Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/virtually_/5027063/
In 2020, amidst the abundance of calls for increased anti-racist education in early learning spaces, my principal asked for my input in creating a social justice seminar for our primary students. After discussing my ideas with my early childhood colleagues, I found a digital curriculum created by Akiea Gross. Woke Kindergarten included digital media, such as Tik Tok videos and slide decks, that were visually appealing and tailored to young children. These materials inspired me to find other digital resources that could be used in various instructional settings (in-person, remote, and hybrid). I used this combination of children’s literature and digital media resources produced by Woke Kindergarten, Teaching Tolerance, and Black Lives Matter at school to engage students in critical literacy explorations through a social justice literacy workshop. The workshop focused on engaging students in authentic collaborative reading and writing tasks, including literature circles and dialogue journals.
Background and Purpose
By using a combination of high-quality anti-racist children’s literature and digital media, I hoped to create and maintain a classroom environment that encouraged students to question the world around them and seek out ways to make it better. This type of activism could only be supported through intentional efforts by educators (Souto-Manning ...