughts down on Post-Its, organized by theme. For example, justice and field trips were just a few of the widely agreed upon features working group members wanted to continue. Participants then collaborated on a collage that illustrated the themes. This collaborative activity will be an annual, end-of-year approach to reflection on their work.
April 13, 2024
The April elementary and secondary working group meeting centered on a problem of practice that was raised by a working group member: how to find strategies for teaching about Black history that recognize both resistance and joy. Additionally, how to find ways to involve caregivers in that learning.
Raphael shared an anecdote about his school and how there was an attempt at hosting a schoolwide Black joy/celebratory theme to Black history, but insufficient recognition of the horrors faced, as well. He shared an image of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and attendees discussed what joy was present and what uncomfortable conversations would generate from the same image. As a group, members added their definitions of Black joy, and topics in Black history that may lead to uncomfortable conversations, to a Jamboard.
They watched and briefly discussed videos about a Lego artist and stolen artifacts at the British Museum. Raphael shared about the PBLs his third and fourth graders did that were inspired by their learning around the Benin statues and the Lego artist. See images from the 3rd grade and 4th grade PBLs. The meeting wrapped with a 15 minute collaboration about teaching both resistance and joy about Black LGBTQ+ history.
March 16, 2024
All three working groups met at the Phillips Collection for the March meeting. They kicked it off with group trivia, composed by the education team at the museum. It drew from Bonnard’s Worlds, the special exhibit open from March 2nd - June 2nd, 2024, and from the Museum’s Story, a standard resource to learn more about the collection’s history. Tiffane White, a museum educator at the Collection, facilitated an interactive tour of the museum’s permanent collection and Bonnard’s Worlds. The tour, entitled “Taking a Stand, Making a Change,” is designed to analyze and critique fine art collections, broaden the narrative, and develop strategies for educators to pair art and documents in their classroom teaching.
See all photos from the meeting at the Phillips Collection.
February 10, 2024
For the February working group meeting, the DCAESJ elementary and secondary groups met via Zoom. The topic was on community museums and their role in education. The meeting kicked off with an icebreaker where members introduced themselves and shared a memory they had of museums. Their reflections varied from museums being something they rarely got to experience, usually through a school field trip, to others who frequented museums and found them rather accessible. From there, working group members added their thoughts to a Jamboard with the following questions:
What features do you think of when you think of a museum?
What features do you think of when you think of a community museum?
What is important to consider or do when designing a community museum?
How might you use the concept of a community museum in your educational setting?
Mollie and Raphael also shared the Community Museum Choice Board for elementary and secondary educators to use with their students.
December 9, 2023:
The elementary and secondary working groups met online for their December meeting. Sela Gebrechirstos, the Youth & Community Outreach Coordinator at Black Swan Academy (BSA), facilitated an abbreviated version of BSA’s Organizing to Lead workshop, designed for adults. After going around the Zoom room and introducing ourselves and what activist animal we considered ourselves to be — an activity first introduced to the group at the Anacostia Community Museum — we dove into the workshop. After some grounding on BSA’s work, educators engaged in an activity where they identified where they fall on a spectrum of adults that support young people in social justice work and reflected on where they want to be. They then participated in a virtual scavenger hunt through the Black Youth Agenda. Working group members were impressed by the fliers BSA youth composed. They noted how disheartening it is that so many of the issues that school-aged youth are experiencing now, including unkempt facilities and increased policing in schools which make students feel unsafe, are issues that have been around for decades. With their remaining time, educators drafted elevator pitches to deliver to youth encouraging them to get active in social justice.
Resources from the meeting:
The Black Youth Agenda Flyers again for folks who want to print them out and share with their youth.
One working group member shared:
I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have gained through this partnership with DCAESJ and Black Swan Academy.
November 18, 2023:
The group met at the Anacostia Community Museum on Saturday, November 18th. They began with some grounding by Andrea Jones, Associate Director of Education at the museum. Jones talked about what environmental justice means to the museum and how they’re guided by the idea that environmental justice is “Not just about saving the earth; it’s about saving the people.” Working group members shared some of the lessons they’ve designed or done with students that insist on racial justice to achieve environmental justice. They then toured the To Live and Breathe: Women and Environmental Justice in Washington, D.C. exhibit, which included an activity that helps people understand what kind of activist they are. Folks had time to view the exhibit before meeting in the museum’s program room for trivia and collaboration.
