Lesson For Teachers In Order To Promote Tolerance

This is a good lesson to utilize with Grade 3-5 in order to promote acceptance of all different types of learners within the classroom:

Abstract

 There are two main purposes for these lessons.  The first is to illustrate that it is okay for others to learn and act differently from one another.  The other is to show that everyone has hard points in their lives, but friends and adults can help them overcome these obstacles. 

Overview

The most important goal of these lessons is to have students learn about, accept, and embrace the differences of other students.  Another goal is to utilize the technologies they have previously utilized to illustrate what they have learned about their partners who are of a different race, gender, ethnicity, or ability/disability .  Students will conduct an interview about their partner and share the information with the rest of the class through a technology-based presentation.  Student will choose the format they decide to create the presentation utilizing the different technology tools they have already learned, such as digital stories and Book Builder.

Student Objectives

• Students will be able to illustrate how it feels to struggle and/or be teased in school.
• Students will be able to empathize with a person who is having difficulties in school.
• Students will demonstrate the importance of character traits such as respect and caring for others who are different from themselves.
• Students will demonstrate the ability to contribute towards group discussions.
• Students will demonstrate their ability to make a glogster post about Patricia Polacco’s life.
• Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to work with another student from a different background from themselves.
• Students will demonstrate their ability to conduct an interview with a partner.
• Students will be able to illustrate and share the information they gained about their partner through a technology-based program they have previously utilized.
• Students will develop an appreciation for the similarities and differences between one another.

Instructional Plan

Resources

• Polacco, P. (1998). Thank you, mr. falker. New York, NY: Philomel Books.
• Youtube Meet The Author: Patricia Polacco (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II8Qq_QYT9Y)
• Glogster (http://www.glogster.com)
• Color Poem (http://www.kinderart.com/multic/mlkjr_crayons.shtml)

• Red and blue index cards
• SMARTboard
• Laptops
• Internet
• Notebook
• Pens
• Pencils
• Teacher-made sample interview questions worksheet
• Teach-made rubrics for the lesson and projects

Preparation

1. Preview the story Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco and brainstorm comprehension questions to ask that pertain to accepting someone who has dyslexia (ex: “How would you feel if you were teased for not being able to read”  and “How might you have treated ‘Trisha’ if she was in our class”).
2. Ensure that there is access to the video “Meet The Author: Patricia Polacco” either through youtube or through a saved file download of the video (if the website is blocked).
3. The teacher should create the worksheet that provides sample interview questions that the students can utilize if needed.
4. The teacher should create and show a sample presentation from an interview they have done about a person who is different from him/herself to show as an example before asking the students to complete the assignment.
5. The teacher should create the rubrics prior to the start of the lessons.
6. Reserve a cart of laptops.

Lesson One

Instruction and Activities

Before Reading

1.                  In order for the students to become engaged in the activity, the teacher will separate the class to provide them with an experience of feeling different/left out.  The teacher will hand half of the students red index cards, and give the other half blue cards. The distribution of the cards will be randomized. 

2.                  Next, the teacher will tell the red index card group to come to the carpet and ask the students with the blue index cards to remain seated quietly at their desks.  The students who are on the floor will be able to play a two-minute game of Jeopardy on the SMARTboard, while the students who remain at their seats must sit quietly and watch.

3.                  After two minutes, the teacher will stop the activity.  The teacher will call the students who are at their desks to the carpet.  He/she will then ask the students to turn to a partner and discuss how this activity made them feel.

4.                  After about a minute (or when the students finish their on task discussion), the teacher will ask students to volunteer some of their answers and will hold a large group discussion about how this activity is similar to how students who are struggling in school might feel.

5.                  In order to activate prior knowledge before introducing the book, the teacher will ask the students, “how many of you at any point in time have ever struggled in school or have ever been teased? Raise your hand and tell us about it.”

6.                  After the discussion, the teacher will introduce the students to the story Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia (Tricia) Polacco.  The teacher will explain that this is a true story about the author. 

7.                  Before actually reading the story, he/she will also introduce the term dyslexia and explain that is the trouble the author faces. 

