Evanston/Skokie School District 65 provides Black Lives Matter and “queer” lesson plans for students from preschool through eighth grade

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 published a statement from the superintendent on the district’s website promoting how the “Black Lives Matter at School” unit of study will be implemented throughout February 2022. The school district’s superintendent states that this “serves as an important opportunity for us to enact our racial equity work within our learning spaces, center Black lives and contributions in our teaching and learning, and connect our community to a global network of individuals striving to make the world more just.”

The superintendent then states that Black Lives Matter material will be implemented into the full curriculum starting next year:

Beginning next school year, the learning associated with the Black Lives Matter At School unit of study will be interwoven into our curriculum including new units in the K-8 social studies curriculum framework and will no longer be taught as a dedicated equity week. As we work through the integration of this learning across content areas, we look to expose all students to more accurate and affirming historical content that elevates marginalized people and includes the interrogation of events from multiple perspectives. Rolled out over several years, our new social studies curriculum will promote civic competence, knowledge and democratic dispositions to lead students to be engaged and active in public life.

The school district published the lessons and resources that will be used to teach students in a Black Lives Matter week of action that started on January 28 and extends through February 7. There are lessons for students in preschool through the eighth grade. Additional lessons are provided for physical education classes and for students with special needs.

Preschool/Kindergarten Lesson Plans

The lessons for preschool and kindergarten include teaching young children “injustice at the institutional or systemic level” and having young children “analyze the harmful impact of bias and injustice in the world, historically and today.” Lessons include slides to teach children each school day from January 28 through February 7 with homework assignments for children to complete at home. These lessons also include teaching young children “queer” and “transgender” issues.

The book listed under resources for pre-K and kindergarten students is Race Cars: A Book about White Privilege.

First Grade Lesson Plans

The lesson plans for the first grade through the eighth grade appear to teach identical themes but at more advanced levels.

Second Grade Lesson Plans

The book listed under resources for second graders is Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness, which declares, “Whiteness is a bad deal,” and says that “whiteness” means signing a “contract” with the devil, depicted with a pointy tale.

Third Grade Lesson Plans

Fourth Grade Lesson Plans

Fifth Grade Lesson Plans

Sixth Grade Lesson Plans

Seventh Grade Lesson Plans

Eighth Grade Lesson Plans