Exploring Cultural Identity and Race in the Elementary Classroom

by Nancy Ventresca

Synopsis

This unit was developed for fifth grade Advanced Academics students in a large suburban, multi-cultural school in Delaware. It begins with a look at the roots of racism in America, traced through the use of Ibram X. Kendi’s text Stamped from the Beginning the Definitive History of Race in America and includes guidelines on how best to approach “tough history” in the classroom. My objective is for students to examine their own family history and cultural identity, then to expand it to the class and school community and then beyond our walls to the global community. This unit will stimulate conversations and reflections about all kinds of social identity through the use of global collaboration, current events and the integration of historical documents.