Learning About Diversity

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Learning About Diversity
in Our World Grade 6 Julie Anne Parisi
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Table of Contents

• General Diversity 3
• Resources 6
• Age 8
• Religion 11
• Class 14
• Exceptionalities 16
• Disabilities 19
• Gender 22
• Language 25
• Race Ethnicity 28
• Sexual Orientation 31

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General Diversity
Activities 1. Why is it important to celebrate
our diverse society? Draw a car on the
board. Label all of the parts, such as the
steering wheel, the tires, the engine,
and the brakes. What would happen if one of
these parts was not present? How does this car
represent America? 2. Research different
countries using books and the internet. What
differences do you find between them and the U.S.
(religions, foods, sports)? Despite all
of these differences, can you find similarities
that exist between them and the U.S.
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3. Find examples of tolerance and intolerance
occurring today. Using newspapers, magazines,
and the internet, find news reports
discussing issues of tolerance and
intolerance. Why are these events
occurring? What can you do to help prevent
intolerance and to promote tolerance? 4.
Compare the cultures and backgrounds of your
friends and classmates. It may seem that you
and your classmates are very similar. However,
each of you have many unique
characteristics and qualities. Talk in small
groups about your cultural background and family
traditions. What do each of you have
in common? What is unique to you? 5. As a class
or school, plan a cultural day. Bring in foods
from different cultures and countries. Dress
in clothing from different cultures. Play music
unique to other cultures. Learn games or
dances which are a part of other cultures.
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General Diversity

• Web Sites
• http//www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/teched/
  projects/web/tolerance/ This web site
  helps teachers in teaching tolerance to middle
  school social studies students. It encompasses
  many areas of diversity.
• http//www.splcenter.org/cgi-bin/goframe.pl?refna
  me/teachingtolerance/tt-9.html Has many links
  to important historical and current issues that
  discuss diversity.
• http//www.familyeducation.com/topic/front/0,1156
  ,1-3374,00.html?relinks Activities to encourage
  kids to learn about diversity in their world.
• http//kidshealth.org/kid/grow/tough_topics/diver
  sity.html Explains
  diversity and prejudice to kids.
• http//pbskids.org/arthur/grownups/activities/cul
  turalsocial.html Activities
  to further illustrate diversity in our society.

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Resources
Activities 1. Introduce students to diversity
using age-appropriate literature, such as America
Street, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The
Acorn People, or other books representing diverse
societies. 2. Begin a discussion to gauge the
students general viewpoints regarding diversity.
Ask them to discuss areas in their lives where
they interact with diversity. 3. Have students
watch news reports, asking them to look for areas
of todays world that show diversity, prejudices,
discrimination, segregation, integration, or
inclusion. 4. Assign groups of students to an
area discussed in this presentation, having them
research the category and report to the class
their findings. 5. Have students research the
history of the diversity categories in this
presentation, followed by a discussion of how
these areas have changed since the founding of
the U.S.
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Resources

• Web Sites
• http//www.tolerance.org This web
  site provides educators with current events
  relating to diversity issues, and includes
  activities for teachers, parents, teens, and
  kids.
• http//www.splcenter.org/cgi-bin/goframe.pl?refna
  me/teachingtolerance/tt-9.html Numerous
  lesson plans for integrating diversity into
  classes for elementary through college-age
  students.
• http//www.edchange.org/multicultural/
  A collection of sources for teachers teaching
  diversity. Includes multicultural films, songs,
  lessons, quizzes, and discussion topics.
• http//www.peacecorps.gov/wws/culturematters/ E
  xplains culture and how it plays a role in the
  workplace and society, as well as how to adjust
  to a new culture.
• http//www.youthepeople.com/ Interactive
  lesson plans for incorporating diversity with
  democracy.

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Age
Activities 1. Host a grandparent tea party at
school. Write poems and stories to share
with them. Ask the grandparents to talk about
their childhood. 2. Read about the Great
Depression and its impact on society. Can you
see areas of your grandparents lives today that
have been affected by living in the
Depression? What events in the world today
might affect how you will behave in 50 years?
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3. With a group of senior citizens, discuss the
meanings of values such as honesty, integrity,
compassion, and charity. How do the answers
differ with respect to the different age
groups? Look up each word in a dictionary and
discuss how your answers relate to their
dictionary definitions. 4. Think of how you
might be prejudiced against as a result of your
age. How would be treated differently if you
were older? If you were younger? How does
society view infants, toddlers, young children,
teenagers, adults, and senior citizens? Are
opportunities limited for each age group? 5.
Many times we wish that we could be older than we
are today. However, you can be an influential
role model for kids younger than you. Be a good
role model and tutor a younger student, such as
helping them learn to read. Then help the
student read to a senior citizen. All three of
you can appreciate your age differences and have
fun!
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Age

