Social Justice Mini Lending Library
This Social Justice Mini Lending Library project is an opportunity for teachers and students to explore the array of social justice-focused age appropriate books across various topics. As our communities and the people we love grow more diverse, it is important to genuinely honor that and as educators, have the educational resources to address not only the beauty of diversity, but also the issues around equity that are a part of it. At The Youth Farm Project, we are aware of this need and hope that this lending library will help integrate more cultural competence in the classroom and the school as a whole.
There are two lending libraries (with the exact same books) that will circulate. Teachers will sign up to acquire the libraries two weeks at a time. After the two weeks are up, our Food Justice Educator, Astrid Castillo, will pick-up the book bin and take it to its next location. The books are not just for kids, there are various resources for teachers as well. We hope that these books will be an inspiration for school librarians and teachers alike, and that within a few years every elementary school library will have a started their own social justice book collection!
There are two lending libraries (with the exact same books) that will circulate. Teachers will sign up to acquire the libraries two weeks at a time. After the two weeks are up, our Food Justice Educator, Astrid Castillo, will pick-up the book bin and take it to its next location. The books are not just for kids, there are various resources for teachers as well. We hope that these books will be an inspiration for school librarians and teachers alike, and that within a few years every elementary school library will have a started their own social justice book collection!
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Cayuga Heights Elementary School
Caroline Elementary School Northeast Elementary School Belle Sherman Elementary School Beverly J. Martin Elementary School Fall Creek Elementary School South Hill Elementary School Enfield Elementary School |
Here's what teachers are saying about the Social Justice Lending Library:
Students gravitated towards opportunities to read books featuring characters with whom they identified with.
I Am Enough - loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another are such important lessons reinforced and highlighted within this book. We used it a read aloud during a Monday morning "meet-up" and it set the tone for the week.
Will Allen Growing Table augmented out science unit about plants & brought us into this idea of social activism being about breathing beauty back into an area where people have been marginalized. The special thing about Farmer Will is that he can see what others can't see. When he looked at an abandoned city lot in Milwaukee he saw a huge table, big enough to feed the whole world.
We have been working on an immigration project .... we used some to support these goals.
The books were very good, age appropriate and we used them with our Kindergarten buddies. We used the books about human rights and gardening.
Students gravitated towards opportunities to read books featuring characters with whom they identified with.
I Am Enough - loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another are such important lessons reinforced and highlighted within this book. We used it a read aloud during a Monday morning "meet-up" and it set the tone for the week.
Will Allen Growing Table augmented out science unit about plants & brought us into this idea of social activism being about breathing beauty back into an area where people have been marginalized. The special thing about Farmer Will is that he can see what others can't see. When he looked at an abandoned city lot in Milwaukee he saw a huge table, big enough to feed the whole world.
We have been working on an immigration project .... we used some to support these goals.
The books were very good, age appropriate and we used them with our Kindergarten buddies. We used the books about human rights and gardening.