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Resources on how to talk to kids about recent events.

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The disturbing images of an angry mob of insurrectionists storming the halls of our democracy were blasted across screens today. Our nation has never witnessed an event like this in recent history and it's difficult to make sense of the confusing, frightening scenes, let alone explain the situation to our children. But what is most important to remember and to tell kids is that the brave people who are helping will eventually bring order and peace.

We can also assure children that the majority of Americans are joining together to support justice and democracy and that the dangerous and unlawful people we saw in the nation's capital today will not be successful in hurting our country.

Most children are aware of more than we realize, and many educators and parents have spoken frankly to them about the racism and bigotry that they have experienced or witnessed, which has been fueled by the Trump administration and his supporters. Continuing that discussion is critically important in this moment.

Children of all races, religions, all gender identities, of all cultures and social classes must have a safe space to speak and ask questions. To be sure, educators and parents don't have all the answers, but we must encourage their questions and listen to their concerns.

"We must come together - just as we did in record numbers in the election - to show our students that we will stand together against politicians who incite violence and those who act on it...We will protect our democracy. The world is watching. Our students are watching." - NEA President Becky Pringle

Explain that the attack on the Capitol today was led by Trump supporters seeking to overthrow a legitimate presidential election and the will of the American people, but they will not be successful. Our country is much stronger than they are and their efforts to divide us will only make our unity more powerful.

The National Association of School Psychologists also offers the following tips for  talking to your students about racial violence and other national tragedies:

Reassure children that they are safe.

Validate their feelings. Explain that all feelings are okay when a tragedy occurs. Let children talk about their feelings, help put them into perspective, and assist them in expressing these feelings appropriately.

Create time to listen and be available to talk.

Let their questions be your guide as to how much information to provide. Be patient. Children and youth do not always talk about their feelings readily. Watch for clues that they may want to talk, such as hovering around while you do the dishes or yard work. Some children prefer writing, playing music, or doing an art project as an outlet. Young children, in particular, may need concrete activities (such as drawing, looking at picture books, or imaginative play) to help them identify and express their feelings.

Keep your explanations developmentally appropriate.

Early elementary school children need brief, simple information that should be balanced with reassurances that their school and homes are safe and that adults are there to protect them. If they're afraid about their safety in school buildings, give simple examples of school safety like reminding childrenthem about exterior doors being locked, child monitoring efforts on the playground, and emergency drills practiced during the school day.

Upper elementary and early middle school children will be more vocal in asking questions about whether they truly are safe and what is being done to keep them safe. They may need assistance separating reality from fantasy. Discuss efforts of school and community leaders to provide safe schools and communities.

Upper middle school and high school students will have strong and varying opinions about the causes of violence in schools and society. They will share concrete suggestions about how to make school safer and how to prevent tragedies in society. Emphasize the role that students have in maintaining safe schools by following school safety guidelines (e.g. not providing building access to strangers, reporting strangers on campus, reporting threats to the school safety made by students or community members, etc.), communicating any personal safety concerns to school administrators, and accessing support for emotional needs.

Review school safety procedures.

This should include procedures and safeguards at school and at home. Help children identify at least one adult at school and in the community to whom they go if they feel threatened or at risk.

Observe children's emotional state.

Some children may not express their concerns verbally. Changes in behavior, appetite, and sleep patterns can indicate a child's level of anxiety or discomfort. In most children, these symptoms will ease with reassurance and time. However, some children may be at risk for more intense reactions. Children who have had a past traumatic experience or personal loss, suffer from depression or other mental illness, or with special needs may be at greater risk for severe reactions than others. Seek the help of mental health professional right away if you are at all concerned.

Limit media exposure.

Limit television viewing and be aware if the television is on in common areas. Monitor what kids are viewing online and how they are consuming information about the event through social media. Developmentally inappropriate information can cause anxiety or confusion, particularly in young children. Adults also need to be mindful of the content of conversations that they have with each other in front of children, even teenagers, and limit their exposure to vengeful, hateful, and angry comments that might be misunderstood.