• Web Sites
• http//clem.mscd.edu/steinhas/
  
  At this web site, you can learn
  about age discrimination in the work place and
  how to reduce it.
• http//www.youthwork.com/ Discover
  ways teenagers can help others, as well as
  resources that explain how teenagers feel about
  themselves.
• http//webhome.idirect.com/mccann/index.html
  At this web site, you can gain an
  understanding of issues faced by many teenagers.
  The challenges of immigration and the benefits of
  volunteering are discussed.
• http//website.lineone.net/caade/dtypes.htm
  Learn about the different age discrimination
  practices and actions taken to inhibit them.
• http//www.storiesbywomen.net/ Read
  the stories and memories of women who were active
  in World War II. Learning about the activities
  of older generations helps the younger
  generations to better understand them.

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Religion
Activities 1. Learn about Louis Brandeis, the
first Jew appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
How did society discriminate against him?
Explore anti-Semitism in American society, both
today and in the past. 2. At the Teaching
Tolerance web site, go to the Peace Be With You
Activity. Participate in the mock trial to
learn about the issue of school prayer. How
can we practice religious toleration in our
lives, in our schools, and in our
communities?
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3. At the Teaching Tolerance web site, go to the
In the City of Brotherly Love Activity. How
did Philadelphia establish itself as an example
of religious tolerance in the new
colonies? Have the ideals of Philadelphia in
the past held up in todays society? Why or
why not? 4. Research different religious groups
that have excluded themselves from American
society, such as the Mormons or the Amish.
Why have these groups maintained separate
identities from the rest of Americans?
How does their separation affect their lives?
What are some of the struggles these
religions are facing today? 5. As a class,
discuss how your lives would be different if you
were a believer in a different faith. Would
your life be easier or harder? Why or why
not? Does religious toleration exist in other
countries? Research another country and
learn about their religion and toleration of
different faiths.
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Religion

• Web Sites
• http//www.splcenter.org/cgi-bin/goto.pl?address
  http//www.au.org/godsch.htm This web site
  advocates a separation of church and state, and
  discusses many current legal issues.
• http//www.splcenter.org/cgi-bin/goto.pl?address
  http//www.aclu.org/students/slrelig.html
  Discusses the issue of religion in public schools
  and the constitutionality of prayer and religious
  holidays.
• http//www.forf.org/ Focuses on
  religious discrimination, new religious
  movements, and hate crimes.
• http//www.pbs.org/pioneerliving/guests/digh4.htm
  Looks at religious toleration in the
  workplace and promotes efforts to accommodate.
• http//www.humanrightsandtolerance.org.uk/
  Here you can learn about religious
  toleration in Europe and compare it to religious
  toleration in the United States.

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Class
Activities 1. Visit a soup kitchen and
experience first hand the effects of poverty and
homelessness on individuals. 2. Hold a food
drive in your school, collecting cans and boxes
of food to give to a local food shelter. You
could also hold a clothing drive. 3. Look at
photographs take during the Great Depression.
What effects do these pictures have on
you? 4. Talk to your grandparents or another
person who lived through the Great Depression.
How did their lives change as a result of the
Depression? What differences in society could
they identify? 5. Come to school one day without
having eaten breakfast. Dont eat lunch - how
does not eating make it difficult to concentrate
on schoolwork? Now, imagine having to do this
everyday because you dont have enough money to
buy food to fill your stomach.
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Class

• Web Sites
• http//www.worldhunger.org/ Provides
  links to organizations active in fighting
  worldwide hunger.
• http//eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/guides/pg12.html
  Explains ways to provide education to families
  living in poverty.
• http//www.abbeyclock.com/cecil/index.html
  Provides a history of social classes
  throughout world history.
• http//www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/depression/
  Provides a history of the Great Depression
  and the New Deal. Discusses the causes of the
  Depression and how the New Deal helped to heal
  society.
• http//memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fahome.html
  This is an index of Depression-era
  photographs, demonstrating poverty in the lives
  of Americans.

