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Kid President: What makes an awesome leader?

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Kid President: What makes an awesome leader?

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Kid President Asks "What Makes an Awesome Leader?"

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Content, Literacy, Inquiry, & Citizenship Project

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CLIC - Challenging Injustice for Grades K - 3

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Content, Literacy, Inquiry, & Citizenship Project

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CLIC - Challenging Injustice for Grades 4 - 5

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Teaching Books (CA Online Content Project)-FREE for CA Educators & Students

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Teaching Books (CA Online Content Project)-FREE for CA Educators & Students

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As you infuse diverse, inclusive, and culturally relevant materials into fiction and nonfiction reading experiences, this toolkit helps analyze collections, identify and bring to life diverse texts, and encourage reflection on cultural representation. see more

As you infuse diverse, inclusive, and culturally relevant materials into fiction and nonfiction reading experiences, this toolkit helps analyze collections, identify and bring to life diverse texts, and encourage reflection on cultural representation.

Identify exceptional diverse books for all children and teens.

Bring culture and race to the forefront of literary conversations with culturally relevant, primary source materials.

Facilitate conversations about children's and young adult books by learning the inspiration of these books, directly from the author or illustrator.

Analyze and generate reports that examine the genre and cultural inclusion of books in your custom lists and collections.

Facilitate student reflection on the cultural representation of the characters, setting, and events in the diverse books each student reads.

For historical context, see data on children's and young adult books by and about Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) published since 1985, compiled by the Cooperative Children's Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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As you infuse diverse, inclusive, and culturally relevant materials into fiction and nonfiction reading experiences, this toolkit helps analyze collections, identify and bring to life diverse texts, and encourage reflection on cultural representation.

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Content, Literacy, Inquiry, & Citizenship Project

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CLIC - Challenging Injustice for Grades 6 - 8

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Senator Kamala Harris Shares Superheroes Are Everywhere

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California Foundation for History Education

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California Foundation for History Education

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https://www.cfheducation.org/about-us

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Students gain a rich understanding of civil rights when they build from their ideas of fairness to the larger issue of justice.

Anyone who's spent time on an elementary school playground knows that young children already know a lot about injustice. He took the tire swing from me! She cut in front of me in line! They won't let me play. That's not fair! And so it goes. Injustice is something children see every day, and fairness is something they care deeply about.

Early elementary school is the ideal time to build on children's natural awareness of fairness and justice. I do it by taking a look outside of the schoolyard and into our country's history and present circumstances when fairness is not necessarily the norm.

What is fairness?

What does it mean to work for justice?

What are the characteristics of a Justice Hero?

In first grade, during Women's History Month, I introduce a social studies unit called Justice Heroes. I always launch the unit with some sort of exercise that prompts my students to think hard about what fairness is (and how upsetting unfairness can be). From there we create a chart and write down responses to the following essential questions that will guide the unit:

Age-Appropriate Ways to Teach the Concept of Injustice

Introduce 'Young Justice Heroes': Using examples of young people who have stood up to injustice in the past is a great way to help children see that even young children can make a difference in the world. Check out a short video from Scholastic called Can Kids Change the World, about a brave 7-year-old girl who participated in a lunch counter sit-in during the civil rights movement. Another example is a video about Ruby Bridges, one of three young girls (the McDonogh Three) who desegregated their public school in Louisiana in 1960.

Make a timeline: After learning about these young Justice Heroes, children can create a timeline of their own lives to reflect on important events that have happened in their lifetime and times when they had to be brave. They can draw pictures of something that happened when they were born (e.g., the rise to prominence of the Black Lives Matter protest movement in 2015), something important that happened in the recent past, and something that is happening today. Defining terms such as "in the past," "in the present," and "in the future" is important for helping young children understand what it means to study people and events in history.