Maintain a normal routine.

Keeping to a regular schedule can be reassuring and promote physical health. Ensure that children get plenty of sleep, regular meals, and exercise. Encourage them to keep up with their schoolwork and extracurricular activities but don't push them if they seem overwhelmed.

A lot of these tips can also be applied to educators - to take proper care of their students, they must first take care of themselves.

Click here to access these resources in Spanish.

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Talking to Kids About the Attack on the Capitol | NEA

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The disturbing images of an angry mob of insurrectionists storming the halls of our democracy were blasted across screens today. Our nation has never witnessed an event like this in recent history and it's difficult to make sense of the confusing, frightening scenes, let alone explain the situation to our children.

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Snippets of information and resources for teachers and parents to share.

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GV asked their 3rd grade students, "What questions do you have?" on 1/7/2021

We welcome this guest post from Dr. Alyssa Hadley-Dunn, Associate Professor of Teacher Education at Michigan State University and founder of Teaching on the Days After: Dialogue & Resources for Educating Toward Justice

For educators, I am going to share some resources/ideas for use in your classrooms tomorrow. A reminder about everything that I share here: There is no one easy answer. Not everything works for every student or every teacher or in every classroom. I am not an expert in your classroom or your students (or an expert in anything, actually!). This is not a conversation that needs to or should be relegated to only Social Studies and English Language Arts classrooms.

Please note:

(1) These suggestions are not saying you MUST "teach" about what happened on 1/6/2021 (or any "day after" event or injustice). Days After Pedagogy doesn't mean turning trauma into a standard or a benchmarked lesson. But if you're going to TALK about it, do so with intention, care, and an explicit commitment to justice and equity.

(2) Do not do this if you are going to cause more harm or trauma. Do not center images of Black suffering and pain as a way to make this a "teachable" moment. White teachers, this means you/us.

(3) And please, remember that this is not about a one-off lesson. Days After Pedagogy only works if you've been teaching for justice on Days Before and Days During.

Note to Black teachers: I hope that you have time and space to care for yourselves, as you support your students. I hope that you have white colleagues who are talking about this, too, so you do not have to be the only one. I hope that you can find co-conspirators in your schools (or here).

Note to White teachers of white students: You HAVE to talk about what is happening. This is on us, every time and all the time. We cannot pretend to be surprised anymore. We have to do what we said we were going to do all summer when we were reading those anti-racist books and completing those anti-racism checklists. Our white students are not 'too young' to learn about this.

Note to White teachers of students of color, especially Black students: Please make sure you know what you are doing before you do it. Please make sure you know how to support your Black students and other students of color if you try to have these conversations. Make sure you to do not do more harm by entering into these conversations without careful thought and planning. Ideas/resources/links in comments on Facebook will be updated throughout the evening on our educator's group: Teaching on Days After: Dialogue & Resources for Educating Toward Justice..

TIPS & Resources

USING ZOOM: Breakout rooms can work to your advantage here. Especially if you are teaching students of color, create multiple breakout rooms for students based on what they want to and feel capable of talking about: (1) For students who do not want to discuss it right now and want to work independently on 'regular' class content; (2) For students who want to process with a partner; (3) For students who have many questions and want to process with you.

NAMING THE TRUTH: Think about the language that the media is using, especially when this first started happening. What does this language mean? What does it reveal and what does it obscure? (Hint: Racism.) For example: "protestors" versus "terrorists," "protest" versus "attack" or "coup."

ANALYZING IMAGES: There are many images being shared, including some of the Confederate flag in the Capitol building, of someone stealing a Podium, people hanging from the Capitol walls. What do these images tell us? What do they (attempt to) obscure? (Hint: Racism.)

