Respect Unit Respecting Diversity Lesson Plan:
Materials Needed:
Students' My Book about Me Creations Pencils
White Board and Dry Erase Markers Digital Camera
Construction Paper Computer and Printer
Markers Computer Paper
Large Graph Paper Colored Pencils
Popsicle Sticks with Students' Names on them Cultural Star of the Week Calendar
Unit Journals Cultural Star of the Week Parent Letters
We are All Alike...We are All Different by Cheltenham Elementary School Kindergartners
Madison Metropolitan School District Standards:
Tell how to get to and from school, name school, state their name, address, and phone number, and be aware of necessary pedestrian rules
Identify events that are planned for the future or that happened in the past
Describe themselves as unique individuals with both capabilities and limitations and demonstrate acceptance of others' uniqueness
Demonstrate confidence in expressing one's own beliefs and feelings
Identify similarities and differences in individuals
Exhibit an awareness that children grow up in different parts of the world with similar and different experiences
Identify customs, traditions, and celebrations that have special meanings for their family
National Council for Social Studies Standards:
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
Objectives:
Students will share books about themselves that they created during the self respect lesson
Students will recognize and discuss the similarities and differences between each others' books
Students will learn to respect and embrace the differences among them
Students will make charts and graphs of their similarities and differences
Students will work cooperatively to create a class book that celebrates their diversity
Students will discuss aspects of their cultures that are important to them
Lesson Opening:
Gather all of the students on the carpet area and allow each student to read his/her My Book about Me book to the rest of the class. Remind the students to show respect to their peers by actively listening to each others' books. In between book readings and after all of the students have read their books to the class, ask the students what similarities and differences they noticed about their books. Keep track of these on the white board.
Procedure:
1. Read We are All Alike...We are All Different to the students. Make sure that when you introduce the book, you tell the students that it was created by a kindergarten class. After reading the book, tell the students that they are going to create a class book that acknowledges the similarities and differences among them, just as the authors of this book did.
2. Tell the students that first they need to chart some of the similarities and differences among them. Draw a popsicle stick and ask that student to select which characteristic to chart first. Remind the student that there are examples of characteristics on our similarities and differences list and in the book they just read. Once they choose, write that characteristic on the top of a piece of construction paper for the graph title. Then ask the students to raise their hands for each category under that characteristic. For example, if the characteristic was wears glasses, then the categories would be wears glasses and doesn't wear glasses. Another example would be the characteristic of hair color with the categories of red, blonde, brown, black, etc. Make a bar graph of the characteristic categories' numbers for the class. Continue this process until every student has had a chance to pick the characteristic to be charted. Make sure that you have some charts that have all students in the same category and some that the students are in different categories.
3. Next, tell the students that they need to decide what characteristics we want to include in our class book. Tell the students that we want our book to include both similarities among them and differences among them, just like the book they read did. Let the students make suggestions of which characteristics to put in the book. Encourage them to explain why they think this characteristic should be included. Continue the discussion until you have enough characteristics to have a group of 3 students per characteristic (i.e. if you have 24 students, you would need 8 characteristics).
4. Tell the students that the next thing they need to do is plan their book. Break the students into groups of three and assign each group a characteristic. Tell the students that within their group they must decide who is the author, who is the illustrator, and who is the editor. Tell them that the author will write the words for their page, the illustrator will either draw a picture or take a photo for their page, and the editor will choose how the page will be set up.
5. Once each group has assigned roles for their members, have all of the authors go to one table, illustrators to another, and editors to another. The authors must write at least two different sentences that they could use for their page. The illustrators must plan at least two different pictures for their page. If these are to be drawings, the illustrator must make rough sketches of them, and if these are to be photographs, the illustrator must plan who will be in the picture and where and at what angle it is to be taken. The editors must design at least two different layouts for their page. The layouts should include spaces for words and pictures, as well as a space for the page creators' names. Give the students time to finish their individual jobs.
6. Next, have the characteristic groups come back together and decide as a group which sentence, picture, and layout to use for their book page. Then they must create a rough copy of the page on a piece of computer paper. Once they are finished with this, they have to get their rough copy okayed by the teacher.
7. Once a group's rough copy is okayed by the teacher, then they must make a final copy of their book page. Tell the students to do their very best work on the final copy and to make it as neat as possible. During the construction of their final copy, each group member can contribute to any part of the page (i.e. the author doesn't have to only write or the illustrator only draw and the editor could help with the writing or picture). Remind the students that they want this to look as good as possible since it will be published in the class book. If the students need a photo for their final copy, have one of them take a picture with the digital camera and then you can print it out for them.
8. Once all of the pages are done, have the students gather on the carpet again, and read the book that they have just created to them. Once the book has been read through once, go through it page by page letting each group talk about their creation process for the page.