Define fairness: Children usually have lots of ideas and anecdotes about what fairness means. A video about fairness can prompt them to think about and discuss what it means to be treated fairly. Have them write and draw what they believe fairness looks like, both on the playground and in the world around us. Students can share their stories or even act them out for the class.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, activist for women's voting rights: Elizabeth Leads the Way, by Tanya Lee Stone

Esther Morris, first woman justice of the peace: I Could Do That!, by Linda Arms White

Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and women's rights activist: So Tall Within, by Gary Schmidt

Emma Lazarus, Jewish American author and activist: Emma's Poem, by Linda Glaser

Abraham Lincoln: I Am Abraham Lincoln, by Brad Meltzer

Jackie Robinson, first Black man to play in baseball's major leagues: , by Peter Golonbock

Ayanna Najuma, civil rights activist: Freedom on the Menu, by Carole Boston Weatherford

Ruby Bridges, civil rights activist: The Story of Ruby Bridges, by Robert Coles

Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, labor and civil rights activists, Side by Side, by Monica Brown

Introduce books about Justice Heroes: Choose quality read-aloud books about real people from different ethnicities and historical periods who worked for equality, and read one every day. Reading true stories can inspire children to see what is possible when one works for justice. Try these:

Create a Justice Heroes comic book: Using evidence from the texts above, describe each hero's qualities and distinctive traits. Define essential words like equality, segregation, injustice, boycott, protest, immigration, courage, and achievement. I like to engage my students in a discussion about how being fair means doing something good for everyone involved, as well as about how fairness is fundamental to justice.

Look for ways our heroes showed courage and fairness in working for justice. Have the kids brainstorm words that our Justice Heroes might have said to lead others to justice, like "These people will be free!" "Women have every right to vote!" "Sí, se puede!"

From there, have each student create a comic book page dedicated to just one Justice Hero each day. Then, at the end of the unit, each student has their own comic book capturing the stories of all the Justice Heroes.

Make a Justice Hero timeline: Create a timeline that places each Justice Hero in the order of events that took place in American history. On the last day of the unit, try reading about a person working for justice in the present; I like to use the video of Vice President Kamala Harris reading aloud her book Superheroes Are Everywhere. Recite the Hero Pledge from her book so that every kid is inspired to think about how they can wear their own super cape someday. Finish the activity by having each child add a picture of themselves to the Justice Hero timeline for in the future.

Make a mobile: As a closing project, each child can choose their favorite Justice Hero and make a cardboard cutout of the person. They can write a few sentences explaining why they admire that individual and how they saw them show courage in fighting for justice. Hang the cutouts in the classroom so that Justice Heroes from the past and present fill the classroom.

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Teaching Elementary Students About the Concept of Injustice

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Students gain a rich understanding of civil rights when they build from their ideas of fairness to the larger issue of justice. Anyone who's spent time on an elementary school playground knows that young children already know a lot about injustice. He took the tire swing from me!

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https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/lessons?keyword=&field_grade_level%5B36%5D=36

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For young white students, explorations of fair and unfair, just and unjust, can go a long way in advancing anti-racist white identity. Purposeful use of literature and basic study of white anti-racists are among the key ways educators can advance such aims.Teaching Tolerance presents four short biographies for early grades classrooms, with activity ideas.

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For young white students, explorations of fair and unfair, just and unjust, can go a long way in advancing anti-racist white identity. Purposeful use of literature and basic study of white anti-racists are among the key ways educators can advance such aims.Teaching Tolerance presents four short biographies for early grades classrooms, with activity ideas.

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Help students interpret an image by "framing" smaller portions of the image and analyzing them.

English & Language Arts

History

Social Studies

Using the strategies from Facing History is almost like an awakening.

- Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif

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Help students interpret an image by "framing" smaller portions of the image and analyzing them. English & Language Arts History Social Studies Using the strategies from Facing History is almost like an awakening. - Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif

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Facing History and Ourselves: Teaching Resources

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Facing History and Ourselves: Teaching Resources

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Our collection of educator resources includes a wide range of flexible materials. You will find resources that support teaching a complex moment in history or addressing today's breaking news.

Facing History students are 94% more likely than other students to report that their class motivated them to learn.

93% of Facing History students agreed that it is important to work for positive social change.