WRITING: If you have students who might better process their thoughts through writing and/or you want to use writing as an intro activity, here are some potential prompts: What do you think happened yesterday? What do you know? What questions do you have? How would you like to process this as a community? If you are doing this virtually, you could have students work in individual or shared Google docs or other apps.

COMPARING A POLICE RESPONSE: There are many Tweets and stories that are being shared that compare images of response to BLM protests and today's terrorist action. You could use these images to ask students to compare what they think is happening and why it is happening. (Hint: Racism, white supremacy, white rage)

PUSH BACK AGAINST NEUTRALITY: Remember that it will do more harm to teach "both sides." This is not about both sides. This is about justice. This is a quotation from Tayari Jones that I like to use as a way to think about the "two sides" debate: "The middle is a point equidistant from two poles. That's it. There is nothing inherently virtuous about being neither here nor there. Buried in this is a false equivalency of ideas, what you might call the "good people on both sides" phenomenon. When we revisit our shameful past, ask yourself, Where was the middle? Rather than chattel slavery, perhaps we could agree on a nice program of indentured servitude? Instead of subjecting Japanese-American citizens to indefinite detention during WWII, what if we had agreed to give them actual sentences and perhaps provided a receipt for them to reclaim their things when they were released? What is halfway between moral and immoral?" -Tayari Jones, from " There's nothing virtuous about finding common ground ", Time Magazine, 2018

ESTABLISH DIALOGUE NORMS: Check out slides 26-28 in this presentation I do about "teaching on days after." These are some examples of dialogue norms you could discuss and use with your students.

LEARN AND PRACTICE INTERRUPTOR PHRASES: I don't actually think the classroom SHOULD be safe for all viewpoints. I am not going to debate another person's right to exist. I am not going to debate another person's humanity. These phrases can support strategies for harm reduction even if the absence of a completely "safe" space. Check out slide 31 here for some interruptor phrases to use if you need them:

ENGAGE IN A PEDAGOGY OF POLITICAL TRAUMA: If you are teaching Black students or other students of color, it will be especially important to find multiple ways to support them in this moment. C heck out slides 18-23 in this presentation for descriptions of what teachers have done in moments of political trauma. Some of this was in response to the 2016 election, research done with colleagues Hannah Carson Baggett and Beth Sondel and some is research done for the book that I'm writing right now on all types of days after.

NOTICE AND WONDER: Two great questions to get students thinking/talking (at any age, any grade level, any content) is to start with: What do you notice? What do you wonder? For example, using two paired texts of photos, one of police on the Capitol steps during the summer's BLM protests compared to a photo of terrorist in Nancy Pelosi's office, unguarded... What do you notice about each photo? What do you wonder?

60 SECOND TEXT: For teachers of the youngest learners, this is a great " 60 Second Text " from the wonderful Woke Kindergarten.

REMEMBER THIS IS NOT A SURPRISE: White teachers, do not be the teachers/people who are "surprised" by what is happening. Do not let your students be the students/people who are surprised by what is happening. Contextualize this within a historical lens of whiteness, white supremacy, settler colonialism... A great book to think through extended plans for historically and culturally relevant critical teaching is Dr. Gholdy Muhammad's Cultivating Genius. It is not just for literacy teachers!

EXPLORE TRUE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE: Despite what some are saying, what we are seeing at the Capitol is not "civil disobedience." Here are some lessons from Teaching Tolerance about ACTUAL civil disobedience.

CONSIDER/SHARE MEDIA FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S.: Think about how other countries' media are covering these events. Find headlines and translations from major newspapers and consider what it means that the coverage is so different (as it will likely be).

USE MULTIPLE SOURCES: Remember that the news is emerging. Ask questions to help students process the events, perspectives, and biases. This document allows students to ask and track the questions they have as the news unfolds.

ALLOW FOR A VARIETY OF EXPERIENCES: Sara K. Ahmed from Being the Change uses google slides to invite students to share their news, how it relates to their identity, and what actions they might take.

