Disruptive Narratives

2016 was a big year for Ms. Green! In 2016 I was 23 (!!), and it was the end of my first year of teaching and the beginning of my second— two classrooms of fifth graders that I still think about constantly.

In 2016 we dove deep into the election, and came to film our classroom, Bernie Sanders won my class primary after a strong student-led campaign, Hillary Clinton won the nation-wide student primary, and our work was written up in several news outlets.

I presented at my first social studies conference, my kids did amazing work challenging dominant narratives (a lesson I later wrote about for my first article!), and I made all of my fifth graders get on a bus across town so I could fan girl over and hear him talk about our favorite book.

2016 was a year of big ups and downs. It informed so much of my work as a teacher and solidified my beliefs in the power of young people to advocate for justice in an increasingly unjust world.

We often teach children that Dr. King gave a beautiful speech and changed the world.
We rarely teach them that he was arrested for breaking unfair laws.

This MLK Day, you don’t have to water down Dr. King’s story. Young children are capable of learning about fairness, injustice, and rule-breaking for justice, and that switch can start as simply as switching out our typical activites on "I Have a Dream" to centering Letter from Birmingham Jail instead.

This resource set includes a teacher guide, child-accessible adapted reading, guided discussion questions, and coloring pages featuring quotes that center Dr. King's belief in breaking unjust laws.

Through the link in my bio, you can grab your free coloring page, or purchase the full resource set.

Both links are in my bio 🔗

If we want children to grow into people who can recognize injustice and work toward change, we have to teach them how change is made.

We often teach young children that Dr. King gave a beautiful speech and changed the world.

We rarely teach them that he was arrested for breaking unfair laws.

This MLK Day, you don’t have to water down Dr. King’s story. Young children are capable of learning about fairness, injustice, and rule-breaking for justice, and that switch can start as simply as switching out our typical activites on “I Have a Dream” to centering Letter from Birmingham Jail instead.

This resource set includes a teacher guide, child-accessible adapted reading, guided discussion questions, and coloring pages featuring quotes that center Dr. King’s belief in breaking unjust laws.

Through the link in my bio, you can grab your free coloring page, or purchase the full resource set.

Both links are in my bio 🔗

If we want children to grow into people who can recognize injustice and work toward change, we have to teach them how change is made.

The December Changemakers Box is here—and it might be my favorite one yet.

This month we’re reading Brave Girl and learning all about garment workers, labor rights, slow fashion, and how young people have always helped create change.
Inside your box you’ll find:

✨ A hardcover copy of Brave Girl
✨ A full-color learning guide for grown-ups
✨ 15+ hands-on activities (ALL supplies included!)
✨ A garment worker simulation, slow fashion paper doll, mending challenge & more
✨ Meet-the-activist readings (Clara Lemlich, Mother Jones, Lewis Hine)
✨ Exclusive stickers + coloring pages
✨ A special holiday bonus: Christmas Elf Working Conditions: A North Pole Investigation
✨ Everything packaged in a reusable zipper pouch
You can purchase the full physical box, start a monthly subscription, or choose a digital subscription to receive the Learning Guide and printables delivered straight to your inbox each month.

If you’re looking for a meaningful gift this holiday season—or want to support a small business—this is the perfect time to order.

📦 Order your December box or digital subscription today — link in bio!

What’s inside a Changemakers Box?

Each monthly box includes:
📚 A high-quality picture book centering stories of justice & collective action
🖍 A learning guide with 10+ activities and coloring pages
🎨 All the creative materials you need for each activity
📜 Primary sources + vocabulary cards
🌟 Exclusive themed stickers
👜 A colorful, reusable zipper pouch for easy organization

Each box is designed to make big ideas about justice accessible and joyful for kids — with everything you need in one place.

✨ September’s box features Barrio Rising: The Protest that Built Chicano Park — a powerful story of community organizing and cultural pride.

Order your first box today at changemakerkids.com or through the link in bio! Available as a one-time purchase or monthly subscription.

Happy Grandparents' Day!