US History Curriculum Collection

Draw from this flexible curriculum collection to integrate themes of democracy and freedom as you plan any middle or high school US history course.
Learn More
ELA Resources for Teachers

Explore our wide range of curricular resources and professional development for secondary English Language Arts classrooms.
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Current Events in the Classroom

Our current events resources help teachers lead effective and engaging discussions on today's news.
Learn More

"I can trust the materials to be easy to access, implement, and provide a way to engage students on sensitive topics."

Teaching Strategies

Our student-centered teaching strategies improve literacy skills, nurture critical thinking, and create a respectful classroom climate. You can implement these strategies with any academic content.
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Collections, Units, & Toolkits

Our collections, units, and toolkits provide you with a range of options to introduce students to themes that are relevant to their lives.
Learn More
Lessons & Mini-Lessons

Our lessons and mini-lessons include primary sources and news sources to support their head, heart, and conscience.
Learn More

- Facing History Educator Reflecting on Our Reconstruction Unit

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Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.

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When implementing social-emotional learning (SEL), it can be helpful to narrow your focus to a few SEL competencies that are most relevant for the students and educators in your school community.

That's why many district and school leaders use the framework from CASEL (the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning). CASEL outlines five core social-emotional learning competencies that can be taught in many ways in any type of school or district community.

In this guide, you'll learn about the five core SEL competencies-complete with definitions and examples of what these competencies may look like and sound like in practice. For each core competency, we also share examples of low-lift SEL strategies, activities, and teaching practices that you can use right away in your school community to promote student SEL and adult SEL.

Keep reading or use the shortcuts below to access different sections of this guide.
I. What Is Social-Emotional Learning? II. The 5 Core SEL Competencies

1. Self-Awareness

2. Self-Management

3. Social Awareness

4. Relationship Skills

5. Responsible Decision-Making

III. Assessing the Core SEL Competencies

Download a packet of small-group SEL facilitation guides (perfect for SEL Coaches and SEL Coordinators!)
What Is Social-Emotional Learning?

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

*via CASEL's updated 2020 definition of SEL

In other words, social and emotional learning describes the skills that educators do not explicitly teach. It can be apparent when social-emotional skills are present or absent in students. A 2017 meta-analysis from CASEL involving students from kindergarten to high school showed that students exposed to SEL programs performed better academically (13 percentile points higher) than their non-SEL peers.

What Are Social-Emotional Competencies?

Social-emotional learning competencies are the specific skills, habits, and mindsets that fall under the umbrella of social-emotional learning. These skills are varied, and school communities may prioritize different SEL competencies based on identifiable student needs or the district's portrait of a graduate. However, many school districts focus on CASEL's five core SEL competencies as a starting point.

The Five Core SEL Competencies

1. Self-Awareness

2. Self-Management

3. Social Awareness

4. Relationship Skills

5. Responsible Decision-Making

Now that we've outlined the five core competencies, let's take a look at each competency in depth. We'll also look at specific activities for promoting students' social and emotional development of each competency.

Core Competency #1: Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the ability to understand one's own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one's strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.

Self-Awareness May Look Like:

Identifying emotions

Having an accurate self-perception

Recognizing strengths

Self-confidence

Self-efficacy

Self-Awareness May Sound Like:

How am I feeling and why?

When am I at my best?

When do I feel angry?

What kind of person do I want to be today?

What stresses me out?

Where do I fit into my family/community?

Self-Awareness Strategy: The Feelings Wheel

The Feelings Wheel (see the image to the right) helps students acknowledge their emotions and feelings so that they can move into action and respond constructively to those feelings.

How it works: Let's say you are feeling "fearful." Locate that feeling on the wheel, then move one ring out and identify another emotion. Keep moving to the last ring on the wheel. By accurately identifying your emotions, you can do something about it and handle these emotions in a productive way.

Application for the Feelings Wheel:

For You: Quiet time; meals, mornings, or before bed

For Students: Dedicated time during the day; daily/weekly check-ins; buddy system

Self-Awareness Strategy: Positive Pivot

The Positive Pivot Scale is a high school strategy from Move This World that helps students consider a range of ways to respond to a situation. The scale runs from negative 5 to positive 5.

Explore more high school activities for social-emotional learning aligned to the CASEL competencies.

