Introduction

Here are introduction slides that we use for our first meetings of the year. We do a background of the club itself, we talk about our discussion norms, and then generate topics we want to discuss in upcoming meetings. Applicable for grades 4-12.

We Speak Intro 10/7

Separating Art and Artist 1/28

Art vs. Artist

This sparks the compelling conversation of whether or not one can separate art from its artist, and leads to a close look at ones own morals and how they walk through life. If altered can be used for grades 4-12.

Black History Month

This meeting addressed the importance of consuming content from Black creators, and includes hyperlinks to poems, songs, art, different activists, athletes, and much more. Applicable for grades 4-12.

Black History Month Meeting

Disordered Eating

This is an informational presentation about disordered eating and how it differs from eating disorders, which are more commonly known. This presentation can be heavy and is applicable for grades 9-12.

Earth Day

These are slides that have some political cartoons to analyze about the climate crisis and a game about recycling different items. Applicable for grades 4-12.

Earth Day 4/22

Emotional Baggage 10/14

Emotional Baggage

This meeting covers emotional baggage and what we as humans have to carry and choose to carry regarding this. After discussion, there is an activity similar to the video provided where you anonymously answer the three questions on the slide in three separate rounds. Random people in the group pull out and read other’s confessions. Can be very vulnerable for many, applicable for grades 9-12.

Family Relationships

This meeting encourages discussion about family relationships and how they can be different from student to student. It is a good way to reflect on the importance of the people in one’s life and the support they provide. Applicable for grades 4-12.

We Speak MS (Family Relationships)

We Speak 3/26 Friendships

Friendships

In this meeting, we talked about traits that are valued in friendships and traits that are toxic. For an activity, we used a template of a person and wrote healthy traits on the inside and toxic traits on the outside of the person. This presentation is applicable for grades 4-8.

Gender Stereotypes

This meeting defines the idea of gender and how it was constructed in society. It encourages one to question gender roles and stereotypes that they see in their lives and in school. In certain varieties of this presentation, magazines illustrating “Boy’s Life” and “Girl’s Life” have been used to show gender stereotypes from the media. Applicable for grades 4-12.

We Speak Gender Stereotypes (MS)

Kamala Harris (11/12)

Kamala Harris

This was a meeting that took place shortly after the 2020 election. It highlighted the importance of the new Vice President, Kamala Harris and what this election meant for women, specifically women of color all around the U.S. Applicable for grades 4-12.

Mental Health

This meeting is a good one to have combined with high school and middle school members because mental health is a big issue in this age group and there is a sense of mentorship that can come from older high school members towards the younger students that might be struggling with mental health issues.

10/28 Mental Health

Pride Month 6/3

Pride Month

These slides are great to use for the month of June and they include a bunch of facts about LGBTQ+ history. At the end of the presentation there are also resources on how to support the LGBTQ+ community. Applicable for grades 7-12.

Privilege

In this presentation, we give space for students to define privilege and how it shows up in their lives. Provided is a video of a privilege walk. Students can either perform their own privilege walk with prompts similar to the one in the video, or can partake in a more confidential activity of filling in bubbles “beads” on a piece of paper. Applicable for grades 7-12.

We Speak 12/10 Privilege

We Speak 1.22 Race

Race

This is a presentation all about Race. It includes a helpful slide about terms that are okay to be used in discussion. There is an activity that is similar to a timeline where students take a deep dive into the way race has affected their lives. This presentation is applicable for grades 8-12.