One working group member shared:
Thank you for another great session! This one left me feeling very inspired and sparked a lot of thinking.
Here’s a PDF of the Utopia Project Dreambook Andrea Jones gave everyone.
September 23, 2023:
The DCAESJ elementary and secondary working groups’ first meeting for the 2023 - 2024 school year was moving and thought provoking. They met at the Smithsonian American History Museum and were in conversation with Dr. Katherine Ott (any pronouns), a museum curator in the division of medicine and science.
Conversation began with a circle question where everyone shared what memories and reflections they had about health education when they were growing up. Folks touched on experiences with the Presidential Physical Fitness Test, health classes, and other curricula. Dr. Ott covered a lot of ground on the histories of health marginalization and its legacy in the body. She demonstrated exercises she facilitates with grad students to better identify where in their bodies they react to external stimuli. Dr. Ott touched on colonialism and imperialism and how they impact health disparities. There was time for teachers to reflect on all that Dr. Ott shared, and then briefly discussed how they might incorporate what they learned into their curriculum this year.
One working group member shared:
Thank you for organizing! It was inspiring.
May 13, 2023:
The May meeting was held at the African American Civil War Museum. Currently, it is undergoing renovations and slated to reopen to the public in 2024. While the museum itself is taking a necessary pause from its typical engagement, the education department, managed by Dawn Chitty, was eager to meet with the upper elementary and secondary working group members. The museum aims to be a place where every D.C. student must pass through during their K-12 learning. With that goal in mind, Chitty guided our educators through a tour of the museum while it’s undergoing renovations. Chitty, who is the visionary behind the museum’s exhibits, painted a vivid picture of the exhibits to come.
She described artifacts that they had secured, including a Civil War era drum that’s in pristine condition and a stove that belonged to an elder relative of Michelle Obama in Chicago. Chitty guided the groups room-by-room to help folks envision how they could use the coming classroom spaces and resource center when they returned to the museum with their students. Folks in the working group — many of whom had visited the museum before the old site closed to the public in order to migrate into the new space — noted how excited they are about the reopening.
One working group member shared:
Today was very special — it's always an honor to be with Frank Smith and to listen and learn from him.
April 22, 2023:
Members of the elementary and middle/high school working groups gathered at Casey Trees on Earth Day 2023. After a competitive game of Kahoot — with questions related to climate justice — the group did a circle discussion with some prompts:
What was your relationship with the environment like growing up?
How do your students talk about the earth and environment?
After this grounding, the working group leadership team briefed everyone on the inspiration behind the resource the group would be developing that day:a math-based activity for students to better understand their water footprints. The group paired off and researched information about the production and distribution of sugarcane, avocado, beef, and cotton and how impactful each is on water. To help students extend their learning and application, the group also developed language to better understand the significance and repercussions of these industries on water. This lesson will be refined by the working groups to be published through DCAESJ as a resource for educators to adopt methods in their classrooms.
One member shared:
I like how action-driven this work is. I always feel like I contributed to something someone can use tangibly.
Resources
View-only copy of the meeting slideshow
March 2023:
In lieu of a formal meeting during the month of March, all working group members were encouraged to attend and/or participate in annual events from a few of our partner organizations. READ MORE.
February 18, 2023:
The focus of February’s meeting was a documentary film screening and discussion about D.C. statehood. After checking in with group members who Zoomed into the meeting, working group facilitators laid the foundation for the topic of discussion by asking how educators have taught about D.C. statehood in the past or how they envision or want to teach about it.
DCAESJ early childhood educator Nadine Foty has been working with a filmmaking team at Marigold Productions on The Last Battlefront. The production company’s founder, Anna Jihrad, joined the Zoom-based meeting for the film screening, feedback, and discussion. Working group members received secure access to the film to screen with their classes. Some also volunteered to work with Jihrad and her team in developing teaching materials to go alongside the film. Hannah and Raphael developed an Indigenous DMV Article Lesson designed for upper elementary school students.
