We’re Gonna Keep On Talking: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Elementary Classroom

What should conversations about race look and sound like in the elementary classroom? How do we respond authentically and truthfully to children’s questions about the world?
And how can we build classroom communities that encourage these meaningful conversations about race?

Matthew Kay and Jennifer Orr take on these questions and more in We’re Gonna Keep On Talking: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Elementary Classroom. A companion work to Kay’s Not Light, But Fire, this book focuses on the unique and powerful role discussions about race can play in the elementary classroom.

Drawing its title inspiration from the lyrics of the freedom song “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around,” sung by hundreds of children marching against segregation in what came to be known as the Children’s Crusade of 1963, We’re Gonna Keep On Talking is written for teachers who are willing to match children’s courage and brilliance, and who believe that “a foundation in meaningful race discourse will help [children] to seek justice for themselves and their neighbors, to be kinder, [and] more thoughtful.”

Writing with the humility and honest storytelling of two career classroom teachers, Matthew Kay and Jennifer Orr share:

• Strategies for building safe and supportive classroom and school spaces for productive discourse
• Dozens of practical teacher moves for facilitating race conversations
• Classroom stories that allow readers to envision ways into the work through picture books, art, graphs, historical photographs, and current events
• Tips for aligning the work of race conversations to your grade-level standards

Whether you are unsure of where to begin or looking to deepen your practice, We’re Gonna Keep On Talking will be your guide to the important work of race conversations in the elementary classroom.