We're the Same... and We're Different

My Students

We're the same... and we're different. That's what five year olds usually say when they are asked to look at the diversity that they see in their classroom. One of the most challenging and important topics that students can tackle is learning how to celebrate our multicultural world.

My school is ethnically, racially, economically and linguistically diverse, with a large population of students who speak Spanish.

We speak Spanish in my kindergarten classroom and for many of my students, this is their first experience with school and all of the expectations that go along with it. Not to mention that outside of our classroom, they face the challenge of communicating in their second (or third) language. My students' ability to navigate a multilingual and multicultural world is key to their academic success and they are curious and energetic and ready to learn!

My Project

It is important for students to know that their ideas, experiences and language are valued at school and that our classroom is a community that respects that they have knowledge to share with their peers, their teachers and their families and that this is just as important as them learning how to form letters and numbers or developing phonemic awareness. Multicultural children's literature will give students lots of opportunities to see children just like them reflected in the curriculum and give us a starting point to begin a journey learning about our families, our traditions, our classmates, our neighbors and our world. We can then continue to have important conversations that celebrate our diversity. The craft supplies will continue this process by helping students create their self-portraits and other activities like mixing-paint to create their unique skin color so students will learn that not all skin is "brown" or "black" or "white."

These craft supplies and children's literature will help students begin a lifelong journey towards becoming multilingual and multicultural.

They will be able to start and continue to have courageous conversations that celebrate the diversity that we see in our world.