Students at Noyes Elementary School (DCPS) learned about go go during Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action with a Teach the Beat lesson from international go-go artist, William “Ju Ju” House on Tuesday, February 5.

See tweets from Friday.

William "Ju Ju" House (EU) and Geronimo (Trouble Funk) did a go go workshop at Anacostia High School (DCPS) for a music class.

See tweets from Thursday.

At Langdon ES (DCPS), parents and grandparents were featured guest readers (part of the Teaching for Change Roving Readers program) in honor of Black History Month and Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. They read in Ms. Louis' 3rd grade class and Ms. Scott's PK class.

See tweets from Tuesday.

Langdon Elementary School (DCPS) kicked off Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action in DC with a Teach the Beat lesson from international go-go artist, William “Ju Ju” House on February 4, 2019. Thirty fifth graders took turns jamming on Ju Ju's rototom drum set, a hands-on experience that taught them all about the pocket, Chuck Brown, and go-go's wider influence. 

See tweets from Monday.

Eighth grade social studies teachers at Alice Deal Middle School used the “Black Muslims in the United States: An introductory activity” lesson with their 550 students. The lesson, part of Teaching for Change’s Challenge Islamophobia project, was used during a unit about the colonization of North America. Read more >>

Kevin Fox, an 11th-grade social studies educator at Cardozo Education Complex (DCPS), is teaching his students to analyze Cold War conflicts in Central America through an exploration of poetry and history. A lesson titled, Poetry Fires the Revolution, which is available for free download at TeachingCentralAmerica.org inspired Fox to teach this topic to his students. Read more >>

U.S. history came alive inside Room B219 at Theodore Roosevelt High School (DCPS) with a lesson about the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) through role-playing and actively engaging in decision-making. Read more >>

The D.C. Area Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools gave a powerful start to Black History Month in classrooms across the Washington, D.C. area. Pre-K — 12th grade teachers in more than 100 schools taught lessons about structural racism, intersectional Black identities, and Black history.

At School Without Walls at Francis Stevens (DCPS), students in my elementary ESOL class read a newsela article and watched a Ted Talk in order to understand the term "systemic racism" and how it impacts people in the United States and in other countries.

Kindergarten students in Sandhya Rajan's class are solidifying their commitment to valuing and protecting Black lives by adding their signature to the "BLACK LIVES MATTER" banner at LaSalle-Backus Education Campus. 

High school U.S. history students attended a presentation by SNCC veteran Courtland Cox, coordinated by teacher Lordsline Exantus. Cox explained to the students that his years of activism began when he was their age, and like many of them, he grew up in an immigrant household. He also told them that the in the 1960s, the apartments near their school were for whites only and that he protested the DC football team for not allowing Black players.

For the DC Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools, Inspired Teaching Fellow Brittney Henderson (‘13) and her kindergarten students at West Education Campus (DCPS) read One by Kathryn Otoshi, a book that addresses the importance of inclusion in a diverse community. Afterwards, the class discussed why everyone must be kind to each other even when people aren’t kind to them, and created posters to demonstrate how to be kind.

On Tuesday, students were able to make connections between our world history content and Black Lives Matter movement today. We are currently studying the Indian Independence Movement and Partition. This allowed us to relate the Civil Rights Movement's peaceful methods to Gandhi's Salt March and history. From there students were able to evaluate the principles of the Black Lives Matter movement and compare those to the writings of Gandhi.

As part of the Black Lives Matter Week of Action, Teaching for Change staff member Alison Kysia visited Luke C. Moore High School to teach Black Muslims in the United States: An Introductory Activity. 

This month, all of the 8th grade social studies teachers at Alice Deal Middle School (DCPS) engaged their students in the popular role play, The People vs. Columbus, et al.  The lesson, written in the form of a trial by Bill Bigelow of Rethinking Schools, is available for free download on the Zinn Education Project website. The lesson is a prime example of how to engage students in learning through role play and debate. Read more >>

When fifth grade Spanish literacy teacher Cesarina Pierre realized that her nearly two decades of teaching Caribbean students in New York City Public Schools would not fully translate to teaching Central American students in Washington D.C., she sought resources from Teaching for Change. Pierre asked Teaching for Change, a longtime partner at the school, to help her understand the unique experiences of Central American families. Read more >>