March Lessons Recap

I finished up guidance lessons just in time for MAP testing! Here is what I covered with students at the end of March in the following grade levels:

First graders read the story "The Little White Owl" by Tracy Corderoy. In this story, a white owl who lives alone decides to travel the world. He happens upon other owls who are all different colors. When they first meet the little white owl hey tell him to go away. We discussed how the colorful owls treat the little white owl differently because he does not look like them. The little white owl convinces the colorful owls to listen to his wonderful stories he has in his heart and the owls end up traveling to his home and want him to come visit them again. They valued the little white owl as a friend after they got to know him! I discussed with students: when we judge others only on their outward appearance, we miss out on all of the wonderful things a person has to offer from the inside. To end, students brainstormed the qualities that good friends "are, can, have" and completed a worksheet/color sheet to jot down the qualities of a good friend that are most important to them. I encouraged students to also practice these good friend qualities!





In 2nd grade we read the book "Scribbleville" by Peter Holowitz. This is a story about a town that has all straight lines and a scribbly man moves in. The town does not accept him at first, but because one person shows kindness, others begin to follow suit. Students quickly identify that the scribbly man is treated differently, and outcast, because he looks different from everyone else. In fact the townspeople claim they want him to move out of town, and they are afraid others "like him" will move in. This story allows for wonderful conversation about how we judge and treat others when they are different from us. It also shows the power of standing up and treating others kindly even when our friends pressure us not to, as well as the power of change and influence when we do the right thing.



I took the opportunity in 3rd grade to discuss MAP test preparation and test taking skills. I usually to do this lesson with 3rd graders since it is their first time taking the MAP test.

In 4th grade students learned the definition of stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination. Students took a mini quiz to apply these terms after learning them. For instance, stereotype is defined as "thinking everyone in a group is the same." A statement on the quiz is: "A dog bites you, you think all dogs want to bite you." Or "All tall people are smart." We identified how prejudice is an idea or opinion based on outward appearance or first impression, prejudice is creating a negative opinion about that stereotype, and discrimination is denying a person's rights based on the stereotype and prejudice. We applied how this might come into play in the school environment, such as not allowing someone to sit by you at lunch because you don't like how they are dressed.

Students then read the book "The Other Side" by Jacqueline Woodson. This story is about African-American and Caucasian girls who are neighbors and are very interested in one another but are not allowed to play together. It is set in the time of the Civil Rights Movement, and the two girl's homes are separated by a wooden fence. Students identified how the fence symbolizes the separation and laws back in that day that didn't allow people who were different races to be together because of the color of their skin. In the story, slowly, the girls begin to talk to each other and play together. One girl's mom sees them playing but does not stop them, even though she has told her daughter prior to stay away because "it's not safe."

By the end of the book the girls sit on the fence together and converse about how one day “Someday somebody's going to come along and knock this old fence down.” 
― Jacqueline Woodson, The Other Side

I like to end this lesson discussing how the fence has been knocked down, but it is our responsibility to make sure it stays that way.

Celebrating Diversity

I am visiting classrooms during the month of March to talk about diversity. When I talk about diversity with kids I like to go beyond celebrating our differences. I like to focus on how we treat others when they are different from us. My focus is on respecting others even when they are different from us and when we sometimes don't understand them.

In Kindergarten I brought in a brown egg and a white egg. Students brainstormed how these eggs are different on the outside. The list was rather limited--to color (brown and white), where they came from (different chickens produce different colored eggs) and sometimes their shape (my eggs were not congruent!). Then, we predicted what was the same about these eggs. Answers included: you can eat them, cook with them, they are both round, both have a shell, they both have yolk, and both come from chickens, etc.



Then, I cracked open the eggs. We looked at the insides, and students decided that though the eggs look different on the outside, they are the same on the inside! I took this farther and related it to us as people. Even though we all look different, sometimes some of us act different from each other, and we have different backgrounds (come from different places) we all have many similar wants: to be liked, to learn, to have fun, to be included, to have friends, to be treated with respect.


(One sweet child talked about how in Africa children eat very different food from us and have a lot less than we do. I agreed, and said, I bet they still like to have friends and play and want to learn as much as they can! Many students nodded in agreement!!)

We read the book "This is the Dream" by Shane Shore & Jessica Alexander. Students learned that in our country's past different people weren't aloud to do things because of the color of their skin. Students were able to relate what we learned from the egg experiment to how far we have come in respecting other's differences.



In 5th and 6th grade students learned the definition to the word prejudice, "an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand, without knowledge, thought, or reason." Students brainstormed ways that they might be "pre-judged" or what opinions others might form of them just by looking at them or their first impression. Examples included: "because I am tall people think I like basketball. I am a girl so people assume I like the color pink." One student said, "because I have white skin people think I am Caucasian, but I am part Hispanic."

Students used paper plates to reflect personally on how others might pre-judge them on first impression, and draw and write this on the bump/outside of the plate. On the inside or "crater" of the plate they drew and wrote what they are truly like on the inside.

We discussed how when we make assumptions about others, we don't allow them to be who they truly are. I gave the example: what if someone who was really tall didn't like basketball, but played anyway because he felt that's what he was supposed to do based on the opinion of others? What if, on the inside, he was an amazing chemist and if people would let him be who he truly is maybe he would create a cure for cancer! But, because he felt he had to like basketball, he didn't get the chance to build on the skills he has on the inside.

Then, to end the lesson, I showed the following video which encapsulates exactly this idea:



At the end one of the judges claims it was a privilege to have heard Susan Boyle sing. We don't allow ourselves to grow, learn, and be blessed when we pre-judge others based on outward appearance or first impression--we may be missing out on a great relationship and the potential to grow from that relationship if we decide beforehand what we think about a person without getting to know them, first.

Leader In Me--Want to learn more????

I can't wait until tonight's event! You WILL NOT want to miss it! Hope to see you there :)