LGBTQIA In Primary Elementary Classrooms

Grades: 3rd - 5th Grades Goals: To help students explore and share their identity through poetry. To have students' identities be seen by classmates and teachers. Activity: Read the book Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Meyers.  Before have kids write their name on a line piece of paper. Have kids write down how they see themselves or how other people may think of them. Have them think of the people in their life that see them these ways. They can turn to their table partner and share these after composing a list of 10-15 of how they see themselves. Look at the book again with the children. Point out te way the words are grouped and how they look.  Have the kids write poems using their lists.  Have them use colored pencils and markers to draw pictures on their poems.  Ask who would like to share their poems outloud.  After each child shares a poem have the kids raise their hand to give complements about their pictures or things they liked about that s...

Grades: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade Goals: For students to consider the importance of words and actions. For students to see each other as allies.  Activity: Read the book One by Kathryn Otoshi. Before reading ask your students to pay attention to the colors and what they mean. As you read the book stop to ask your students questions about how they would feel if they were a certain color. This should help them understand how it feels to be treated differently based upon who they are. After reading you will have a classroom activity involving a heart. Can be represented with a cut out piece of paper. Each time the students can think of a time someone has said something that hurt their feelings you will crumple the heart. this heart represents the students hearts. During this activity you can have students pari up and talk about times their feelings were hurt to have the kids understnad each other and create compassion. This book and activity should teach kids that words ar...

Have kids come up with one word to describe how they want to feel or be treated.

Grade Level: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade Goal: To help students understand the many different families exist and ways family members care for each other.  Activity: Circle of Caring Community Students should think about their community and family. You can ask questions like Who takes care of them? Who takes them to school? Who do they spend time with outside of school? Do they have siblings? They can write these answers down on a piece of lines paper. Give students large pieces of underlined construction paper.  They should write their names in the middle and draw sprials out from their name.  They should write the people they feel closest to closer tot heir name and write others in their community who are less involved. After the students can share their spirals in front of the class. This can give kids with diverse family situations a chance to feel liberated.  To showcase your students' work hang their pictures on your wall to let them know the importance...

As elementary teachers we have the responsibility of teaching our students about different cultures and different preferences; whether those are sexual, gender, or affiliation. This blog offers different activites and resources elemetary school teachers can utilize in their classroom. The goal of this blog is to help primary elementary school teachers to have conversations with their students about people and their preferences and beliefs. As teachers we want to leave our students as more acceptable and willing to listen to others and understand their choices.