Social Justice for Little Learners

Grade Level: PS 4

Topic: Family Diversity

Book Title: “A Handful of Buttons”

Author: Carmen Parets Luque

Link to Purchase: https://a.co/d/7bcWo7Z

Link for Online Read-Aloud : https://youtu.be/OnmilSJnJaA?si=2-foiF_P9_JVwvM5

Discussion Prompts/Questions:

• “Who is in your family?”
• “What does your family like to do together?”

Follow-Up Activity:

• As in the book, have students use buttons to represent their families. Use the house template on the back pages, or if that isn’t an option, find or make a house template that students can use. This can be a “make and take” if the buttons are attached, or just a creation station.
• Open a dramatic play house centre (ideally with racially diverse doll babies), where children can role-play being in a family.
• For other play opportunities, this is a good time to pull out a doll house, animal families, and other home centre type activities.
• For art, provide the opportunity for children to draw or paint pictures of their families and their homes.

BC Core Competency Connections:

Personal and Social

• Positive Personal and Cultural Identity
  • I am aware of different aspects of myself. I can describe my family, home, and/or community (people and/or place).
• Social Awareness and Responsibility
  • I can help and be kind.
  • I am aware that other people can be different from me.
  • In familiar settings, I can interact with others and my surroundings respectfully.

Thinking

• Creative Thinking
  • I get ideas when I play.
• Critical Thinking
  • I can explore materials and actions.

Communication

• Communicating
  • In a safe and supported environment, I respond meaningfully to communication from peers and adults.
• Collaborating
  • In familiar situations, I can participate with others.

BC Curricular Connections:

• Understand (Big Ideas):
  • Stories and other texts help us learn about ourselves and our families. (ELA K)
  • Everyone has a unique story to share. (ELA K)
  • Through listening and speaking, we connect with others and share our world. (ELA K)
  • Our communities are diverse and made of individuals who have a lot in common. (SS K)
  • Stories and traditions about ourselves and our families reflect who we are and where we are from. (SS K)
  • Strong communities are the results of being connected to family and community and working together toward common goals. (Career Education K)

• Know (Content):
  • Ways in which individuals and families differ and are the same. (SS K)
  • Cultural and social awareness, achieved by exploring self-identity, acknowledging cultural differences, honouring indigenous traditions. (Career Education K)
  • Caring behaviours in groups and families. (Physical and Health Education K)

• Do (Curricular Competency):

• Comprehend and connect (reading, listening, viewing)
  • Engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers, as appropriate, to develop understanding of self, identity, and community. (ELA K)
  • Recognize the importance of story in personal, family, and community identity. (ELA K)
  • Use personal experience and knowledge to connect to stories and other texts to make meaning (ELA K)
  • Create and communicate (writing, speaking, representing)
    • Exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding. (ELA K)
    • Use language to identify, create, and share ideas, feelings, opinions, and preferences. (ELA K)
    • Create stories and other texts to deepen awareness of self, family, and community. (ELA K)
  • Acknowledge different perspectives on people, places, issues, or events in their lives. (SS K)
  • Recognize the importance of positive relationships in their lives. (Career Education K)
  • Identify caring behaviours among classmates and within families. (Physical and Health Education K)

FPPL Link:

• Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors.
• Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).
• Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities.
• Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story.

BC ELF Link:

• Families have the most important role in contributing to children’s well-being and learning.
• Early years spaces are inclusive.
• People build connection and reconnection to land, culture, community, and place.
• Play is integral to well-being and learning.
• Relationships are the context for well-being and learning.

TFT Through-line Link:

• Justice Seeking
• Community Building