About the Author

Dr. Alyssa Hadley Dunn's research centers on urban teacher education and support and the sociocultural and political contexts of urban schools, with a focus on issues of race, justice, and equity. A former high school English teacher, at present, Dr. Dunn is working on a book about how teachers make pedagogical decisions on "days after" major events, tragedies, or instances of injustice. (Check out the related Facebook page for educators here.)

A committed public scholar, Dr. Dunn's work has been featured on The Huffington Post, CNN, and National Public Radio, as well on education blogs and podcasts. In addition to publishing in journals such as the American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, Journal of Teacher Education, Urban Education, and Teaching and Teacher Education, she is the author of " Teachers Without Borders? The Hidden Consequences of International Teachers in U.S. Schools" (Teachers College Press, 2013) and " Urban Teaching in America: Theory, Research, and Practice in K-12 Schools" (Sage Publishers, 2011). She is also Senior Associate Editor of the journal Multicultural Perspectives.

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Resources for teachers on the days after the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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GV asked their 3rd grade students, "What questions do you have?" on 1/7/2021 We welcome this guest post from Dr. Alyssa Hadley-Dunn, Associate Professor of Teacher Education at Michigan State University and founder of Teaching on the Days After: Dialogue & Resources for Educating Toward Justice For educators, I am going to share some resources/ideas...

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Test your media literacy smarts, from researchers at PNAS.

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Play the fake news game! How bad are you? Become a fake news tycoon and get as many followers as you can.

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Ed Law 2D may prevent giving everyone their own accounts but videos and activities can be shared without accounts. Learn how to identify credible information, seek out reliable sources, and apply critical thinking skills to separate fact-based content from falsehoods. And you gain an understanding of the importance of the watchdog role of the press.

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Checkology is a free e-learning platform with engaging, authoritative lessons on subjects like news media bias, misinformation, conspiratorial thinking and more. Learners develop the ability to identify credible information, seek out reliable sources and apply critical thinking skills to separate fact-based content from falsehoods.

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First Draft is an organization dedicated to helping journalists obtain accurate information and upholding journalistic integrity. They have a variety of resources and lessons around fact checking including information on how to verify: images, videos, authenticity of twitter posts, and more. These resources present a good opportunity to discuss with students how trained journalists actually report the news.

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Lessons and activities that teach students about the proliferation of inaccurate information in the wide media landscape. There are lessons that focus on the different types of inaccurate information that differentiates between disinformation, misinformation, satire and more; previously under the umbrella term 'fake news'.

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The News Literacy Project offers resources and services for educators, including an e-learning platform, newsletter, PDs and more.

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Tips and lesson ideas for how to address these events in the classroom. It includes some media literacy activities as well as discussion prompts

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ead the summary below and answer the discussion questions. To read a transcript of the video, Directions: Watch the video, rclick here . You can also access Pear Deck slides based on the lesson . We will continue to update links to relevant stories and resources at the bottom of the page.

Summary: The nation on Wednesday witnessed a grave breach of its democratic traditions. For the first time in American history, supporters of the losing presidential candidate forcibly disrupted the official counting of electoral votes.

After rioters forcefully entered the building, Trump tweeted a recorded message telling people to "go home now," while writing to them "we love you; you're very special" and repeating false claims about the election.

One woman who was shot inside the Capitol died. Four others died as well, including a Capitol Police officer who was injured after the Capitol was breached and died of his injuries on January 7. His death is being investigated as a homicide.

UPDATE: While Congress has confirmed Joe Biden's election as president, many questions linger about the assault on the U.S. Capitol and about what price President Trump might pay for his encouragement of the assault, as well as what failures led to inadequate security at the Capitol building.
ACTIVITY ONE: Class discussion Warm up questions:

1. What events took place on Wednesday at the Capitol building?

2. Who was involved in the insurrection? Who was affected as a result of the safety breach?

3. Why did Trump supporters seek to forcefully disrupt the counting of the electoral votes?

4. When and where did the insurrection take place?

5. How have politicians reacted to the breach and President Trump's initial encouragement of the attack?

Focus questions:

1. Why are the events at the U.S. Capitol being referred to as an insurrection rather than a protest? How would you describe the event?

