Teaching About Equity & Resource Allocation- First Grade

This film highlights two first grade teachers working in an Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) setting where children with and without IEP’s learn together. They open their lesson with a read aloud of the book, “Fair is Fair” by Sonny Varela and ask students to follow changes in the character’s feelings as they are provided food that is distributed equitably and equally. At its end, students work together to decide how to divide resources to groups with specific needs. 

• Accompanying article can be found: Sonu, D., & Herold, E. (2023). Meeting individual needs: Teaching first graders about resource allocation and equity-versus-equality in an ICT classroom. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 36(1), 3–8.

Using Restorative Circles & Children’s Literature to Study Social Class- Third Grade

This film highlights two third grade teachers who are beginning to explore social class as a part of identity. Restorative Circles are an important part of the classroom community and teachers engage students in a stand-up/sit-down activity to examine differences among themselves. They then guide students to analyze characters in children’s literature to develop a sense of how economic inequality shapes life experiences.

Introducing the Concept of Social Class & Classism- Fourth/Fifth Grade

This film highlights a fourth grade teacher who is introducing the concept of social class and classism for the first time. She begins with a “What I Know” and “What I Wonder” chart and leads students into thinking about how forms of judgement around economic inequality can lead to discrimination. She then ties their own experiences into an analysis of the four levels of inequality: internalized, interpersonal, societal, and institutional. 

• Accompanying article can be found: Sonu, D. (2022). It’s time for class: Examining economic inequality in fourth and fifth grade. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 35(2), 3–10.