Inclusive Practices
A Special Edition
November, 2023
December 2 is National Special Education Day.
December 4-8 is Inclusive Schools Week.
This newsletter is being created to share information on inclusive practices and how we all can celebrate and educate during Inclusive Schools Week and throughout the school year.
Inclusive Schools Week
Inclusive Schools Week is celebrated the first full week in December. This year the theme is Draw Me In.
"Inclusive Schools Week allows us all to take a moment to applaud the progress we’ve made toward building more inclusive school communities while pledging to continue our work toward becoming a more inclusive society."
"Our theme for Inclusive Schools Week 2023 is Draw Me In! Participating in art provides a pathway to self-discovery, and sharing art opens doors to understanding and respecting different ways of thinking. Do we see the faces of all children and youth drawn into the canvas of our schools and society today?"
Resources for Adults
Recommendation from Mr. Williams
Mr. Williams shared that Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix) is an amazing movie about a group of teens fighting for disability rights in the 1970's. This is a recommendation for adults (not appropriate for our students).
Resources for Students
PBS Learning Media has many resources to teach students about inclusion and about treating everyone with dignity and respect.
Here are a few other resources you can use with your classes:
- Videotaped lesson of Kelly Wilbert reading and discussing the book All the Way to the Top with a middle school class. (20 minutes) See below.
- You Are Enough: A Book About Inclusion by Sofia Sanchez- This book was purchased by the PTA for all preschool classes last year. Many thanks to Laurie Derringer for writing this PTA grant..
- Videotaped book reading of Just Ask! by Sonia Sotomayor in Spanish and English read by former Director of Curriculum, Ramona Bregatta and Supervisor of Special Education, Marylynn Stecher. See below. This was taped in 2020. The book should now be in the Hess Library. Additionally, there should be a copy in the CST office of each school.
Laurie Derringer also shared this great resource about using inclusive language:
You can find additional information about Inclusive Schools Week at Inclusive Schools Week | Inclusive Schools Network. If you do anything special in your classes next week, please send pictures. Also, administration are always excited to be invited to your classrooms:)
ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP
Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, Jennifer Keelan grew up battling-and overcoming-the limitations others set for her. From a lack of cutaway curbs and bus lifts to being denied enrollment at her neighborhood school, Jennifer was continually blocked from living the life she wanted. But after discovering the world of disability rights activism, she knew she had to use her voice to change things. When Jennifer was just eight years old, she participated in the Capitol Crawl.
YOU ARE ENOUGH: A BOOK ABOUT INCLUSION
A beautiful and inclusive picture book all about celebrating being yourself from Down syndrome advocate and viral sensation Sofia Sanchez! It can be hard to be different -- whether because of how you look, where you live, or what you can or can't do.
JUST ASK!
Justice Sonia Sotomayor and award-winning artist Rafael Lopez create a kind and caring book about the differences that make each of us unique. Feeling different, especially as a kid, can be tough. But in the same way that different types of plants and flowers make a garden more beautiful and enjoyable, different types of people make our world more vibrant and wonderful.
Many thanks to the PTA who purchased the following books last year to help us in celebrating and understanding neurodiversity. Several of these books are housed in each school based on the appropriateness for the grade levels. Please see Anna Miller, Kelly King, or Deanna Allen to borrow books appropriate for your class.
I Am Not a Label: 34 Disabled Artists, Thinkers, Athletes, and Activists from Past and Present by Cerrie Burnell and Laruen Mark Baldo
Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Having a Disability by Shane Burcaw and Matt Carr
Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
This Beach Is Loud! (Little Senses) by Samantha Cotterill
Can I Play Too? (Little Senses) by Samantha Cotterill
Nope. Never. Not For Me! (Little Senses) by Samantha Cotterill
It Was Supposed to Be Sunny (Little Senses) by Samantha Cotterill
We Move Together Hardcover by Kelly Fritsch
All the Way to the Top: How One Girl's Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel
Diversity is Our Superpower

