Understanding Diversity

Last year I wrote this post about diversity.  My cuties last year really understood the lesson on diversity through that activity so I did it again this year.

We started our lesson on diversity by talking about our skin and the colors we see.  Of course most answers were black and white.  One cutie did say peach.  Then I read this book:

Then we learned we were going to create our skin color with paint.  I asked my cuties what colors of paint we would need to create our skin color, and again, I heard black and white.  So I asked them, "To make Mrs. Crowder's skin color, what colors would we need?"  Many of them said white, so I rubbed a little white paint on my hand.  They all agreed it wasn't correct.  So then we mixed a little more of different colors, from the choices of red, yellow, black, brown, and white.  We all agreed I wouldn't need brown or black, so we tried with a little yellow, red, and white and then we did it!  We made Mrs. Crowder's skin color.

Then it was their turn.  I gave them little plates of paint to mix small amounts to make their skin color.

Once they made their color, then we mixed a little more in a Dixie cup for them to create a self portrait.

Then we all checked out each other's work and came to the conclusion (YAY!!!!!!) that we all have different skin and none of us are really the same color so we all need to be freinds because, really, we are all different!

Black History Month Activities and a Winning Display!

I am so ecstatic!  My school does a Black History Month contest each year.  Each class chooses a different person to focus their Black History Month lessons around and then creates a display about that person to show their learning.  And guess what?  My class won for Kindergarten!  Sprinkles to my cuties' hard work!  Here are some pics of our display.

Whole Display about Matthew Henson, the first African American to go to the North Pole

Right side of our display, showing some of our arctic animals and a weather map of the North Pole

This side shows arctic hares, narwals, arctic foxes and snowy owls.

Left side of the display, showing more of our arctic animals and photo of Matthew Henson

This side shows polar bears and walruses.

A close up of our dog sleds and igloos

Matthew Henson traveled to the North Pole on Dog sleds and lived in an igloo.  We made the dog sleds by tearing paper for the dog's fur.  My cuties really understood they needed lots of fur to stay warm.  Then they traced their hand to make the sled.  The igloos are made from paper bowls with cotton glued on them.

Here are a few other classes' displays.

 Louis Armstrong

 Mae Jemison

Harriet Tubman

Here are a few pics about our Martin Luther King Jr. study.  We learned this song from Welcome to Room 36.  

 

Then we created these precious mobiles.  I got this idea from Angela at The Daily Alphabet.  It is in her Black History Month Pack on TPT.

Maya's says "I have a dream for kids to be nice."

Zoey's says "I have a dream for the cat to have a home."

 

Here is a pic of them all hung up in our room.

While we're talking about February, I just had to share one pic of our Valentine's Ladybug Glyphs that I posted here.

So precious!  Have a happy day!

Black History Month

I enjoy teaching my cuties about diversity this time of year.  It ties in so well with understanding Black History Month

We started our study this week by reading The Colors of Us.

This precious book is about a little girl's journey to create different shades of paint so she can paint her friends and family.  She names each shade she creates a different name, such as cinnamon, toast, and honey.

Then we created paint that matched our skin color.  We mixed bits of yellow, peach, white, black, brown, and red on the back of our hands until we found the correct color.

 

We mixed the colors in a Dixie cup.

 Once the paint was mixed, my kinders painted a portrait and wrote at the bottom "I am ___________."  In the blank, they named their skin color like in the book.

Don't you have green hair?  Ha ha ha! 

I was so proud of my cuties' understanding that no one's skin is really black and that all of our skin is different from each other.

Love these little ones so much!