​The grade 7 Social Studies curriculum affords so many opportunities to dig into issues that are happening right now, issues that matter in the real world. We talk about current events a lot, but as the year progresses, it is so rewarding to see your kids apply the concepts of empowerment (and disempowerment) not only to the news stories they read, but also to the popular culture they consume.

After much persuasion from them, and much research on my part, I have decided to show the movie The Hate U Give to my grade 7 Social Studies classes. The movie contains strong and clear messages about societal empowerment and disempowerment in particular, but it touches on many other aspects o the concepts we have been exploring this year.

I thought I would send along some information about the movie so you can check it out. Commonsense Media is a wonderful resource for parents and I trust what it has to say about media and kids. Their review is here:

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-hate-u-give

Thank you, and good luck in our collective struggle to stop touching our faces!​