8.                  They will explain that the book is being read for several reasons.  The biggest reason why they are reading the book is for the class to develop an appreciation for students who struggle with reading. 

9.                  The teacher will also explain that the point of reading the story is to help students see when friends may need help while at school. 

10.              They will also state that it is being read in order to provide the students with an understanding that not everyone reads the same way and that it may take others a longer amount of time to read a given text and that is perfectly okay. 

11.              Right before the teacher begins to read the story aloud, the class will watch a video clip on the SMARTboard about Patricia Polacco entitled Meet The Author: Patricia Polacco in order to illustrate her struggle further to the students.  In the video, Patricia sends the message that there is beauty in everyone’s differences and that we should accept everyone for who they are as human-beings. 

12.              Upon completion of the video, the teacher will begin reading the story aloud.  

During Reading

13.              The teacher will ask comprehension questions in order to ensure that the students understand the story and Trisha’s struggle to read.  The questions can be closed or open-ended (an example could be, but is certainly not limited to “why do you believe Tricia was being bullied?”). 

After Reading

14.              Once the read aloud is complete, the class with the teacher’s aid will create a graphic organizer on the SMARTboard of what they learned about the author. 

15.              Every student will be allowed to share one idea. 

16.              Once the graphic organizer is complete, the teacher will pair the students up heterogeneously (by gender, race, ethnicity, and academic differences). 

17.              The teacher will explain that these partnerships will be for the remainder of the week. 

18.              They will also explain that the first assignment the pair will complete together is to use the facts they learned about Patricia Polacco and create a glogster post about these ideas (the teacher has previously reserved a cart of laptops for the students to utilize in order to complete this assignment). 

19.              Once everyone finishes their glogster post, the teacher will ask for volunteers to share what they have made as a way to wrap up the day’s lesson.

Lesson Two

1. As a review of the first lesson, the teacher will ask students to turn to a partner and tell them one thing they remembered from the previous lesson.
2. Once the on-task discussion is complete, the teacher will then ask the students to raise their hands and volunteer answers.
3. If necessary, the teacher will probe the students to recall facts about Patricia Polacco and dyslexia.
4. After recalling ideas from the previous lesson, the teacher will pass out index cards to each student and will say, “Okay class, I want you to write down one word on the index card that would describe how you might feel if you were struggling to read like Trisha.”
5. Once they finish writing, students will volunteer to share their answers.
6. Next, the teacher will ask the students how they might have treated Trisha differently if she was in their classroom.
7. Students will be asked to volunteer answers (the teacher will ensure that the conversation remains positive and supportive).
8. Once the discussion is complete, the teacher will ask the students to pair back up with their partner from the previous lesson.
9. The teacher will then explain that the students will be conducting an interview in order to get to know each other. 
10. They will explain that they have been split up into this pairing to really get to know not only the differences, but also the similarities they have with their partners.
11. Students will have approximately ten minutes each to ask questions in order to help them learn more about each other’s lives not only inside, but outside of school as well.
12. The teacher will explain that at least one question should deal with the topic of accepting people for their differences.
13. The teacher will explain that once the pairs have finished conducting their interviews, the students will begin to create a no more than five minute presentation about what they learned from their partner utilizing a technology-based Web 2.0 tool they have previously learned about such as digital storytelling.
14. Before the students begin, the teacher will show the interview he/she conducted as a model for their projects. 
15. The students will complete this assignment for homework.

Lesson Three

1. Students will begin to share their presentations.
2. Students will volunteer the order in which they would like to share.
3. After each presentation, the audience is allowed to ask questions.

Lesson Four

1. Students will continue to share their presentations.
2. The audience will continue to ask questions

Lesson Five

1. Students will finish sharing their presentations.
2. At the end, in order to wrap up the week-long unit, the teacher will ask the students to share some similarities and differences they learned about each other.
3. The teacher will emphasize the importance of accepting and utilizing these differences.
4. The teacher will also stress that these qualities are what make the classroom environment unique.
5. They will end the unit by reading and discussing a poem about colors found on the internet in order to illustrate how our world would be dull without the diverse group of people who are in it.