How it works: Consider a challenge you are facing today. Identify where you are currently responding on the Positive Pivot Scale. Then, ask yourself: What would I need to do to move to a higher number on the Positive Pivot Scale?

Application for the Positive Pivot Scale:

For You: Quiet time; meals, mornings, or before bed

For Students: Dedicated time during the day; daily/weekly check-ins; buddy system

Core Competency #2: Self-Management

Self-management is the ability to manage one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.

Self-Management May Look Like:

Impulse control

Stress management

Self-discipline

Self-motivation

Goal-setting

Organizational skills

Self-Management May Sound Like:

I need a break right now

May I please have space? I am not ready to share.

I think I need help with _______.

I don't understand yet, but I will ________ to reach my goal.

Self-Management Strategy: Positive Self-Talk

Self-talk is "the act of practice of talking to oneself, either aloud or silently and mentally." Generally, negative self-talk makes us feel worse, but positive self-talk can make us feel better because it triggers problem-solving and helps remind ourselves that making mistakes is part of life.

Two examples of shifting from negative to positive self-talk include:

1. You are overwhelmed by the amount of tech it's going to take to teach your class.
"This is never going to work! I'm not tech-savvy" to "I can ask someone to help me, and it will become easier."

2. You have an important question for the teacher, but the teacher tells you that he/she doesn't have time to answer it. "I can't figure this out by myself!" to "It will take time, but I can learn this."

Application for Positive Self-Talk:

For You: Pay attention to your thoughts and words, and pivot as needed

For Students: Explicitly teach positive self-talk through mini-lessons and hold students accountable

Self-Management Strategy: WOOP Goal-Setting

The WOOP activity from Character Lab helps students find their wishes and develop an action plan to fulfill those wishes. WOOP is named for each step in the process: identifying your Wish, imagining the Outcome, anticipating the Obstacle, and developing a specific Plan.

W: What is an important wish that you want to accomplish? Your wish should be challenging but feasible.

O: What will be the best result from accomplishing your wish? How will you feel? Pause and really imagine the outcome.

O: What is the main obstacle inside you that might prevent you from accomplishing your wish? Pause and really imagine the obstacle.

P: What's an effective action to tackle the obstacle? Make a when-then plan.

Application for WOOP:

For You: Make time for goal-setting.

Google forms, For Students: Flipgrid (video recording), and monitor progress

Core Competency #3: Social Awareness

Social awareness is the ability to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

Social Awareness May Look Like:

Perspective taking

Empathy

Appreciating diversity

Respect for others

Social Awareness May Sound Like:

I wonder how that made _______ feel?

How would I feel if I were in that situation?

What is ________ thinking?

They seem sad right now. Maybe I should _______.

Thanks for sharing! My family does it this way.

Social Awareness Strategy: The Listening Circle

The Listening Circle teaches empathy, provides an opportunity to hear (or read) different perspectives, and builds community. In a listening circle, students have a safe space to share their voices by responding to prompts. Example prompts include: "Who do you look up to the most, and why?" and "What advice would you give yourself today, and why?"

Application for the Listening Circle:

For You: Connect with friends and family via social media, phone, Zoom

For Students: Make time for it in the classroom or virtually ( Zoom breakout rooms, Flipgrid, Padlet)

Core Competency #4: Relationship Skills

Relationship skills are the ability to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.

Relationship Skills May Look Like:

Communication

Social engagement

Relationship building

Teamwork

Relationship Skills May Sound Like:

When you ______ it made me feel _______.

Can you explain what you mean by that?

I disagree with you because _________.

What did you mean by _________?

Relationship Skills Strategy: Count Me Down

Count Me Down is a strategy from Move This World that helps students identify ways they are similar and different from others. The goals are to develop a stronger understanding of peers and to demonstrate respect for differences and exhibit empathy. An example prompt for Count Me Down is as follows:

3 unique things about your family

2 challenges you're currently facing

goal or dream you have1

Application for Count Me Down:

For You: Use the prompt to journal about things in your life

For Students: Make time for it in the classroom or virtually ( Zoom breakout rooms, Flipgrid, Padlet)

Relationship Skills Strategy: Rose, Bud, Thorn

Rose, Bud, Thorn is a strategy that helps students identify positive moments and areas where they need support. During this activity, students share a:

Rose: Something positive that happened this past week

Bud: Something you are looking forward to next week

Thorn: Something you need help with in the next week

To foster grit and growth mindset, students may also consider ways to turn thorns into roses.

