Since the beginning of January, students have been wondering who this man is on the January calendar.
So, in order to provide some context for the upcoming holiday that honors Martin Luther King Jr., we began a week-long series of lessons for social studies. Today's Lesson was focused on Fairness and Discrimination. And it was amazing!
We started by passing out snacks to only half of the class. The boys got snacks while the girls were passed by! Understandably, the girls were upset, confused, saddened and/or angry. I told them that only the boys would be getting snack. Some boys were ambivalent, some demonstrated a jocular superiority, and some of the boys fiercely defended the girls' rights to have snack. The girls were united in demanding to be treated fairly. They were united in their refusal to join us for our upcoming story. Finally, I assured them that everyone would get snacks. And that there was a reason for this...
I introduced Martin Luther King Jr. and told our kindergartners that he and Dr. Seuss had something in common. They both wanted all people to be treated fairly. I read The Sneetches, an incredible story about our basic need to be included. Kids understand fairness, especially when they are the ones being left out. 
We are reading The Other Side this week during library time. It is a story about two little girls who live next to each other. One is black and the other white. They are separated by a fence, but find common ground in the middle. The illustrations are fabulous, as is the story.
We will be reading these books as well. Then we will get a little book of Martin Luther King to read together. We'll identify words we know and highlight he and we.
This week's art project will be based on this book to acknowledge the variety of skin colors that abound.
