“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
This is a great activity or lesson that can take place at the start of the school day, and continue during the day. At the end of the day, a teacher can take about 20 minutes to have a class discussion on the effects of the activity, and collect the opinions of the students who participated.
This activity was found on the Teaching Tolerance website through the use of Google while doing research for educational resources. Although this activity is geared towards grades 3-5, I feel that it can be used for any grade and that small variations can be applied to further add to the purpose and lesson behind it. Some students may initially gravitate to the idea of being able to change their identity "for fun" for a day, but as the day proceeds and discussion is carried out in the end, they may wind up feeling differently.
This activity was found on the Teaching Tolerance website through the use of Google while doing research for educational resources. Although this activity is geared towards grades 3-5, I feel that it can be used for any grade and that small variations can be applied to further add to the purpose and lesson behind it. Some students may initially gravitate to the idea of being able to change their identity "for fun" for a day, but as the day proceeds and discussion is carried out in the end, they may wind up feeling differently.
Seeing this lesson reminded me of a book group that read Asian-American Dreams, which discussed the contributions of the Asian-American population to American history, and the guest lecturer that came and provided great advice for analyzing our classroom curriculum materials. The version of American history that we often study in our social studies classes from elementary to high school often leaves these significant contributors out of the picture. This link provides a lesson that supplements the history lessons typically learned, and provides students the opportunity to apply what they learn to their present lives. This activity is geared towards high school students, as it takes a significant amount of advanced thought and higher-order thinking. It's great that the lesson provided also includes a Spanish version, accommodating more than the English-speaking crowd and allowing the knowledge to be spread even further. Links to history are provided to give significant background information, which allows students to find its place and connection to the American history they have studied already. Once again, having computer access could turn the lesson into an interactive exploration, but that depends on availability of technological resources. I think that it's a great resource to get students to realize that they should always do further research to make sure they learn the most - you cannot always take what is told to you in a textbook at face value as the only facts. They also learn to consider civil rights for all groups as they apply the "Ten Point Program" individually, establishing rights for their culture and lifestyle.
This video, from ReelWorks.org, brings to light the tragedy and perils that Palestinian Americans feel, given the portrayal of current events involving their ethnic group. This could be a great conversation starter for talk with students about identity, and what happens when you cannot exercise freedom of speech or free will for fear of being condemned for your ethnicity. Hearing it from another student's perspective also makes it appealing, but due to the scenes of violence that are shown, I would probably recommend it for middle school and high school use. Extending the discussion to ask students what some of their thoughts are about different groups of people based off of what they hear in the media could really add depth to the conversation as well.