Free Curriculum for Stamped:Racism, Antiracism, and You
Educating ourselves on race and racism, striving to decolonize our curriculum, and reading about anti-racism and anti-racist best practices has been a priority for Denise and me for quite a few years now. When it comes to my own education and learning, I wish I could say that I have always strived to teach equitably… unfortunately, it is a privilege of the privileged to not have to think about race and racism when you are a white educator in a predominately white city. But, like Maya Angelou once stated, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
Making Small Changes Leads to Large Outcomes
I have Denise to thank for helping to remove my rose colored glasses and open my eyes to how the world really operates and the systems that were put in place to keep some groups (white folx) in power while keeping other groups (BIPOC folx) oppressed. This information is not new to any Black, Indigenous, or teacher of color. They have lived this reality, while I am fortunate enough to have only read about this reality. Make no mistake. I am aware of my white privilege and the opportunities it has afforded me throughout my life. Because of this I knew that I needed to begin changing things up in the classroom. Relationships needed to be forged with my students (beyond just high fives and praise), my grading practices needed to be revised and reimagined, choice needed to be added to how students showed their understanding, the books and short stories we read , and the library books I placed on my classroom shelves needed to be as diverse as our student body. That was just the starting point… but with those small changes, miraculous things started to happen.
Free Stamped Curriculum
One of our favorite books that we have read in the past few years is Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. We also devoured How to Be An Antiracist. When Dr. Kendi then wrote Antiracist Baby, we knew we needed to read that book as well. (It has become a family favorite in my household).
When we heard that Dr. Ibram X. Kendi would be writing a young adult version of his formidable book, and that Jason Reynolds signed on to help co-write the book, we could not contain our excitement. We were NOT disappointed. Everything that is amazing about Stamped From the Beginning is next level amazing in Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You.
Creating curriculum for our classes became our next passion project. We loved everything about the original book, and we knew that this would definitely be a book that we wanted to teach in our classroom. We wanted to create a unit to help students learn about systemic racism, the history of racism in our country, and the ways students can “identify and stamp out racist thoughts, leading to a better future,” for all.
Creating a space and place that is comfortable for students to learn and have those hard conversations about race and racism should be the very first thing that occurs in your classroom before diving into this awesome book and curriculum. There are so many amazing books out there that have helped guide our teaching when it comes to talking about and teaching about race and racism in society. You can read all about the books, podcasts, and amazing teachers and authors we follow on our blog post here.
What Do I Get With the Free Unit?
This unit of study includes a presentation (Keynote, Powerpoint, and PDF formats) that contains the basic elements of any good lesson: an anticipatory set, direct instruction, guided practice, and a reflection. There is also an awesome free resource guide created by the publisher that can be accessed here. There are a lot of videos that we have linked from Flocabulary. We have a yearly subscription. If you have never used Flocabulary, we highly recommend checking them out! Their educational videos and songs are a huge hit in our classrooms. They also have weekly current events lessons and songs titled “The Week in Rap” that are legit.
This unit is a free resource, so we ask that you please consider how much you think this unit of study is worth, and, if you’re able to, donate to any one of the amazing organizations working to fight racism and/or teaching about racial equality. If you need some ideas, we have compiled a list of the organizations that are close to our hearts. These include:
Click here to download the FREE Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You resource.
Drop us a line if you have any questions, comments, or concerns at teachingdistillery@gmail.com. Be sure to check out the rest of our blog for other cool ideas. We’d love to hear how the unit worked out for you! Come on over and hang out with us on instagram @theteachingdistillery and If you happen to use our unit, please take pictures and tag us. You can also find us on Twitter @TeachDistillery. If you’re so inclined you can also check out the rest of our products at our Teachers Pay teachers store.
Bottoms up!