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Exceptionalities
Activities 1. Despite learning differences,
everyone has a gift to be shared. Read Ruthies
Gift by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and find the
gifts of your classmates. 2. Research some
famous people who had learning disabilities. How
did these people overcome them? What can you
learn from their success? Albert Einstein,
Walt Disney, Hans Christian Anderson Find some
others!!
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Exceptionalities
3. In groups, research on the internet different
learning disabilities. How do learning
disabilities affect a students performance in
school? How can a student with a learning
disability learn to overcome it and succeed? 4.
Even though you might not be in a gifted class,
that does not mean that you should not seek
academic challenges. A good way to make your
brain think is to play chess. If you dont
already know, learn! It is both fun and
challenging. Then hold a chess tournament in you
class. 5. Read Go Take Your Retalin by
Charlotte. This is a personal narrative by a
girl who suffers from ADD. How would you feel
in Charlottes position?
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Exceptionalities

• Web Sites
• http//www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/gt_ld/gifted_l
  d.html Allows students to interact with the
  challenges of learning disabled students.
• http//www.audiblox2000.com/dyslexia_dyslexic/dys
  lexia.htm Discusses the challenges of
  dyslexia what it is, its causes, and how to
  overcome it.
• http//www.cache.k12.ut.us/htmlfiles/millville/ta
  g/funstuff.html Challenging activities to
  stimulate your brain!!
• http//www.kidprov.com/ Explore different
  challenging activities that will make you think!
• http//www.nfgcc.org/69.htm Learn about
  what it means to be gifted and how being gifted
  differs among students.

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Disabilities
Activities 1. Blind students face many
challenges. Take turns blind folding each other,
and then help each other feel your way around
the school. How did not being able to see make
you feel? Read The Story of My Life by Helen
Keller. How was she able to overcome her
handicaps? 2. Read Through Different Eyes and
learn about Louis Braille. Now try reading,
using Braille. What are some of the
challenges faced by visually impaired students?
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3. Look through a magazine. How many
advertisements photograph disabled people?
How does this make you feel? How would you
feel if you were a disabled person? 4. Write
Kids with disabilities are more like us than
different from us with your non-writing hand.
Now write this sentence without the use of your
thumb. How can creative adaptations help
disabled individuals become more
independent? 5. Complete this writing activity,
which causes you to imagine yourself as a
disabled individual. How did this activity
make you more aware of the difficulties faced by
disabled individuals?
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Disabilities

• Web Sites
• http//www.nyise.org/braille.htm Provides
  a history of the Braille system as well as new
  technological developments that help the visually
  impaired.
• http//www.cec.sped.org/ Through
  simulation, this site helps students better
  understand what it is like to be disabled.
• http//www.kidstogether.org/ Provides
  information to students with disabilities, as
  well as inclusion acts and legislation.
• http//www.deafblind.com/ Explores
  deafblindness and has poetry written by deafblind
  people.
• http//www.kidsource.com/NICHCY/autism.html
  Helps students understand autism, including
  its characteristics and educational implications.
  Also has links to other disabilities.

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Gender
Activities 1. Draw a scientist. Compare your
drawing with those of your classmates. Are they
male or female? What other characteristics
are present? How does this activity
demonstrate gender stereotypes? 2. Research the
history of Womens Suffrage and the Womens
Rights Movement. How did these movements
evolve? How has American society changed as a
result of them?
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3. Create a list that describes differences
between boys and girls. How do their
differences affect their performance in
school? How do their differences promote
differences in treatment towards boys and
girls? 4. Imagine if you had been born the
opposite sex. How would this change your
life? Would you have different opportunities
or limitations? 5. Respond to the phrase Men
are smarter that women. How would you feel
if someone said this to you? Compare the
girls responses with those of the boys. How do
they differ?
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Gender

• Web Sites
• http//www.nwhp.org Provides an
  extensive history of women in the United States
  also recognizes their accomplishments.
• http//www.equalrights.org Site of one of
  the oldest womens civil rights organizations in
  the U.S. Information on sex discrimination and
  legislation to improve the rights of women.
• http//www.enc.org/topics/equity/stories/stories/
  document.shtm?inputFOC-001764-index,00.shtm
  Encourages middle school girls to seek educations
  in mathematical and science related fields.
• http//www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/act/activit
  y.jsp?cid159 Explores sexism in the Civil
  Rights movement.
• http//www.singlesexschools.org/ Explores
  the issue of single-sex schools and includes
  discussions of the learning differences between
  boys and girls.

