Teaching “Hair Love”
Recently, I had the pleasure of co-teaching with a colleague, Mr. Wes Hall, at Ararat Charter School. They have developed a 7-year JEDI plan-Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. This includes purchasing a library of children's books that address these critical topics in an age-appropriate manner. The kindergarten and first grade teachers asked us to do a JEDI demonstration lesson using the book, "Hair Love” by Matthew A. Cherry. It is based on the Oscar winning short film, in which a little girl named Zuri and her Daddy must come up with an extra-special hair style in honor of a special person, her mom, who is returning home. It shows the love of hair, Zuri's self-confidence, and the variety of style choices with her hair that “curls, coils and kinks”. This beautiful story also shares the love between fathers and daughters, by way of Zuri and her Daddy. I brought in a variety of wigs that my daughter loaned me and modeled them for the kindergarten and first grade students during the demonstration lesson. Then the students had to draw a perfect hairstyle for Zuri. Afterwards, they had to draw a self-portrait and participate in a gallery walk around the classroom to view everyone's picture. The moral of the presentation was that we are all unique in our own way (diversity) even in the same room and the same grade.
The same is true in our community, our nation and the world-It is filled with a variety of races, cultures, customs, religions, and…hairstyles! Therefore, we must embrace our similarities and celebrate our differences and be kind to one another! (inclusion). In addition to the demonstration lesson, the K-1 teachers were provided with a 7-step lesson plan, supplemental activities, and a videotape of the demonstration lesson for "Hair Love". Two weeks later, Mr. Hall and I engaged in a Reflective Conversation with the teachers.
My daughter tweeted some of my “hair show” pictures to Matthew A. Cherry, the author of “Hair Love” and to our great delight, he responded with laughter emojis.
