The Colors of Us: Making Art with People Color Materials
My students need art materials to explore our racial diversity and different skin colors.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Smith's classroom raised $513
This project is fully funded
My Students
My students sing and move, share jokes and games, and use their creativity. This learning is woven in with all the important academic things they need to know: reading, writing, science, math, and history.
Ours is a Title I elementary school.
We serve several students who are English Language Learners and/or from low socio-economic status. We think it's important to explore our family heritage, learn what countries we come from, and celebrate our different cultures. Part of this involves talking about skin color.
My Project
We'll read the book "The Colors of Us" and meet all the people in the neighborhood. Each has skin "a different color of brown." Lena's mother, an artist who paints, compares their friends to honey, peanut butter, pizza crust, ginger, peaches, chocolate, and more.
After we read the book, we'll discover the colors of our own skin. We'll do several art projects using the "people color" paints, pencils, paper, and markers. The standard school supplies do not include "the colors of us." We need special materials so each child can see themselves and others to recognize and talk about race in our lives.
When we teach about race to young children, we open an important conversation.
Kids need to know that, yes, we are different and that's OK. In fact, it deserves to be celebrated. If our children grow up now talking openly about skin color and how it affects us, we will be better off in the future.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Smith and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