2. What changes do you think the assault should lead to, and what do you think are the biggest open questions to seek to resolve?

3. If you were a lawmaker in Congress right now, how would you address your constituents about the events at the Capitol?

ACTIVITY TWO: Media Literacy
Several different U.S. departments and law enforcement agencies were sent to Washington D.C. including the National Guard during Black Lives Matter protests over the summer, which were overall very peaceful. Contrast this with Wednesday's insurrection at the nation's Capitol in which individuals stormed the halls of Congress, and the National Guard was initially held back.

Take a look at the two photos below (captions are below but read those after), one from a Black Lives Matter protest in 2016, and the other from today's storming of the Capitol. What do you notice? Who is in the photo? What events are taking place? Why do you think the photographer took the picture? What questions do you have?

Caption for photo #1: A supporter of President Donald Trump being walked down the steps of the Capitol during the insurrection in Washington D.C. Jan. 6, 2021. Courtesy: CNN (screenshot)

Caption for photo #2: Lone activist Ieshia Evans stands her ground while offering her hands for arrest as she is charged by riot police during a protest against police brutality outside the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana, July 2016. Evans, a 28-year-old Pennsylvania nurse and mother of one, traveled to Baton Rouge to protest against the shooting of Alton Sterling. Sterling was a 37-year-old black man and father of five, who was shot at close range by two white police officers. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman
ACTIVITY THREE: Trump and Biden's comments Directions: Read the summary, watch the videos of President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden and answer the discussion questions below.
President Donald Trump released a video Wednesday, calling for his angry supporters to go home after thousands gathered outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., with some breaching the building and using force against law enforcement.

In his message, Trump repeated false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election before asking his supporters for peace.

"You have to go home now, we have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order," Trump said. "We love you. You're very special," he continued.

President-elect Joe Biden said: "To storm the Capitol, to smash windows, to occupy offices, the floor of the United States Senate...It's not protest, it's insurrection. The world is watching. Like so many other Americans, I am genuinely shocked and saddened that our nation, so long the beacon of light and hope of democracy has come to such a dark moment."

Biden went on to say America will endure and prevail and that he plans on restoring democracy, honor and the rule of law.
Discussion questions:

1. What do you think of President Trump's statement, which he released via social media? Did he sufficiently condemn the violence, and in the proper manner?

2. What do you think of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube's decision to delete Trump's statement? Did Twitter act appropriately by locking Trump's account for 12-hours?

3. Did Trump's debunked reiteration of a "fraudulent election" help or hurt efforts to diffuse the unrest? Similarly, what do you think of Trump telling those who forced themselves in the nation's Capitol, "We love you. You're very special"? How does this juxtapose with what the President has said of Black Lives Matter protestors?

4. How does President-elect Joe Biden's address, citing the "unprecedented assault" on the Capitol, compare to the remarks by President Trump?

5. In his address, Biden called upon Trump to make a formal national address to condemn the mob attacking the capital. Was Biden justified to make this request, and should Trump have listened? Do you think Trump should make a formal address condemning those who breached security at the Capitol?

Additional resources:
If you have time, you can also watch this video of NewsHour hosts and reporters discussing in detail all they saw on January 6:
High school teacher David Cutler contributed to this lesson.
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Classroom resource: Three ways to teach the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol - PBS NewsHour Classroom

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ead the summary below and answer the discussion questions. To read a transcript of the video, Directions: Watch the video, rclick here . You can also access Pear Deck slides based on the lesson . We will continue to update links to relevant stories and resources at the bottom of the page.