DEI Center for Resources & Information

Welcome to the Center for Resources and Information! Here you'll find resources organized by grade level (Early Childhood, Elementary Grades, Upper Grades), as well as parent resources. Please note the Resource Key as you navigate the page. Resources will be updated regularly, so be sure to check back!

 

Resource key
Resources with asterisks** — Do with your student
Resources with plus signs+++ — Parent resources
Italicized resources — Student can do independently

 

Early Childhood (PreK & K)

I am new to antiracist/DEI work
Celebrating Blackness
  • "Hair Love" by Matthew A. Cherry (Note: There is also an Oscar-winning animated short with the same title)**
  • "Sulwe" by Lupita Nyong’o**
  • "Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut" by Derrick Barnes**
  • "All Because You Matter" by Tami Charles**
  • "M is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child" by Tiffany Rose**
  • "Shades of Black" by Sandra L Pinkney**
  • "Marvelous Me" by Lisa Marie Bullard**
  • "I Like Myself!" by Karen Beaumont**
  • "The Blacker the Berry" by Joyce Carol Thomas**
  • "Hair, It’s a Family Affair" by Mylo Freeman**
  • "Son, You Matter" by Derrick Washington**
I would like to learn about Black history in the United States
  • Teaching Your Child About Black History+++
  • "Martin’s Big Words" by Doreen Rappaport**
  • "Preaching to the Chickens" by Jabari Asim**
  • "The Youngest Marcher" by Cynthia Levinson**
  • "Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History" by Vashti Harrison**
  • "Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History" by Vashti Harrison**
  • "Mae Among the Stars" by Roda Ahmed**
  • "Trombone Shorty" by Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews**
  • "The Great Migration: Journey to the North" by Eloise Greenfield**
I would like to learn about whiteness and white supremacy in the United States
I would like to discuss current events with my child/children

"Something Happened in Our Town" by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard**

Black joy/stories with Black protagonists
  • "Don’t Throw it to Mo!", "Get a Hit Mo!", and "Pass the Ball Mo!" By David Adler**
  • "Grandma’s Purse" by Vanessa Brantley-Newton**
  • "Jabari Jumps" by Gaia Cornwall**
  • "Snow Globe Wishes" by Erin Dealey**
  • "Last Stop on Market Street" by Matt de la Peña**
  • "Freedom Soup" by Tami Charles**
  • "Sunday Shopping" by Sally Derby**
  • "The Hula-Hoopin Queen" by Thelma Lynn Godin**
  • "Saturday" by Oge Mora**
  • "Thank you, Omu!" By Oge Mora**
  • "Looking for Bongo" by Eric Velasquez**
  • "Son, You Matter" by Derrick Washington**
  • There are many more! We used this resource to create this list.

 

Elementary (Grades 1 - 4)

I am new to antiracist/DEI work
Celebrating Blackness
  • "Hair Love" by Matthew A. Cherry (Note: There is also an Oscar-winning animated short with the same title)
  • "Sulwe" by Lupita Nyong’o
  • "Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut" by Derrick Barnes
  • "All Because You Matter" by Tami Charles
  • "M is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child" by Tiffany Rose
  • "The Undefeated" by Kwame Alexander
  • "The Blacker the Berry" by Joyce Carol Thomas
  • "Hair, It’s a Family Affair" by Mylo Freeman
I would like to learn about Black history in the United States
  • John Lewis: Good Trouble (Netflix) (For upper elementary)**
  • "We Are the Ship" by Kadir Nelson
  • "Preaching to the Chickens" by Jabari Asim
  • "The Youngest Marcher" by Cynthia Levinson
  • "This is the Rope" by Jacqueline Woodson
  • "Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History" by Vashti Harrison
  • "Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History" by Vashti Harrison
  • "Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968" by Alice Faye Duncan
  • "Trombone Shorty" by Troy Andrews
  • "I Too, Am America" by Langston Hughes
  • "The Great Migration: Journey to the North" by Eloise Greenfield
  • "Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hammer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement" by Carol Boston Weatherford
  • "Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library" by Carol Boston-Weatherford
  • "Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans" by Kadir Nelson
  • "Resist: 35 Profiles of Ordinary People Who Rose Up Against Tyranny and Injustice" by Veronica Chambers (Upper Elementary - late Third Grade, Fourth Grade)
  • "Chains, Forge, Ashes" (Trilogy) by Laurie Halse Anderson (Upper Elementary - late Third Grade, Fourth Grade)
  • "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson (Upper Elementary - late Third Grade, Fourth Grade)
  • "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia (Upper Elementary - late Third Grade, Fourth Grade)
  • "Stella" by Starlight by Sharon Draper (Fourth Grade)
I would like to learn about whiteness and white supremacy in the United States
I would like to discuss current events with my child/children
  • "Something Happened in Our Town" by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard (Upper Elementary could read independently)**
Black joy/stories with Black protagonists
  • "Don’t Throw it to Mo!", "Get a Hit Mo!", and "Pass the Ball Mo!" By David Adler
  • "Miami Jackson Gets it Straight" by Patricia C. McKissack
  • "The Last, Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
  • "The Jumbies" by Tracey Baptiste (upper elementary)
  • "Ways to Make Sunshine" by Renée Watson
  • "President of the Whole Fifth Grade" by Sherri Winston
  • "Clubhouse Mysteries" (series) by Sharon Draper
  • "Freedom Soup" by Tami Charles
  • "Sunday Shopping" by Sally Derby
  • "The Hula-Hoopin Queen" by Thelma Lynn Godin
  • "Grandma’s Records/Los Discos de mi Abuela" by Eric Velasquez
  • Looking for more picture books? There are many more! We used this resource to create this list.

 

Upper (Grades 5 - 8)

I am new to antiracist/DEI work
Celebrating Blackness
I would like to learn about Black history in the United States
I would like to learn about whiteness and white supremacy in the United States
I would like to learn about systemic racism
  • "New Kid" by Jerry Craft
  • "Genesis Begins Again" by Alicia D. Williams
  • "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You"  by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds (7th and 8th Graders could read independently)**
  • "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers (better for 7th and 8th Graders)
  • "What Lane?" By Torrey Maldonado
  • "Just Mercy (Adapted For Young Adults)" by Bryan Stevenson (7th and 8th graders could read independently)**
  • The Talk: Race in America — PBS Documentary**

 

Parent Resources (All Grade Levels)

I am new to antiracist/DEI work
I would like to learn about whiteness and white supremacy in the United States
I would like to learn about Black history
I would like to learn about systemic racism
  • "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander+++
  • "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson+++
  • "The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America" by Richard Rothstein+++
  • "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates+++
  • "Stamped from the Beginning" by Ibram X. Kendi+++
  • When They See Us (Netflix)+++
  • 13th (Netflix)+++
  • Slavery by Another Name (PBS)+++
  • 1619 Project (NYTimes)+++
  • Just Mercy (Prime Video) - (7th and 8th graders could watch with an adult; there is an intense execution scene)+++
  • The Talk: Race in America+++
Celebrating Blackness
Black Joy
I would like to follow social media accounts to help educate myself