Serious Talks

Estabrook School 2022

Agenda

• Welcome
• Norms
• Serious Talks Overview
• Q & A

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Conversation Norms

• Listen and be curious
• Respect different views
• Speak from your own experiences, not others’

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Background & Context

• Serious Talks curriculum was developed by Bowman School (Dismantling Racism)
• The ST curriculum has been in place at Bowman and Harrington for many years
• ST pilot is not “brand new”: SS, Literacy, SEL, Windows/Mirrors
• District wide goal: DEI curriculum for all students

DEI CIT Recommendation

Development

Structures

Lessons

Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards Identity Domain

1. Students will develop positive social identities based on their membership in multiple groups in society.

5. Students will recognize traits of the dominant culture, their home culture and other cultures and understand how they negotiate their own identity in multiple spaces.

3. Students will recognize that people’s multiple identities interact and create unique and complex individuals.

2. Students will develop language and historical and cultural knowledge that affirm and accurately describe their membership in multiple identity groups.

4. Students will express pride, confidence and healthy self-esteem without denying the value and dignity of other people.

Threads and Themes K-5

Serious Talks

• Power and Oppression
• We are not there yet!
• What Can One Person Do?/ Social Agency

• Why this work?
• Identity and Perspective
• Privilege and Bias

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LPS Core Values

• You are enough
• Be courageous
• Do your part
• Embrace your revolutionary spirit

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• We all belong
• Use your mind
• Be curious and have fun!
• Care for yourself and others

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Serious Talks

Key aspects of the curriculum

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• Vocabulary
• Safe spaces
• Tools for discussing important and serious topics
• Children’s literature
• Personal connections to these topics
• Inclusivity and respect for differences
• Advocacy: for self and others
• Agents of change: how can we make positive changes when we see unkind or unfair things in our world?

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Example Lesson - 5th Grade

The Whispering Cloth

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The Whispering Cloth is the story of a young, orphaned Hmong refugee living with her grandmother and dreaming of a better life. With the help and encouragement of her grandmother and the women stitching and selling Hmong story cloths, Mai learns this traditional art and hears about her family's identity and her Grandmother's life in China.

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Example Discussion Questions

• Why are the story cloths important to the Hmong people?
• Do you think that identities change over time or do they stay the same?
• What about your own identities? What would the different pieces of your story cloth be?

Example Lesson - 1st Grade

And Tango Makes Three

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And Tango Makes Three is based on a true story of two male penguins who became partners and raised a penguin chick in the Central Park Zoo. The story focuses on nontraditional families and the common bonds that all families share.

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Example Discussion Questions

• What problem did Roy and Silo have? How did it get solved?
• How did Roy and Silo get an egg? How do Roy and Silo take care of the egg before it’s hatched?
• What things do Roy, Silo and Tango enjoy doing together as a family?
• How is the family in the story similar to your family?
• How is the family in the story different from your family?

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Q & A

~ Please keep norms and multiple realities in mind ~

• Listen and be curious
• Respect different views
• Speak from your own experiences, not others’

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Thank you

Tom Martellone

tmartellone@lexingtonma.org

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Christina Gavin

cgavin@lexingtonma.org

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Johnny Cole

jcole@lexingtonma.org