Today is a wonderful day to celebrate the diversity of family structures, and the important role that grandparents, both biological and chosen, play in our children's lives. 💕

Here is just a small selection of titles that honor the beauty of these relationships.

✨Big news — I’m starting something new!✨

After attaining my PhD this spring, I made the choice not to pursue a traditional career in academia. That decision came with a lot of unknowns — but also with so much excitement about what’s possible when I follow my passions.

In reflecting on how I want to spend my time, energy, and expertise, the answer became clear: prioritize the people and work I care most about — my family, and justice-oriented education for young children.

I’m launching two new projects that combine my work as a teacher, scholar, creative, and curriculum designer — while allowing me to be home with my son during these incredibly special early years:

🌱 Seeds & Sprouts — a part-time play school for toddlers and a home for play- and story-based early childhood learning materials.

🌟 Changemakers — an afterschool program designed to help young children see themselves as agents of change through age-appropriate explorations of past and present social movements.

You can expect:
1️⃣ A completely new storefront to shop curriculum downloads
2️⃣ Subscription-based learning kits (physical + digital)
3️⃣ An expanded focus to include early childhood education

While both programs are based in Texas, my digital and physical resources will be available to teachers and families across the country.

I’m so grateful you’re here, and I can’t wait to share more as these exciting new projects unfold.

This Women’s History Month, let’s shift the narrative from individual heroes to the collective power of women's movements. Change happens through solidarity and shared struggle.

Teach women’s history in context:

✊🏾Rosa Parks, alongside Georgia Gilmore, who sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and Claudette Colvin, who resisted bus segregation before her.
✊🏽Kamala Harris, following in the footsteps of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for president, and the many BIPOC women who paved the way in government.
✊🏾The women of the labor rights movement, who organized for fair wages and safer working conditions.
✊🏽The women of the disability rights movement, who fought for accessibility and justice.

Swipe through for children’s book suggestions to bring these powerful stories into your classroom! 📚

The topic of community helpers arises in elementary learning standards over and over again. But do we ever connect the topic of community helpers to larger issues of (in)justice?

This month, the Trump administration fired over 1,000 park rangers—treating those who care for our public lands as disposable.

Park rangers are community helpers. They protect natural spaces, educate visitors, and ensure public access. Our parks need them. Our communities do, too.

Now is a better timer than ever to expand the concept of community helpers in our curriculum, to provide opportunities for our students to explore who keeps our communities safe and cared for, and how we can in turn care for them.

I've put together a set of resources designed to help teach elementary and middle school students about the importance of park rangers. This bundle includes over 30 pages of resources, including:

🌳KWL Chart
🌳YouTube video and comprehension questions
🌳Differentiated reading passages and comprehension questions about the job of park rangers, with answer keys for each
🌳Differentiated reading passages and comprehension questions about park rangers and current events, with answer keys for each

Activities:
🌳Design a Protest Sign
🌳Role Playing Scenarios
🌳Design a Ranger Badge
🌳A Park Without Rangers drawing activity
🌳2 coloring pages

You can find the link to purchase in my bio! Or if you can drop a comment and I'll probably just send it to you for free 😘

Greg Abbott is fighting to defund our schools. 🚫

Vouchers are a scam. If implemented, school districts across the state will lose MILLIONS in funding. That means fewer resources, larger class sizes, and less support for students and teachers.

Vouchers are predatory and only serve to benefit the wealthy. When public education suffers, we all suffer.

Swipe through to see the numbers from some of the state's largest districts.

➡Visit www.dontdefundmyschool.com to find out how much funding your Texas school district could lose under a voucher scam. Then, contact your representative and tell them to say NO to vouchers.

🚨 NOT Recommended! 🚨

I had high hopes for this picture book (look at the cover; how could I not be excited!?), but unfortunately, this book teaches an inaccurate and disempowering narrative about how change is made while continuing to reinforce flawed narratives about Rosa Parks and her activism. 🙅🏻‍♀️

If we want to equip children to engage in change-making, we have to do better. We have to tell honest stories about purposeful organizing and sustained action, not simple acts of a few individuals holding signs aimed at unknown audiences.

Swipe through for my full review.