9. Tell the students that this book is a celebration of the diversity within the classroom community. Explain that diversity is the different unique characteristics, personal knowledge, and attributes that each of them brings to the community. Explain to the students that the diversity in the classroom is what makes it so special. Tell them that you are glad that they are all different and unique because that means that each and every one of them can bring something special to the classroom. Tell the students that discussing and celebrating their similarities and differences is a way to show respect for diversity and for each other.
Lesson Closure:
Tell the students about your annual summer family camping trip. Explain how this is a special time for your family and how it is something that you do every summer. Explain to the students that this is a special part of your culture that you really enjoy. Ask the students to think about a special part of their culture that they really enjoy. Tell them that it could be a vacation they take, an event that takes place, food they eat, dances they do, music they like, etc. Have them do a turn and talk about this aspect of their culture with the person next to them. Next, tell the students that each one of them will have a chance to share this special cultural aspect with the rest of the class. Have the student write or draw a short explanation of their favorite cultural aspect in their unit journals so that they will not forget what they talked about before they get a chance to share it with the rest of the class. Then explain to them that each of them will have a week in school where they are the cultural star of the week and will get a chance to teach the rest of the class all about their culture. One by one, draw a popsicle stick and fill in the student's name in the next week of the cultural star of the week calendar. Hand out the parent/guardian letters and have the students write in the date of their week in the blank spot. Tell the students to bring these letters home and begin planning their cultural star of the week activities with their family. Every Friday, remind the cultural star of the next week that they should bring in their poster and have their plans ready on Monday.
Assessment:
Throughout the lesson, the teacher should observe the students to assess their recognition of the similarities and differences that exist among them, acceptance of and respect for the differences among them, cooperative skills, creativity, and understanding of culture. The teacher can also use this lesson to assess the students' writing, drawing, and math skills. Also, throughout the rest of the school year, the teacher can assess the students' respect for the diversity within the classroom during the cultural star of the week activities.
Extension Ideas:
Allow the students to study each others' cultures in a more in depth manner than the cultural star of the week activities allow for.
Teach the students about the diversity of America. This should include explaining how and why this country has become this way.
Do a picture walk of Every Human has Rights: A Photographic Declaration for Kids by the National Geographic Society with the students and discuss the ways that this book shows respect for diversity by representing various cultures throughout it. Also, this book could be a segue into an investigation of the institutional discriminations that exist in our country and in other countries. During this study, the students should talk about why this aspect of society is wrong and how it shows disrespect for others.
Students' My Book about Me Creations Pencils
White Board and Dry Erase Markers Digital Camera
Construction Paper Computer and Printer
Markers Computer Paper
Large Graph Paper Colored Pencils
Popsicle Sticks with Students' Names on them Cultural Star of the Week Calendar
Unit Journals Cultural Star of the Week Parent Letters
We are All Alike...We are All Different by Cheltenham Elementary School Kindergartners
Madison Metropolitan School District Standards:
Tell how to get to and from school, name school, state their name, address, and phone number, and be aware of necessary pedestrian rules
Identify events that are planned for the future or that happened in the past
Describe themselves as unique individuals with both capabilities and limitations and demonstrate acceptance of others' uniqueness
Demonstrate confidence in expressing one's own beliefs and feelings
Identify similarities and differences in individuals
Exhibit an awareness that children grow up in different parts of the world with similar and different experiences
Identify customs, traditions, and celebrations that have special meanings for their family
National Council for Social Studies Standards:
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
Objectives:
Students will share books about themselves that they created during the self respect lesson
Students will recognize and discuss the similarities and differences between each others' books
Students will learn to respect and embrace the differences among them
Students will make charts and graphs of their similarities and differences
Students will work cooperatively to create a class book that celebrates their diversity
Students will discuss aspects of their cultures that are important to them
Lesson Opening:
Gather all of the students on the carpet area and allow each student to read his/her My Book about Me book to the rest of the class. Remind the students to show respect to their peers by actively listening to each others' books. In between book readings and after all of the students have read their books to the class, ask the students what similarities and differences they noticed about their books. Keep track of these on the white board.
Procedure:
1. Read We are All Alike...We are All Different to the students. Make sure that when you introduce the book, you tell the students that it was created by a kindergarten class. After reading the book, tell the students that they are going to create a class book that acknowledges the similarities and differences among them, just as the authors of this book did.
2. Tell the students that first they need to chart some of the similarities and differences among them. Draw a popsicle stick and ask that student to select which characteristic to chart first. Remind the student that there are examples of characteristics on our similarities and differences list and in the book they just read. Once they choose, write that characteristic on the top of a piece of construction paper for the graph title. Then ask the students to raise their hands for each category under that characteristic. For example, if the characteristic was wears glasses, then the categories would be wears glasses and doesn't wear glasses. Another example would be the characteristic of hair color with the categories of red, blonde, brown, black, etc. Make a bar graph of the characteristic categories' numbers for the class. Continue this process until every student has had a chance to pick the characteristic to be charted. Make sure that you have some charts that have all students in the same category and some that the students are in different categories.
