Third grade students completed a Chicago neighborhood study unit where they learned about Gold Coast (where Latin is) and Uptown (where we have Third Space).
Throughout this unit the students studied neighborhood data, including racial demographics, income, educational attainment, etc. They also learned about the strengths and challenges of both neighborhoods. Typically, the third grade class takes a field trip to Uptown during this unit, but because of COVID the students virtually interviewed three community members from Uptown. They learned a lot about anti-Asian hate that is happening as well as the negative impact COVID has had on businesses in Uptown.
The students had lots of great discussions in the classrooms about what it means to be an ally, so the teachers decided to reframe the final project in this unit. They posed this question to our students: "How can you be an ally to the community members in Uptown?" Block Club Chicago wrote an article promoting the event Celebrate Argyle that one of the community members our students interviewed helped to found. This was a great way for students to see that being an ally means amplifying the voices of others and walking alongside them as a way to help.
The students chose different ways to help promote the event, including creating big posters, creating flyers to pass out to friends and neighbors, and writing letters to encourage people to attend. Third grade students and teachers encourage the Latin community to also be an ally and visit Argyle Street to support the businesses and spread the word.
If you see a third grader, ask them what it means to be an ally!
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