Application for Rose, Bud, Thorn:

For You: Reflect on what went well and what you need help with; communicate when you need help turning thorns into roses

For Students: Make time for it in the classroom or virtually ( Zoom breakout rooms, Flipgrid, Padlet)

Core Competency #5: Responsible Decision-Making

Responsible decision-making is the ability to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.

Responsible Decision-Making May Look Like:

Identifying problems

Analyzing situations

Solving problems

Evaluating

Reflecting

Ethical responsibility

Responsible Decision-Making May Sound Like:

How will this impact others?

Is it worth it?

Why do I want to make this choice?

Was this a strong choice?

Will this help me?

Responsible Decision-Making Strategy: The POOCH Protocol

POOCH is a process for problem-solving that can help students thoughtfully generate solutions to problems by thinking through possible options and outcomes. The steps are as follows:

1. Identify the problem.

2. Explore different options to solve the problem.

3. Discuss an outcome for each option.

4. Choose an option.

5. Reflect on how things went.

Access the POOCH template as a Google Doc.

Application for the POOCH Protocol:

For You: Use it when faced with difficult decisions

For Students: Use as a tool to collectively solve problems

Assessing the Core SEL Competencies

Once your school or district has identified specific SEL competencies to focus on, the next step is to gather baseline data on how students are developing those skills, mindsets, and competencies. SEL data can help educators identify individual students' strengths and areas for growth related to specific competencies. At the school and district level, the data can help guide school climate improvement plans and tier one SEL instruction.

The Panorama Social-Emotional Learning Survey (open-source and available for download), aligned to the CASEL framework, is a great tool to get started measuring SEL. The survey, developed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, contains more than 22 research-backed topics to help school districts gather valid and reliable social-emotional learning data from students.

Example of Panorama's SEL dashboards (mock data pictured)Access Panorama's Social-Emotional Learning Survey-with 30+ Survey Topics for Students and Adults

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A Guide to the Core SEL Competencies [+ Activities and Strategies]

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Explore the five core social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies and effective strategies for promoting each competency.

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Bring History and Civics to Life (Grades 4-12)

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Bring History and Civics to Life (Grades 4-12)

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iste.org/History2Life
Lucykirchh.com

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Children's Picture Books: Stories About Activism | Diverse BookFinder

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Looking for children's picture books about activism? This page features stories about action on behalf of civil rights, environmentalism, and other movements.

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We define social and emotional learning (SEL) as an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.

New to Social and Emotional Learning? Start here (2 min. read).

Think of a young person in your life. What skills will they need to achieve their hopes and dreams?

Chances are, you just named social and emotional skills - like staying motivated, communicating effectively, practicing curiosity, and working with others to solve problems. Social and emotional learning, or SEL, helps develop the skills we need for life.
Hear why students, parents, and educators want SEL in schools. Here are 3 things to know about social and emotional learning:

1. Social and emotional learning is a foundation for many of our most pressing priorities: SEL helps young people - and adults - learn and practice skills that set them up for academic success, fulfilling careers, healthy relationships, and responsible civic engagement.

2. The research is clear: Social and emotional learning in schools leads to positive outcomes, including better academic performance, and decreases in stress and anxiety.

3. There's no one-size-fits-all approach: Social and emotional learning brings families, schools, and communities together to make sure every child has caring relationships and what they need to learn, grow, and thrive.

Subscribe now for our expertly curated 3-part email series delivered straight to your inbox. We'll roundup the key facts from our website on SEL is, it matters, and it shows up in schools.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

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SEL can help all young people and adults thrive personally and academically, develop and maintain positive relationships, become lifelong learners, and contribute to a more caring, just world.