3. Next, tell the students that they need to decide what characteristics we want to include in our class book. Tell the students that we want our book to include both similarities among them and differences among them, just like the book they read did. Let the students make suggestions of which characteristics to put in the book. Encourage them to explain why they think this characteristic should be included. Continue the discussion until you have enough characteristics to have a group of 3 students per characteristic (i.e. if you have 24 students, you would need 8 characteristics).
4. Tell the students that the next thing they need to do is plan their book. Break the students into groups of three and assign each group a characteristic. Tell the students that within their group they must decide who is the author, who is the illustrator, and who is the editor. Tell them that the author will write the words for their page, the illustrator will either draw a picture or take a photo for their page, and the editor will choose how the page will be set up.
5. Once each group has assigned roles for their members, have all of the authors go to one table, illustrators to another, and editors to another. The authors must write at least two different sentences that they could use for their page. The illustrators must plan at least two different pictures for their page. If these are to be drawings, the illustrator must make rough sketches of them, and if these are to be photographs, the illustrator must plan who will be in the picture and where and at what angle it is to be taken. The editors must design at least two different layouts for their page. The layouts should include spaces for words and pictures, as well as a space for the page creators' names. Give the students time to finish their individual jobs.
6. Next, have the characteristic groups come back together and decide as a group which sentence, picture, and layout to use for their book page. Then they must create a rough copy of the page on a piece of computer paper. Once they are finished with this, they have to get their rough copy okayed by the teacher.
7. Once a group's rough copy is okayed by the teacher, then they must make a final copy of their book page. Tell the students to do their very best work on the final copy and to make it as neat as possible. During the construction of their final copy, each group member can contribute to any part of the page (i.e. the author doesn't have to only write or the illustrator only draw and the editor could help with the writing or picture). Remind the students that they want this to look as good as possible since it will be published in the class book. If the students need a photo for their final copy, have one of them take a picture with the digital camera and then you can print it out for them.
8. Once all of the pages are done, have the students gather on the carpet again, and read the book that they have just created to them. Once the book has been read through once, go through it page by page letting each group talk about their creation process for the page.
9. Tell the students that this book is a celebration of the diversity within the classroom community. Explain that diversity is the different unique characteristics, personal knowledge, and attributes that each of them brings to the community. Explain to the students that the diversity in the classroom is what makes it so special. Tell them that you are glad that they are all different and unique because that means that each and every one of them can bring something special to the classroom. Tell the students that discussing and celebrating their similarities and differences is a way to show respect for diversity and for each other.
Lesson Closure:
Tell the students about your annual summer family camping trip. Explain how this is a special time for your family and how it is something that you do every summer. Explain to the students that this is a special part of your culture that you really enjoy. Ask the students to think about a special part of their culture that they really enjoy. Tell them that it could be a vacation they take, an event that takes place, food they eat, dances they do, music they like, etc. Have them do a turn and talk about this aspect of their culture with the person next to them. Next, tell the students that each one of them will have a chance to share this special cultural aspect with the rest of the class. Have the student write or draw a short explanation of their favorite cultural aspect in their unit journals so that they will not forget what they talked about before they get a chance to share it with the rest of the class. Then explain to them that each of them will have a week in school where they are the cultural star of the week and will get a chance to teach the rest of the class all about their culture. One by one, draw a popsicle stick and fill in the student's name in the next week of the cultural star of the week calendar. Hand out the parent/guardian letters and have the students write in the date of their week in the blank spot. Tell the students to bring these letters home and begin planning their cultural star of the week activities with their family. Every Friday, remind the cultural star of the next week that they should bring in their poster and have their plans ready on Monday.
Assessment:
Throughout the lesson, the teacher should observe the students to assess their recognition of the similarities and differences that exist among them, acceptance of and respect for the differences among them, cooperative skills, creativity, and understanding of culture. The teacher can also use this lesson to assess the students' writing, drawing, and math skills. Also, throughout the rest of the school year, the teacher can assess the students' respect for the diversity within the classroom during the cultural star of the week activities.
Extension Ideas:
Allow the students to study each others' cultures in a more in depth manner than the cultural star of the week activities allow for.
Teach the students about the diversity of America. This should include explaining how and why this country has become this way.
Do a picture walk of Every Human has Rights: A Photographic Declaration for Kids by the National Geographic Society with the students and discuss the ways that this book shows respect for diversity by representing various cultures throughout it. Also, this book could be a segue into an investigation of the institutional discriminations that exist in our country and in other countries. During this study, the students should talk about why this aspect of society is wrong and how it shows disrespect for others.
