Rachel Cogbill Reads "Amazing Grace"

Rachel read Amazing Grace to the kindergarten. (See here for a description of the book). Rachel's summary:

Grace wants to be Peter Pan in the class play, but one classmate says she can't be because Peter Pan is a boy, and another says she can't be Peter Pan because she is black. Her Nana says Grace can be anything she puts her mind to, and in the end her classmates agree! The play is a great success!

We believe it is essential to provide children with diverse role models, in terms of skin color, cultural heritage, ability, national origin, etc. This book is a lovely example of this perspective.

Activity: Rachel created a booklet with an image of the book's cover on the front, the name of the class, and a line stating "Read aloud during the Reading to End Racism Day."  Inside the booklet, it said "Grace can be anything she wants to be, and so can I!" There was a page for each student to draw a picture and write what he or she wanted to be. This boy wanted to be a baker! This activity provides a great little brochure that students can take home to talk with their families about.

Mark Hughes Reads "Let's Talk About Race"

Mark Hughes read Let's Talk About Race, by Julius Lester, illustrated by Karen Barbour in a 1-2 class at Cabot School.

The book offers readers a poetic introduction to the topic of race as the differences and unique features of races are celebrated while discussing the important bond everyone shares with one another as human beings through many common similarities. 

Hannah Morvan reads "Amazing Grace"

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Caroline Binch 

I read Amazing Grace to a kindergarten group. In it Grace uses her imagination to play different roles, which kindergarteners always love to do. Grace is told by her classmates that she can’t be Peter Pan in the school play because she is a girl, and she is black. Her grandmother takes her to see a ballet of Romeo and Juliet with a black girl playing the Juliet role. Grace practices being Peter Pan and earns the part, and plays it  beautifully.

Activity: As an activity, the children were randomly partnered and they were to listen to their partner tell about a talent they had or something they were good at. Each partner then drew the other doing that activity, and told the class about their partner. At the end, we played a "guess the animal" imagination game.

The message was that ALL people have talents and strengths that have nothing to do with skin color (or gender) and that we should appreciate what our classmates have to offer, and build admiration into our ways of thinking about each other. Exclusion always leaves some out (hence racism) but inclusion allows everyone to opt in!

Kate Duffy reads "The Other Side"

The Other Side, written by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis.

Clover has always wondered why a fence separates the black side of town from the white side.  Clover's mom says it isn't safe to cross the fence.  But one day, Clover approaches Annie, who lives on the other side.

Evocative watercolors lay bare the personalities and emotions of her two young heroines, one African-American and one white. As the girls, both instructed by their mothers not to climb over the fence, watch each other from a distance, their body language and facial expressions provide clues to their ambivalence about their mothers' directives. Intrigued by her free-spirited white neighbor, narrator Clover watches enviously from her window as "that girl" plays outdoors in the rain. And after footloose Annie introduces herself, she points out to Clover that "a fence like this was made for sitting on"; what was a barrier between the new friends' worlds becomes a peaceful perch where the two spend time together throughout the summer. 

By season's end, they join Clover's other pals jumping rope and, when they stop to rest, "We sat up on the fence, all of us in a long line." Lewis depicts bygone days with the girls in dresses and white sneakers and socks, and Woodson hints at a bright future with her closing lines: "Someday somebody's going to come along and knock this old fence down," says Annie, and Clover agrees. (from Publishers Weekly)

Activity: Kate read this book to first graders in Northfield, Montpelier, and Cabot in 2017.  To introduce the story, Kate asked the children to describe the types of fences they have around their yards and their uses. As she read, they discussed how this fence was different and why adults cautioned children to stay on their own side.  After finishing the book, the children were asked for suggestions as to how to break down real and imaginary barriers and how we can intentionally get to know each other better. Answers were discussed and then written on picket fence pieces.  A poster was hung, the fence pieces were pasted on, and a gate was devised, in order to cross through that fence.