Extensions/Modifications

There are several extensions that can be utilized within this unit:

• One extension that can be completed with this unit is to interview other people outside of school (such as friends) and create a presentation about them utilizing another Web 2.0 tool they have previously learned.
• Students could also create an electronic book about the facts they learned from the interviews they conducted in class. 
• The students could create a presentation on the importance of diversity both inside and outside of school.

There are several modifications that can be completed with this unit: 

• If students cannot make a personal connection about a time where they either struggled or were teased in school, they can share stories about other times when they may have struggled with an issue outside of school.
• If students are having difficulty recalling main ideas from the first lesson, the teacher will provide an example.
• If students are having trouble writing a word to describe how they might have felt if they were Trisha, they could either draw a picture or verbally say how they might feel.
• If students are having difficulties formulating interview questions, the teacher can provide a list of sample questions that can be utilized.
• If students are struggling to create their presentations, the teacher can provide tip sheets to help students better utilize the Web 2.0 tools they have previously learned.

Student Assessment and Reflection

Students will be assessed based on several components within each lesson:

·        The main ideas of the unit, which will be assessed through observational reports and listening to verbal recalls.

-It is important to check students abilities to recall the main ideas of the unit through observational reports because it does not put the students on the spot.  Students will be more likely to volunteer answers when they know that they are not being graded based on their answers.  The notes will better show the teacher what each student understands about the main ideas that are conveyed through the story Thank You Mr. Falker and the presentations.

·        The main ideas of the story, which will also be assessed through observational reports and listening to verbal recalls.

-It is important to check for comprehension of the story because there are a lot of details found within the plot. The story also does not explicitly state that “Tricia” suffers from dyslexia, so it is important for the teacher to ensure that the students understand this concept.

·        Cooperative learning, participation, and attentiveness are assessed through observational reports.

-The observational reports are good for the teacher to take because it allows them to take note of social interactions and to plan accordingly for future student collaborations. By taking notes, students do not know that they are actually being graded on their work and will more likely be relaxed and actually show how they truly are as a student making for better observational notes.

·        Think-pair-share abilities are assessed through observational reports and listening to verbal recalls that answer the questions asked by the teacher.

-Again, observational notes are important to utilize here in order to ensure that students are naturally speaking to each other and feel comfortable enough to say what they want without worrying about whether they think it is what the teacher wants to hear.

·         Shared responses are also being assessed through observational reporting.

-The observational notes are important here as well because it is more likely that students will feel more inclined to provide answers to questions when they do not have any idea that they are being graded on their responses.

·        Students are being assessed based on how well their glogster post is designed.

-It is important to evaluate the students’ glogster post because it is necessary to check that student can apply what they have previously learned about glogster to the project.  The teacher will check to ensure that they cover all of the components necessary to fulfill the project’s requirement of illustrating the facts they learned about the hardships Patricia Polacco faced in Thank You Mr. Falker.

·        The teacher will assess the students through informal observations based on their ability to recall the main ideas from the previous day’s lesson.

-Assessing the students based on their ability to recall the main ideas from the previous lesson is important because the teacher wants to ensure that students have begun to fully understand the concepts that lead to accepting other people for their differences.

·        The teacher will also be assessing the students based on their explanation of the word they wrote down on their index cards.

-This assessment is important in order to check not only the students’ understanding of the events in Thank You Mr. Falker, but also the students’ comprehension of how “Tricia” was treated unfairly.

·        Students will be assessed based on the type of questions they ask their partners during the interview.

-The teacher will check to ensure that the students are asking each other appropriate questions during the interview and that at least one question deals with the topic of accepting people for their differences.

·        Students will be assessed based on how well they develop a technology-based presentation about their partner.

-The teacher will check to ensure that the students utilize the given Web 2.0 tool appropriately and effectively.  Students will be expected to use all of the skills they previously learned about the tool they have chosen to complete the project with.  The teacher will also check to ensure that the students have shown and embraced their partner’s differences appropriately by the end of the project’s completion.