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Social justice books for kids develop empathy and build shared background knowledge around topics like refugee and immigrant experiences, racism, bias, poverty, and hunger. Plus, great social justice books highlight for kids the simple power of kind deeds that help others thrive.

Here are more than 25 social justice books for kids in grades K-12 to share in the classroom.

(Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)

Social Justice Books for Elementary School Kids

When you think of a wolf, what do you picture? Probably not the demure narrator of this book who loves to knit. This book can be enjoyed on many levels and is a great conversation starter about what it's like for those who experience bias.

Introduce so many elements of social justice efforts with this engaging parable. Noodlephant loves pasta-hence her nickname. When the kangaroos start making one unfair law after another, Noodlephant stands up for everyone's right to enjoy pasta. Also, check out the sequel, Okapi Tale.

This true story is so relatable for kids. Learn about Tani's family's experience as Nigerian refugees coming to the United States and how playing chess helped Tani finally feel at home again. Especially inspiring is how this family worked to help others in need as they became able.

In this true story, an Iraqi family brings their beloved family cat when they leave their home as refugees, only to have it get lost during the boat crossing to Greece. A worldwide reunification effort leads to a happy ending. In addition to learning about the resilience of refugees, students will learn how compassionate aid workers and citizens can make a difference by helping one family at a time.

When Farah joins her new American class, she feels alone in a crowd. Then she finds common ground with her classmates over the familiar experience of making apple cider on a field trip. The kindness of new friends helps her feel more at home.

The author, a celebrated LGBTQI rights activist, wrote this story to honor her son Penelope. Penelope knows he's a boy, and, with his family's support, he bravely persisted in showing the world his authentic self. Share this to show students that working for social justice means working to enable all people to thrive-as themselves.

In Missouri in 1847, one teacher uses his passion for education to motivate reluctant James to learn. When a new state law forbids educating African American students, the school community determinedly builds a new floating school just across state lines.

This captivating true story stars Ada Ríos, who lives in a small town in Paraguay built atop a landfill. Her dream of playing the violin seems unlikely until an innovative music teacher helps students build instruments out of trash and changes everything.

This is the powerful story based on From a Name to a Number: A Holocaust Survivor's Autobiography by Alter Wiener. During Alter's Nazi imprisonment, surprise displays of kindness alter the course of his experience.

An expensive car repair exhausts Lulu and her mom's food budget. It's so hard for Lulu to concentrate at school with the "Hunger Monster" looming-until she works up the courage to talk to her teacher about it. His referral to a food pantry really helps. This important book can get your class talking about social justice efforts to help those who experience food insecurity.

This collection of poetry teaches students about the experiences of the thousands of children who leave Central America on foot to seek a safer home in the United States.

Every class should hear the tale of Alice Rumphius, who wanted to "do something to make the world more beautiful." This classic book reminds us that everyone deserves to experience beauty. You might pair it with a title about cultivating beauty in a more modern, urban setting, such as Hey, Wall: A Story of Art and Community by Susan Verde.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is an inspirational and relatable figure for young people. This biography helps students understand her transition from dreaming of a better world as a child to taking action.

14. Thurgood by Jonah Winter

With a unique format and amazing illustrations, this biography of Thurgood Marshall gives older elementary students countless examples of social justice work and the reasons it's needed. It also gives a great introduction to the role of lawyers in social justice work and may inspire kids to join the debate team and pursue a career in law themselves!

This unique social justice book for kids is more than a workbook-it's a framework for introducing kids to the tenets of Black Lives Matter and social justice work in general.

Social Justice Books for Middle and High School Kids

With her strong sense of justice, can-do attitude, and penchant for baking desserts, Zoe Washington is a protagonist for readers to emulate. Readers will learn alongside Zoe about racial justice and the United States criminal justice system as she tries to give her incarcerated father the justice he deserves.

Mia and her friends all face challenges, discrimination, and uncertainty as kids of immigrant families-and they all have tons of heart and positive energy as they work to change what they can. Readers will be rooting for these middle schoolers, who are inspiring examples of how social justice action is for all ages.

This graphic novel tells the story of two brothers from Somalia growing up in a refugee camp in Kenya. Based on the experiences of Somali refugee Omar Mohamed, this book will stay with readers long after they close it.

