Celebrating and Honoring Martin and Ruby

My heart wants to burst when I introduce my kids to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ruby Bridges.  It also breaks a bit.  We proudly make and wear these throughout the two weeks:

My Firsties are sweet babes and, as all littles should be, innocent and as they look around our multi-colored range of skin tones, they simply can not fathom not being able to play with another six year-old or go to same restaurants or schools as the friend sitting next to them.

I can see the disbelief.  The wondering if I am telling the truth because in their world, this hasn't touched them. At least they aren't aware if it has yet.

I like to introduce lots of literature the week prior to MLK Day and continue it throughout the rest of the month.  Besides books about Martin and Ruby, we read the titles above.

I share how when I was in a wheelchair for a long time after my car accident, I lost a few friends when I was just a little older than them.  When they hear that some kids didn't want to play with a girl in a wheelchair, they looked crushed.  And when I share how another child- Jeanette- was an upstander and spoke up for me when I couldn't speak for myself, they start to see the connections and vow to become upstanders.  Through role-playing, we get to see what being an upstander and a bystander looks like.

The kids love brainstorming words together for their poems!

We end the unit with making a promise to be open-minded and to honor Ruby and Martin by using our brains and words instead of our fists.  We commit to peace!

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Thanks for letting me share my sweet little Firsties with you!  Have a super weekend!