Justice

Learning about justice includes deconstructing prejudice, stereotypes, biases, discrimination and privilege. Students need to understand these dynamics as they apply justice everyday through interactions and behaviors. Students also learn about systemic discrimination throughout history as well as how these patterns play out today to create or perpetuate disadvantage.

JUSTICE: Social Justice Standards

Justice 11. Students will recognize stereotypes and relate to people as individuals rather than representatives of groups.

Justice 12. Students will recognize unfairness on the individual level (e.g., biased speech) and injustice at the institutional or systemic level (e.g., discrimination).

Justice 13. Students will analyze the harmful impact of bias and injustice on the world, historically and today.

Justice 14. Students will recognize that power and privilege influence relationships on interpersonal, intergroup and institutional levels and consider how they have been affected by those dynamics.

Justice 15. Students will identify figures, groups, events and a variety of strategies and philosophies relevant to the history of social justice around the world.

Helps children understand the impact and injustice of Native American Residential Schools.
Fiction: Cause & Effect, Analyze CharactersPerspective: Ingenious, Cree






Dive into reparations and repair by reading this story, this history of the Tulsa Race Massacre which was erased from our history texts and only recently studied.
Nonfiction Narrative: Sequencing, Categorizing, Author's Craft, Cause & EffectPerspective: Black American
Connect the Children's March of 1963 to justice issues for Black Americans today. Empower students to learn about voting rights, voting issues relevant to our area and methods of resistance.
Narrative Nonfiction: Character AnalysisPerspective: Black American
Through oral storytelling, we learn the legend that brought about a peaceful Iroquois Confederacy which later became a model for U.S. federalism. 
Oral Tradition: Story Structure, Figurative Language, VisualizePerspective: Iroquois Confederacy
Highlights the challenges and perseverance of refugees. Humanizes immigration and refugee discussions.
Fiction: Cause & Effect, Figurative language, (comparing birds migrating), Sequencing, ThemesPerspective: Refugee 








An invaluable resource for teaching about bias and stereotypes.
Fiction: Descriptive Language, Story Structure, Cause & EffectPerspective: Unconscious Bias
Centers the historical truths about the resilience, intellect, perseverance and compassion of people with African descent.
Nonfiction: Summarizing, Main Idea & DetailsPerspective: Black Americans, Africans who were enslaved
Poem that highlights the trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world's greatest heroes. 
Nonfiction: Figurative Language, Key Ideas from historical context at the back of the bookPerspective: Black American

This resource helps teachers and parents find books that inspire conversations with children that affirm their lived experiences, encourage a genuine curiosity and love for diversity and inspire them to identify solutions to solve problems in their communities. 

If this is your first time hearing about the Social Justice Standards, learn more here.


Book covers images are from publishers and in the public domain