If you're looking for social justice book club books for kids, these are well-loved by many. Amina, who is Pakistani and Muslim, faces the same challenges many of our students do around balancing her family's culture with her identity as an American. In the first title, vandalism at Amina's family mosque makes this even more challenging. In the inspiring sequel, Amina grapples with how to best share her Pakistani heritage with her American classmates.

This is a modern-day classic and must-read for kids and adults. Justice McAllister is a model student. He's also a student of color with questions about how to apply Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s teachings to the present day. So, he starts writing to him.

22. Refugee by Alan Gratz

Three powerful narratives about the experiences of refugee youth combine to offer students an unparalleled perspective. Josef is a Jewish boy whose family rushes to escape Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Isabel and her family leave Cuba on a raft in 1994. Mahmoud's family escapes Syria on foot in 2015. Students will be forever changed by these stories and how they unexpectedly converge in the end.

Lily Jo McGrother's gender assigned at birth was male. Navigating eighth grade as a girl who looks like a boy is tough. Dunkin Dorfman is new at school and coping with bipolar disorder. When the two teens meet, they couldn't have predicted the impact they'd have on each other's lives.

The circumstances and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are important social justice case studies for kids. This riveting nonfiction title is a great starting place.

This story of three brothers coming together to cope in challenging times builds students' empathy for so many common circumstances: parental loss, incarceration, the intricacies of life in urban neighborhoods, and more.

This collection of poems gives students an important insight into life for young people of color in the 1960s and 1970s-set against the backdrop of finding one's own identity.

Spark lots of student discussion as they learn about an explosion at a segregated Navy base during World War II. Following the blast, 244 men faced dire consequences after protesting the unjust and dangerous conditions at the docks.

Inspired by actual events, this story introduces students to Jaime, a Guatemalan 12-year-old who bravely flees his dangerous home to try to reach his older brother in New Mexico. Build students' background knowledge about the circumstances that may cause someone to have to flee their home and the harsh experiences of immigrants when they arrive in a new place.

29. Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling

The fight to obtain an education is one all students can (and need to) understand. These two protagonists, Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu, find their stories unexpectedly intertwined due to the discrimination they experience. Age-appropriate historical context builds important background knowledge about WWII Japanese internment camps and the Mendez vs. Westminster School District California court case, a precedent-setting "separate but equal" case to Brown vs. Board of Education.

Try these teaching ideas around social justice inquiry:

Read-alouds: Quite often, a current event might spur questions and discussion in class, revealing a need for a short story or picture book to read aloud together and address the issue in greater depth. For example, a discussion about the fight for equality in education might call for sharing a book like Separate Is Never Equal, which sheds light on the lengths families had to go to for access to equal education.

Book clubs: Middle school students love social-issues book clubs that focus on topics like income equality and fair working conditions ( Uprising) or civil rights ( The Watsons Go to Birmingham). As a culminating activity to such book clubs, my students will book-talk their group's selection to the rest of the class and teach their classmates about the issue.

Opportunities for writing: Last year, we borrowed the "writing to think" idea as envisioned by Katherine Bomer in her book The Journey Is Everything. Using the chart below to anchor our thinking, we wrote about what the social justice books we read made us wonder about. Writing and sharing our ideas in this way allowed my students a way to think about how they would work toward making our world a better place.

Excited to share these social justice books for kids? Also check out:

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25+ Inspiring Social Justice Books for Kids of All Ages

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Social justice books for kids develop empathy and build shared background knowledge around topics like refugee and immigrant experiences, racism, bias, poverty, and hunger. Plus, great social justice books highlight for kids the simple power of kind deeds that help others thrive.

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Connecting the Past, Building the Future (Jump Start Guide)

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Connecting the Past, Building the Future (Jump Start Guide)

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Find the Jump Start Guide Here

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WOOP (wish, outcome, obstacle, plan) is a practical, accessible, evidence-based motivational strategy developed by Gabriele Oettingen that people can use to find and fulfill their goals, and change their habits across different areas of life. The woop my life website provides information about the s