Resources for Students and Their Families on Race and Racism

Educational Resources for Elementary Students and Families About Race and Racism

The Bellevue School District encourages discussions about race and racism at home with your children. Provided here are some resources that will support and encourage discussions about race and racism for elementary-aged children. While there are many more resources out there, these can get discussions started. We believe even young children can and should discuss race. These resources provided below should support these valuable discussions.

Children’s Books About Race and Racism

During this time of crisis and change, many are home with children of all ages. If you are looking for books to read, ADL’s collection address issues of identity, bias and bullying. Our featured books come with discussion guides for teachers and parents. You can search by topic and age: ADL Children’s Literature.

• The Colors of Us by Karen Katz

  • PreK through 2nd grade

• Skin Like Mine by Latashia M Perry

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• A Kid’s Book About Racism by Jelani Memory

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• I am Enough by Grace Byers

  • Kindergarten through 3rd grade

• Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• Say Something by Peter H. Reynolds

  • Kindergarten through 3rd grade

• It’s Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr

  • Kindergarten through 3rd grade

•  Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard

  • PreK through 3rd grade

• Malcolm Little: A Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz

  • 1st through 5th grade

• Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X Kendi

  • 5th grade and up – Young Readers Edition

• This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell

  • 4th through 5th grade

• Blended by Sharon Draper

  • 2nd through 5th grade

• Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper

  • Kindergarten through 2nd grade

• Stella by Starlight by Sharon Drapers

  • 3rd through 5th grade

• One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

  • 3rd through 5th grade

• Linda Brown – You Are Not Alone: The Brown vs. Board of Education Decision by Joyce Carol Thomas

  • 4th through 5th grade

Additional Resources for Families about Race and Racism

• TED Interview with the Founders of the Black Lives Matter Movement

  • 4th through 5th grade

• NPR – Talking Race with Young Children

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• NPR – What to Say to Kids When the News is Scary

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• Sesame Street: Coming Together, Standing Up to Racism

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• Ted Talk – Liz Kleinrock: How to Teach Kids to Talk About Taboo Topics

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• Parent Toolkit: How to Talk to Kids About Race and Racism

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• Teaching Tolerance – Beyond the Golden Rule: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• WBUR – How to Talk to Your Kids About Race and Justice

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• How White Parents Can Use Media to Raise Anti-Racist Kids

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• Teaching Tolerance

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

• Virtual Library with Multiple Picture Books and Read-Alouds for Kids

  • Kindergarten through 5th grade

Educational Resources for Secondary Students and Families About Race and Racism

 

The Bellevue School District encourages discussions about race and racism at home with your children. Provided here are some resources that will support and encourage discussions about race and racism for middle and high school students. While there are many more resources out there, these can get discussions started. These resources provided below should support these valuable discussions.

• Equity Advisory Group

• Equity and Accountability Policy

Book Resources for Secondary

• The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas

• Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation – Duncan Tonatiuh

• This Book is Anti-Racist – Tiffany Jewell

• Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You – Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi

• March – John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell

• Black Enough (compilation of stories from youth about their experiences being black in American) – Edited by Ibi Zoboi

Online Resources to Help Families Talk About Race

• Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup (Pretty Good Design) 

• The Conscious Kid – Parenting and Education through a Critical Race Lens

• How to Talk to Your Kids About Anti-Racism: A List of Resources (PBS SOCAL)

• Talking to Young children About Race and Racism (PBS Kids for Parents)

• Beyond the Golden Rule – A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice (A Teaching Tolerance Publication)

• Parents Need to Have Honest Conversations With Kids About Race and Racism, Starting Very Early (Good Housekeeping) 

• Talking to Kids About Race (National Geographic)

• Twelve Books to Help Children Understand Race, Anti-Racism and Protest (Smithsonian Magazine)