Resources for Teaching About the Attack on the U.S. Capitol
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
Today was a day.
Today, Georgia elected two new senators to represent their great state. In doing so, they effectively flipped the senate in favor of the Democratic party.
Today is also the day that several state senators, led by Ted Cruz, contested the legitimacy of the electoral votes for the state of Arizona, citing voter fraud.
If you are like us, today was also the day that you watched the news in horror as angry mobs of Confederate flag waving Trump supporters stormed the White House.
We need to provide time for our students to process. We also need to provide time for ourselves to process all that we have seen, read, and heard about in the last 24 hours.
If you are looking for a way to even begin this conversation. Beyond the Stoplight has some AMAZING resources for you to peruse. Give the blog a look-see. You will not be disappointed.
Antiracist Education Now had some awesome tips for how to handle the discussions in your class tomorrow as well.
They stated:
You must address the events that occurred, you do not need to TEACH about the events that occurred. Many students are still processing. It is okay to just give them a space to process.
Help provide the tools for your students to process the information that they read about and the news that they watched.
Focus on the roots of the events that took place to avoid comparisons.
Complicate the narrative. Help students realize that this “is and isn’t our America.”
Care for yourself.
Our Free Resources
Provide a safe space for students to process this event and hold meaningful discussions. We have created several free Jamboard slides and Google Slides for you to use. Make a copy for your own Google Classroom. Delete slides, add slides, they are yours to use. We hope that they help facilitate open and honest discussions with your students. Make sure to choose the option “allow students to edit” when adding your slides to google classroom.
For young learners, we also created this Google Slide resource. Simply add the slides to your google classroom. Make sure to click “allow students to edit,” instead of the normal “Make a copy for each student.” That way, students can type on the document together as class. Or better yet, you can just share your screen and act as the note taker for the class as they call out their thoughts and ideas.
Until next time teacher friends. Take care of yourselves.
Bottoms Up!
Katy and Denise