Inclusive Schools Week

Welcome Page

Section One: Reframing the Narrative on Disability

Section Two: How to Include Students with Disabilities Year-Round

Section Three: Activities and Resources for Any Disability Celebration

Section Four: Four District-Recognized Disability/Inclusion Events and Ways to Celebrate

• Disability Awareness (Any Time)
• National Bullying Prevention Month and Unity Day (October)
• Inclusive Schools Week (First Week of December)
• Disability History Month (March)

Inclusive Schools Week is an annual event held during the first full week of December. Since its inception in 2001, Inclusive Schools Week has celebrated the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive, quality education to an increasingly diverse student population. This includes students who are marginalized due to disability, race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, cultural heritage, language preference, socio-economic status and other factors.

Watch the video below from Sequoia Middle School explaining Inclusive Schools Week.

Inclusive Schools Week advances an international dialogue on the importance of building inclusive schools and communities, where all students have full access to educational opportunities.

Celebrating is important because it creates an awareness of the benefits and challenges inclusive schools face. It provides us a pause in our busy lives to reflect on where we are and where we are going. But celebrating is only the beginning. Reflection, planning and action are all necessary to understand the potential of inclusive education and realize its promise.

Ian

A short animated film that tells the story of a real boy with cerebral palsy named Ian whose fierce determination to be included at his local playground changes the attitudes and actions of his community. The film can be followed by a discussion of how kids can include others who have been left out, or it can be the centerpiece of an assembly to kick off the week.

Sesame Street Include Video

Have a class discussion about inclusion inspired by the Sesame Street video with Mila Kunis explaining the world "include" to Elmo and friends.

All Are Welcome

A warm, welcoming picture book that celebrates diversity and inclusion, this story lets children know that they have a place, they have a space and they are welcome in their school.

• Teachers Pay Teachers Diversity & Inclusion Activities (Designed for Kindergarten to Second Grade)
  
• AAC Lessons & Activities Created by SLPs

Inclusion Writing Prompt

Ask students to write about a time that they didn't feel included in a group. Talk about how it made them feel. Ask them how that experience relates to anyone who is seen as different. Talk about the challenges others might face and how they could help them feel included.

Host an Inclusive Movie Night

Screen a film featuring characters with disabilities for an Inclusive Movie Night at your school! In addition to showing the film outdoors or in an MPR, set up a sensory screening room in a classroom or the library. You can show the film on a TV or Smart Board, have low lighting, alternative seating, sensory objects and quiet games or activities. If you have a concession stand, be sure to include some gluten-free, sugar-free and allergy-free snack options. Add a photo station with a backdrop or green screen and some photo props for extra fun.

One Inclusive Movie Night option would be Finding Dory, a film starring many characters with disabilities. The lead character Dory has short-term memory loss, and she is portrayed as a hero on an epic journey. Nemo has a physical disability with his small fin, and Hank the octopus also has a limb difference with his missing a tentacle. Destiny is visually impaired by her myopia, while Bailey has trouble with his echolocation.

Yet it is how the film portrays disability that can help students learn to appreciate and accept differences. Disability is not something that Dory has to overcome. It is part of who she is, and with accommodations and support from her community,

she can accomplish great things.

In the final act, the film celebrates Dory's neurodivergent way of thinking and problem-solving with characters repeating the mantra, "What Would Dory Do?" In the end, Dory is confident and comfortable in her own "scales," and that's a lesson that will resonate with every student.

Decorate Your School with Messages of Inclusion

Add messages about kindness, acceptance and inclusion to your school! Decorate classrooms, hallways, and bulletin boards. Hang banners and student-created posters outdoors. Add inclusive quotes to your marquee. You can even decorate classroom doors or the main entrance of the school, as in the picture above. It's a great way to send the message that your school is welcoming and inclusive of everyone.

Sequoia Middle School Inclusive Schools Week Video Series

Watch the video series made by the KA19 students from Sequoia Middle School. Afterward, students can discuss the meaning of inclusion and brainstorm about how to include others.

ISW Episode 2

The video above shares ideas about including others in the classroom.

ISW Episode 4

Students in this video discuss how words and actions affect others.

ISW Episode 5

Students in this wrap-up video discuss what being inclusive means.

Not Special Needs

Watch the lighthearted video above to spark a conversation about inclusive and respectful language regarding people with disabilities. Have students research and discuss or write about what is the most current respectful language.

Learn more about the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign.

Learn more about Eliminating Ableist Language from Your Vocabulary.

Make Your Own Inclusive Schools Week Video

Check out the video above from Westlake High School featuring interviews with students and faculty on the ways that Warriors practice inclusion. Watch the video below from Newbury Park High School with Panthers sharing what inclusion means to them. Let these videos inspire you to make your own inclusion video about your class, your club or your school!

Share your video on social media to promote equity, accessibility and inclusion. The video can also be featured in an assembly or rally to kickoff or wrap up Inclusive Schools Week, and the assembly can include a speaker with a disability.

Create an Inclusive Map of Your School Campus

Mapping your school from an inclusion perspective can help you see the great things that your school is already doing to support all students! You can also identify areas for growth.

Check out this page on WikiHow to help you get started.

You will need art supplies for this project: paper, such as butcher paper or poster board, a ruler, markers, colored pencils.

• With a partner or a small group, make a plan for drawing your map. Become familiar with the layout of the school and the location of staff members and services for all students. Walk the campus if necessary.
• Make the initial drawing of the campus layout with all the major features, like the quad, cafeteria, athletic facilities and main buildings.
• Indicate places to seek out support, like the College/Career Center, Counseling Offices, Nurse's Office, Sensory Room and the Wellness Room.
• Indicate important places on campus, like the front office, principal's office, library, cafeteria, student store, bathrooms, etc.
• Indicate ramps, elevators and anything else that makes the campus more accessible, like signage, painted lines and automatic doors.
• Indicate locations where clubs and other organizations meet on campus.
• Create a legend for the map.
• Use inclusive symbols, names, titles and language when making the map.

When finished, share the maps in class or on Canvas and

display the maps at significant points around the school!

Inclusive Schools Week Bitmoji Classroom

Create a digital classroom with a library of inclusive books, a sensory room, a picture wall featuring disability leaders and icons, and a room full of special education resources.

Organize a School Library Donation Drive of Books Featuring Disabled Characters

Collaborate with your school librarian to design a list and organize a donation drive to expand your school's collection of books featuring disabled characters.

Make Your Pledge for Inclusion

Visit Spread the Word>>Inclusion to make an inclusion pledge.

Be a teammate. Be a friend. Welcome someone who has been left out.

Sit next to someone alone at lunch. Say hello to someone in the hallway.

There are so many ways to spread inclusion. Choose yours.

• Erin Bell, SEDAC Chair
  
• Jenny Crosby, Committee Chair, Newbury Park High School SEDAC Representative

• Lee Ann Holland, Committee Chair, SEDAC Member At Large, Colina Middle School SEDAC Representative
• Carole Shelton, SEDAC Member At Large
  

• Erin Bell, SEDAC Chair
  
• Jenny Crosby, Committee Chair, SEDAC Member At Large, Newbury Park High School SEDAC Representative

• Lee Ann Holland, Colina Middle School SEDAC Representative
• Nicole Johnson, Westlake Hills Elementary SEDAC Representative
• Shadi Khodavandloo, Newbury Park High School SEDAC Representative
• Trina Rodriguez, SEDAC Member At Large, Colina Middle School SEDAC Representative
• Carole Shelton, Rainbow Connection FEC & FRC