Our one-week program for elementary school students, parents, and other community members provides resources on making conversation about disabilities and differences comfortable. Students will discuss visible and invisible disabilities while engaging in lessons on kindness. Each day focuses on a specific theme regarding our core values: Storytelling Permission, Authenticity, Curiosity, and Education (S.P.A.C.E.). The program includes in-person classes for students, an education night for parents, and resources on continuing the conversation at home and school.
Each day of the program is organized through the lenses of sharing, interacting, and reflecting. Lessons may last between 20-45 minutes.
Our curriculum has been thoughtfully aligned with the CASEL Social Emotional Learning Framework, focusing on the 5 skill areas of self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness.
Throughout the week, lessons
will focus on the following
learning objectives surrounding
Students will...
Understand the purpose of the Creating S.P.A.C.E. week.
Understand what makes a safe space.
Create a class mantra that focuses on a safe space in the classroom.
Listen openly to another person’s story around disability.
Reflect on the story told to better understand that person’s experience.
Compare the person’s story with their own life or someone else they know.
Share something unique about themselves with the class.
Listen to one another’s stories.
Reflect upon what it was like to share and hear stories.
Extension - practice sharing, giving permission, and engaging in conversation.
Understand that people are more alike than they are different.
Learn appropriate ways to ask questions and socially interact with others.
Practice asking for permission and curiosity through letter writing.
Demonstrate understanding of safe spaces through sharing their class mantra.
Understand how to appropriately ask questions to learn more about a person’s story.
Reflect on what they learned throughout the week around disability and creating safe spaces for one another.
Share how they will commit to making a difference in their classroom, school, and community around understanding disability and one anothers’ similarities and differences
Create a phrase to remind each other of how they will create space in their communities moving forward.
