Conversations About Identity

Kindergarteners gather around teacher Marisa Donaghy and they read “All the Colors We Are” by Katie Kissinger together. 

The book is one of several new resources in Meadow Pond Elementary’s classrooms which present skin color in a straightforward, scientifically accurate, child-friendly manner. Their purpose is to help students become more comfortable having thoughtful conversations about identity.

Through Kissenger's book, students learn that skin color is inherited from our ancestors and parents, and the result of the sun and the amounts of melanin in each of us.

 

Along with a discussion about the science of skin color and how color is only “skin deep,” kindergarteners create imaginative self-portraits in crayon, clay and other materials, having fun considering how they are the same and different than their classmates. 

The all-school reads also introduce an all-school project: everyone is coloring a paper hand to create “The Colors of Us” mural for the main hallway.

Thank you MPES PTO for purchasing Colors of the World crayons for each class.