January 7, 2023:
All DCAESJ working groups joined together and invited fellow D.C. area educators to share advice, build on resources, begin planning their BLM at School Week of Action, and continue to participate in the Year of Purpose. READ MORE.
December 10, 2022:
The elementary and secondary working groups met at Friends Place on Capitol Hill for their December meeting. Their topic was on the radical work of Martin Luther King Jr. and the many activists and organizers of the Civil Rights Movement. After a Kahoot grounding attendees in a few of the organizers with whom MLK associated, the groups walked through a multi-day unit with resources for learning about King developed by working group co-leader Raphael Bonhomme. The group built on one of the messages of the multi-day unit: movements are powered by many people, not just one leader. They expanded on this idea by creating a resource for students to learn about the team of organizers and activists that were instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement, including the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Resources:
November 19, 2022:
The elementary and secondary working groups held a joint meeting at Bruce-Monroe at Parkview ES on the topic of holidays in the classroom. The central inquiry was whether December should be considered the holiday season.
They kicked off the meeting with people’s history trivia about holidays. From there, they did a circle share on how they experienced holidays in their classrooms growing up, and how they’ve navigated them as teachers themselves. Group members then spent time exploring texts from Social Justice Books’ Holidays list to serve as fodder for the resources they’d be creating to help students explore religious and/or cultural and national holidays that happen *year round on the Gregorian calendar and decide if December is the “holiday season.” Activities for this lesson included activism for adding holidays and observances to the school or district calendar. Educators also raised how important it is to be sensitive to students around things like food for anyone that might be fasting, or asking about how students and their families spent days off from school for those who might not be able to afford or have been able to travel.
*group members took into consideration that holidays and other observances–such as Ramadan– often shift because of calendar differences
Resources:
October 15, 2022:
“I want my students to feel that they’re teachers, too.”
October’s meeting kicked off with some lively peoples’ history trivia about Indigenous peoples. Working group co-facilitators Mollie Safran, Hannah Halpern, and Raphael Bonhomme created rounds of questions that would be appropriate for elementary and secondary students, as well as questions for adults. From there, the groups engaged in a problem of practice, shared by Halpern. In short, Halpern wants her third grade students to more comprehensively explain and share how disparities they learn about in class are interconnected and part of larger systems that fail to meet community needs. She’s noticed that her students zero in on one particular jarring piece of information, but wants them to more fully communicate the context.
After lunch, the groups divided into grade level bands and spent time creating curricular resources and engaging in lesson sharing about ideas and activities for teaching about Indigenous people. Safran facilitated her group in reading Keepunumuk: Weeachumun’s Thanksgiving Story. After it was agreed upon that, while this title is flawed and, at the writers’ admission, this book’s narrative construction is not meant to “vilify the Pilgrims,” this book is receiving a lot of attention and will likely be a resource educators reach for in the coming weeks. This group read, discussed/critiqued, and drafted language that communicated the tepidness they felt about the book, and how to potentially use it as a learning tool.
September 17, 2022: The D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice early childhood, upper elementary, and secondary working groups convened to kick off their monthly meetings for the 2022–2023 school year. Educators decided to focus their convening on preparing to teach about Central America, especially during the October 3–9 Teach Central America Week.
The convening began with a trip to the National Museum of the American Latino’s first exhibit, ¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States (currently housed within the Smithsonian National Museum of American History), and to participate in their Hispanic Heritage Month Family Festival. Educators were excited to see that parts of the exhibit highlighted Central Americans in D.C., including Mario Bencastro’s typewriter.
The working groups then traveled to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library for community building via team trivia on Peoples’ History of Central America and enjoying pupusas. The groups then broke into two different rooms for grade level lesson development, collaboration and planning, and resource review around teaching Central America. READ MORE.
August 18, 2022: The Elementary working group met informally at Malcolm X Park to recruit more membership (and meet in person for the first time!) They held a more formal meeting via Zoom before the school year started. During their August meeting, the group checked-in with one another about how the summer went, and how they’re feeling about entering the 2022 - 2023 school year.
From there, they opted into one of two breakout rooms. One breakout room was designed for discussion on what social justice teaching means for upper elementary students, and sharing social justice teaching standards. The other breakout room was focused on learning, sharing about, and preparing for Latine Heritage Month.