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Language
Web Sites 1. Examine different languages. What
similarities do languages have? What
differences? How would these help (or hurt) a
person learning a new language? 2. Obtain some
foregin newspapers in different languages, such
as French or German. Look thorugh these papers
and see if you can guess what the articles are
about. What helped you in your guessing? Did
you find any words that resemble English
words?
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3. Begin writing a journal entry, pretending you
are in a foreign country. In a foreign language
dictionary, look up how to say common phrases
such as I am hungry. What difficulties would
people experience while in a foreign country? 4.
Ask a foreign language teacher to come to your
classroom and teach you some words in a new
language. Write these words down. Each time
you learn a new word or phrase, write it down.
If you were in a foreign country, what would
help you learn the language? 5. Learn sign
language! Deaf people use this language to speak
to other deaf people and those people who can
hear. Did you find sign language
challenging? How is sign language similar to
spoken language? How is it different?
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Language

• Web Sites
• http//www.ethnologue.com/country_index.asp
  Provides a map of the different languages
  throughout the world and where they are spoken.
• http//www.ethnicharvest.org/mission/immigratnfac
  ts.htm Information regarding immigration to
  the United States and the diversity in the U.S.
• http//www.whatkidscando.org/intheirownwords/whoa
  miintro.html Gives insight to the challenges
  racial and language minority students face at
  school.
• http//libraries.mit.edu/guides/types/flnews/
  Read newspapers in a foreign language.
• http//www.cortland.edu/flteach/flteach-res.html
  Listen to a radio or T.V. broadcast in a
  foreign language.

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Race Ethnicity
Activities 1. Read some stories from America
Street. How are the lives of the kids in
these stories affected by their race or
ethnicity? How is your life affected by your
race or ethnicity? 2. Look at Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.s, speech, I Have a Dream. What
were his wishes for America when he gave the
speech? Has America become closer to the
society of which King drempt? What still needs
to happen in America to bring us closer to his
ideal society?
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3. Complete this sheet about your ethnic
identity. Compare your information with other
students. How do your family histories
differ? How have your familys experiences in
America differed from the experiences of your
classmates families? 4. Have a culture day.
Bring in foods from different cultures, dress in
traditional clothing, and share stories from
different cultures. What did you learn from this
first-hand experience? 5. Discuss stereotypes
that are placed on specific racial or ethinic
groups. How do these classifications affect and
hurt these individuals? How do stereotypes
become ingrained in societies? What are some
ways in which you as an individual can reverse
the negative impact of stereotypes?
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Race Ethnicity

• Web Sites
• http//www.nativeamericainc.com/events/Welcome20
  Events.html Gives an overview of Native
  Americans throughout North America, with
  information on events, culture, and the arts.
• http//www.arts-history.mx/indexn.html Explor
  e Mexican culture.
• http//www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/act/activit
  y.jsp?cid41 Examines the integration at a
  Little Rock, Arkansas, school in 1957.
• http//www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/act/activit
  y.jsp?cid155 Learn about the Arab community
  and their history.
• http//ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5253.html
  Learn about the Asian culture, including food,
  customs, family traditions, and learning
  implications.

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Sexual Orientation
Activities 1. Read An Acceptance of
Difference. How can you make your school
more accepting and tolerant of students of
different sexual orientations? 2. What
stereotypes do you have regarding those of
different sexual orientations? Discuss these
with your classmates. How can you as an
individual become more tolerant of others sexual
orientation? 3. During the Holocaust,
people of different sexual orientation were sent
to concentration camps, much like those of the
Jewish community. Explore the stories of
these people at the Holocaust Memorial Museum.
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4. Read about the issues gay and lesbian students
face at school. Place yourself in their
position and discuss how you would feel. For
what reasons would a gay or lesbian student feel
the way they do, as explained on this web
site? 5. Explore the differences in sexual
relationships among teens. What is shared
among these teens? What is different? How
would society treat each of these teens?
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Sexual Orientation

• Web Sites
• http//www.religioustolerance.org/hom_stud.htm
  Explores how gay and lesbian students can be
  protected against harrassment.
• http//www.glsen.org/templates/index.html Thi
  s organization focuses on ending sexual
  orientation biases in schools.
• http//www.affa-sc.org/ Focuses on
  educaiton to promote the elimination of
  sexual-orientation prejudices.
• http//members.tripod.com/twood/guide.htmlTen2
  0suggestions20for20reducing20homophobia20in20
  your20environment Suggests ways to reduce
  homophobia in schools.
• http//discriminationattorney.com/orientat.html
  Discusses discrimination on the grounds of
  sexual orientation.

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