As I reviewed my second graders’ takes on our read-aloud of the day, one response stopped me chilly.
Leonardo’s* paper learn: “No me gustó el libro porque es de México y los Mexicanos me hicieron sufrir en el tren.” I didn’t just like the guide as a result of it’s about Mexico. And Mexicans made me endure on the practice.
My coronary heart dropped.
Leonardo was one of many three Colombian college students in my class. Throughout his journey to america, he rode La Bestia, a harmful community of freight trains. This method of freight trains runs throughout Mexico from south to north and it’s typically utilized by these touring towards the U.S border. It was throughout his time on this practice that one among his dad and mom was assaulted at knifepoint by somebody from Mexico.
As a Mexican American educator instructing a room full of scholars with Central American and Mexican roots, I knew I needed to tackle this rigorously. Ignoring it risked permitting stereotypes, damage and division to form our classroom tradition.
Diana Zepeda
I felt a rollercoaster of feelings: heartbreak {that a} baby so younger endured such trauma, understanding of why he expressed himself the way in which he did, and on the identical time, deep self-reflection. His phrases pressured me to confront how simply a single expertise can form our perceptions of others. It jogged my memory of moments once I, too, have allowed one interplay to affect how I assumed or felt.
My classroom included 26 kids representing greater than 5 Latin American international locations. The end result was a every day refrain of, “My nation is healthier than yours,” full with passionate proof. This rivalry typically grew to become a contest over who “belongs” within the U.S, fueled by unfavourable media portrayals of newly arrived immigrants. If I didn’t tackle Leonardo’s notion of Mexicans and the rising national-pride rivalries, the negativity would seep into all the things else.
I started by bringing cultural consciousness into our classroom as a part of culturally responsive instructing, an strategy that acknowledges college students’ cultures, languages and lived experiences as strengths somewhat than boundaries. I partnered with Marilyn Lara Corral from the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen by way of their Nuestras Historias Trainer Residency Program. Collectively, we co-created an arts-integrated undertaking targeted on self-identity. College students labored on clean sq. canvases which have been later sewn onto a mercado bag.
Every pupil obtained a clean canvas sq.. College students traced their portraits onto the decrease heart of the canvas. Their portraits stayed black and white. The whole lot else about their id was in shade: their favourite traditions, meals, actions and the cultural symbols that formed who they have been. Flags shortly stuffed the squares. Drawings of pupusas, tamales, pozole, arepas and pizza appeared. Every canvas sq. grew to become a declaration of id and belonging.
On the finish of the undertaking, I hung their vibrant “mercado luggage,” within the hallway. College students proudly offered their work, explaining what they drew. Someplace in that course of, the tone of our classroom shifted. My second graders realized they might absolutely be themselves and on the identical time admire everybody round them. Leonardo and all my college students related over meals, music, and recollections.
Mercado Luggage displayed in Diana’s classroom. By Diana Zepeda, March 11, 2026
I’ve but to fulfill a pupil who didn’t need to share their roots. Yearly, my college students are keen to speak about their traditions and favourite meals. When educators deliberately invite college students’ cultural identities into the classroom, we do greater than promote inclusion. College students thrive in areas the place they really feel seen and valued.
Experiences like these mirror the aim behind Illinois’ Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards: to information educators in constructing school rooms grounded in belonging, id and significant connections.
There are various methods we are able to make this a actuality in our school rooms. Listed below are only a few:
Select culturally genuine books
Illustration issues, however authenticity issues extra. College students regularly share connections they’ve made between the textual content and their very own lived experiences. These texts embrace books and tales deliberately chosen to mirror college students’ cultures, languages and communities. This stage of engagement occurs extra typically when books mirror college students’ actual lives, language and tradition somewhat than easy translations. On-line shops like First Book Marketplace supply numerous, low-cost books in a number of languages that heart college students’ lived experiences.
Incorporate tradition into participation routines
This yr, I modified a Total Participation Technique in our class discussions by pairing college students with pictures of meals from their cultures: encebollado with pan, atole with tamales, arepa with queso. When their dialog companions requested questions, they eagerly defined the dishes.
Find out about college students’ cultures deliberately
I ship dwelling household surveys to study my college students’ traditions, immigration tales and values. I deliberately take my college students’ backgrounds under consideration when lesson planning, constructing on cultural data college students like Leonardo have already got. I join classes to experiences they acknowledge and use examples and texts that mirror their dwelling lives.
Leonardo grew to become finest mates with the identical classmate he typically argued with. They did all the things collectively and grew so shut I needed to counsel they be positioned in numerous school rooms the next yr, simply to maintain them out of hassle. When educators honor college students’ identities, we don’t simply adorn school rooms with flags and books, we construct communities the place therapeutic, belonging and studying can take root and blossom.
Diana Zepeda is a 2nd grade bilingual instructor at Haugan Elementary in Chicago and a 2025-2026 Train Plus Illinois Early Childhood Educator Coverage Fellow.
Editor’s Word: Illinois Latino News granted anonymity to a minor featured on this story as a result of considerations about immigration standing. The person’s id is thought to the newsroom.