The group reconvened in the main room to revisit the Google Drive folder of shared resources as the group embarks on their second year.
Group members shared:
I learned how to integrate math into my social studies instruction and how to tie the two into uplifting Latinx communities
I did not know there were Social Justice Standards, and I'd like to consider how I'd use them to plan lessons. I look forward to reading them.
Resources shared:
VIEW ONLY: General Meeting slides
VIEW ONLY: Social Justice Standards presentation
VIEW ONLY: Latinx Heritage Month
June 11, 2022: The anti-bias early childhood education, elementary, and secondary working groups actively participated in the June 11th D.C. area #TeachTruth rally at the African American Civil War Memorial.
After the rally, working group members gathered at the Teaching for Change office to celebrate one another and the groups’ work this year. Thank you to working group leadership, members, and our interns Maddy, May, and Tayna for their work in preparing for both the #TeachTruthrally and the end of year celebration. Read more about the rally.
May 31, 2022: For their May meeting, the DCAESJ Elementary working group originally planned on having a discussion about how to get involved in a short-term organizing issue around ways to garner more respect for teachers and improve working conditions. The group pivoted, though, to a larger discussion about the group’s purpose and mission. Group members raised their desire to revisit their founding mission, developing more uniform elements to their monthly meeting, and ideas about ways to recruit and retain members over the summer and in the coming school year. View the slideshow.
April 26, 2022: After opening by discussing some of our favorite revolutionary Black artists and pieces of artwork, the group screened the documentary short Alma Thomas: A Life in Color (accessible to all DCPS educators!) We considered to what degree she and her artwork could be considered revolutionary, and what are the makings of a revolutionary Black artist. We also shared some resources geared toward elementary educators for teaching about Alma Thomas. Here is a link to access the meeting chat.
Working group members shared:
I will be looking at more of Miss Thomas’s work. I like the idea of presenting her to people who are looking at being “incidentally Black” versus “intentionally Black.”
March 29, 2022: The Elementary working group gathered to connect and discuss Women’s History Month and how gender and racial biases are confronted in our schools. Learn more.
February 15, 2022: The Elementary working group began their February meeting by selecting an item from their space that reflected their current emotions and discussed why they connected to it. Participants shared items that sparked confidence, strength, and joy, including a Post-It note from their mom and a puzzle that their students are collaborating on. Read more.
January 8, 2022: All three working groups gathered virtually to connect and plan in preparation for Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action happening this year from Jan. 31st - Feb. 4th. The hour was rejuvenating and yielded thoughtful conversation around the 13 guiding principles and national demands for Black Lives Matter at School. They reviewed resources, such as padlets for early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school educators around Black Lives Matter at School. Working group members commented:
All the resources shared, the padlets and articles shared in the chats, are reinvigorating me to make plans now for the week of action and beyond. I will be returning to these as I plan and collaborate with colleagues at my school.
Thank you for everyone and this space! What an amazing group!
Thank you so much for this wonderful group of educators, resources, and space to share! I really appreciate it!
November 16, 2021: For their November meeting, the Elementary working group began with teacher leaders Hannah Halpern and Raphael Bonhomme sharing their vision of the group’s structure. They proposed subgroups that are dedicated to encouraging wellness, sharing knowledge, and building resources for the wider group. The working group members that were present then signed up to serve in these subgroups and started planning. From there, the group spent time sharing and providing feedback on lessons and resources on teaching Thanksgiving and founding myths from a people’s lens--specifically from the perspective of Indigenous people.
October 5, 2021: During their October meeting, the Elementary working group became reacquainted through structured reflection about the school year so far, sharing their successes, challenges, and intentions moving forward. It’s been a tough academic year to date, most educators communicating this year has been tougher than the 2020-2021 school year. From there, working group members spent time drafting the language of their mission statement to be used in the announcement inviting more D.C. area social justice elementary school educators to apply to join the group.
August 24th, 2021: The Elementary working group gathered for the first time to dream and plan for how they’d establish and expand their newly launched working group. During this time, the 3rd-5th grade educators found common interest in having a subgroup for bilingual education resources and started to think about their goals and structure.