From Janis Jones (SDAWP 1994) and the classroom of Sarah Spinks
Coming Together is a Sesame Street campaign designed to help children embrace their identities in a diverse world. In the “Use Your Voice” video, Amanda Gorman, Bert, and Ernie demonstrate how our voices can be used in powerful and impactful ways.
After watching the video, students will reflect on how they can use their own voices and will write statements beginning with, “I will use my voice to…”
Here are some examples written by first-grade students:
- I will use my voice to be strong.
- I will use my voice to help people in need.
- I will use my voice to be powerful.
- I will use my voice to make good decisions.
- I will use my voice to say kind words.
After drafting several “I will use my voice to…” statements, each student will choose their favorite to write on a sentence strip. These strips can be decorated and displayed together on a bulletin board as daily reminders of the positive ways they will use their voices.
Watch the lesson reel HERE.
Resources:
- Use Your Voice Sesame Street video with Amanda Gorman
- Together We Can videos from PBS Kids
- See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special
- Coming Together: Celebrating Positive Identity and Belonging from Sesame Workshop
- The Power of We | Sesame Street
- The Power of We discussion guide
SDAWP Voices 