At the beginning of each term, in junior- and senior-level courses, I have my students get to know each other.
In this lesson, students will describe aspects of their identities such as race, gender, class, age, ability, religion and more. They will watch two video clips featuring Marley Dias, an eleven-year-old girl who started the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign, a book drive with the goal of collecting 1,000 books featuring African-American girls. After learning about the campaign, students will review illustrated books in their classroom and school library and analyze whether the characters in the books reflect their own identities or the identities of their families and friends. Finally, students will write a book review on one of the books and examine how the book’s characters are similar to or different from them.
Students begin by exploring relevant vocabulary words. They then view a video about Jaylen Arnold, a young boy with Tourette syndrome, and how he has overcome bullying by children who did not understand his condition. Students will discuss Jaylen’s story and create posters to help communicate his message. They will then develop guidelines for how they can celebrate diversity and reduce bullying and share these guidelines with other classrooms.
Discussion questions for Papalotzin and the Monarchs / Papalotzin y las monarcas.
Students will study the work of the author Todd Parr. Working in pairs, students will create their own poster in the style of Parr that conveys a positive message. Finished posters can be displayed around your school for other students and teachers to view.