TIME for Kids Age-Appropriate Resources

The Editors at TIME for Kids produced the following piece for kids in 3rd Grade and up, titled, Protestors Call for Justice.

The following was also provided to teachers and parents by Stacy Bien, the Curriculum Director for TIME for Kids: 

 I reflected on the role educators and parents play in helping kids feel informed and empowered during tumultuous times. At TIME for Kids, one of our goals is to help equip children with the skills they need to navigate the news. We also want to make sure educators and families feel supported in this.

Below, you’ll find resources to help adults foster dialogue on the subject of racism. 

Having Conversations About Bias and Racism

• Let’s Talk (Teaching Tolerance). This 44-page guide prepares educators to facilitate critical conversations with their class by first asking them to address their own identity and vulnerabilities, and then suggesting strategies to create a safe space for discussion with their students.
• How White Parents Can Use Media to Raise Anti-Racist Kids (Common Sense Media). As racist violence continues to permeate the media, it’s important for white families to start, or continue, conversations about race and racism. Here are 10 ideas for how to use media to help facilitate these talks.

Suggested Books: 

• Blended by Sharon Draper (ages 8–12). Isabella struggles to understand how the world sees her—and how she should see herself. Is she white, like her mother? Or is she black, like her father? 
• The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson (ages 8–12).  Two kids find a letter alluding to an injustice that happened decades ago in their community. As they learn more, they come to understand how racism has tainted their small town for generations. 
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (ages 10+).  Jacqueline Woodson writes about her experience growing up as an African American during the 1960s and 1970s. 

Responding to Hate and Violence Seen in the Media

• Helping Students Make Sense of News Stories About Bias and Injustice (Anti-Defamation League). This article provides tips for facilitating rich and productive conversations with students about what they’re seeing in the news.
• Helping Your Students Cope with a Violent World (Edutopia). These are tips for getting students to talk about what community means at local and national levels and how communities provide strength and support to diverse people.

Suggested Books:

• Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin (ages 4–8). The story follows two families—one black, one white—as they discuss the shooting of a black man by a police officer in their community. The book includes a section designed to help adults discuss race with children. 
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (ages 14+). A 16-year-old girl witnesses the fatal shooting of a friend by a police officer.

Racial Inequality, Past and Present

• The 1619 Project Curriculum (Pulitzer Center). As the education partner for The 1619 Project, by the New York Times Magazine, the Pulitzer Center has created resources for a variety of grade levels to pair with the special issue and the New York Times’ five-episode podcast series.
• Bearing Witness: The Death of George Floyd (Facing History and Ourselves). This list of resources guides the understanding that the tragic death of George Floyd is rooted in a broader history of violence and oppression.
• An Interview with the Founders of Black Lives Matter (TED Talks). The founders of Black Lives Matter explain why their movement is crucial.

Suggested Books:

• The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (ages 6–9). This illustrated poem explores what it has meant to be black in America throughout history and what it means today. 
• Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams (ages 9-13). Genesis has a list of 96 reasons she hates herself, including her dark skin. But when she moves to a new school, she makes friends who help her begin to question her colorism.
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi (ages 12+). This fast-paced narrative explores the history of racism in the United States and provides a game plan for creating a better future. 

Activism

• Healing in Action (Black Lives Matter). This tool kit shares tips for making sure direct actions are focused on “healing justice” to avoid reliving or reacting from a place of trauma.
• 10 Ways Youth Can Engage in Activism (Anti-Defamation League). This is a guide for bringing social activism to the classroom and the community.

Suggested Books:

• Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America by Andrea Pinkney and Brian Pinkney (ages 8–12). Read the stories of 10 black men from American history, from abolitionist Frederick Douglass to President Barack Obama. 
• The March Trilogy by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (ages 12+). In this graphic novel trilogy, U.S. congressman John Lewis tells the story of his life in the civil rights movement.