Lesson Overview:

What do you think about when you encounter someone who is different from yourself? This lesson will explore how people come in all different shapes, sizes, likes, dislikes, and personalities. Students will focus on the effects of placing labels on other people. People are different from one another, and we should respect and understand one another for both how we are similar and how we are different. Sometimes words, which can unite and bring people together, can also be used negatively to drive people apart or to keep them from knowing who others really are.

Length of Lesson:

Four to six 45-minute class periods

Notes:

This lesson is particularly suitable for grades 5-6.

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

• recognize the importance of getting to know a person before making judgments about them.
• understand how labels, even those that seem neutral, can influence our thinking about people.
• understand that respect for individual differences is a basis of democratic society.
• understand that the use of labels can sometimes limit what we understand about other people.

Supplies:

• Chalkboard/chalk
• Chart paper
• Crayons/colored pencils
• Markers
• Various magazines

Instructional Plan:

Introduction

Start a discussion with students about how people often use labels to describe others and how these labels can refer to such characteristics as looks, clothing, the way a person talks or walks, and the groups that they belong to. Tell students that categorizing people—thinking of them as belonging to different groups—is a natural thing to do. Give examples such as grouping boys and girls for lining up and putting students into cooperative groups and reading groups. Tell the class that many people like to think of people as belonging to groups because it gives a sense of order and direction. Grouping can make many people feel comfortable.

Explain that many people join groups of people who have interests that are the same as or similar to the interests they themselves have. Explain that it is natural for humans to order their world. Explain that sometimes, however, people make assumptions about groups of people they don't even know. Explain very clearly to the class that labels and groups are being discussed in general, as concepts; that specific examples of groups and labels are not yet to be discussed; and that the class should not identify particular groups or the individuals in class who may belong to those groups. Pass out the Vocabulary Handout.

Discuss the definitions of "assumption" and "categorize."

Elicit from the class some examples of categories that are used at school to group people. List suggestions on the board. Some suggestions may refer to kids who like to sing or play instruments (chorus/orchestra/drama group); kids who are good at sports (basketball group); kids who get good grades (honor society or honor roll group); kids who don't get good grades; kids who wear fashionable clothing; kids who don't care what kind of clothes they wear; etc. Now elicit from the class some labels or categories that could be used to name the suggested groups. These may include "nerds," "jocks," "brains," etc. Write the categories that the class generates on the board. Have the class narrow the list down to five major categories.

Write down these five categories, one each on five separate pieces of poster paper. Each piece of paper will begin an "experience chart." Post the charts around the room so that students can move from chart to chart writing down adjectives appropriate to the category headings. Before the class starts to move around the room, review with students what an "appropriate" adjective is. Tell the students not to duplicate adjectives already listed on the chart paper.

After the class has spent 5-10 minutes writing down their adjectives, lead a discussion about what they wrote:

• Do the labels/adjectives apply to all members of the group?
• Do most people hold the same assumptions about a group? Why or why not?
• Do the assumptions tell you what a person is really like?
• How do the assumptions about a group or person affect your behavior toward them?

Explain to the class that an overly simple picture or opinion of a person, group, or thing is called a stereotype. Put the word stereotype on the board. One example of a stereotype would be thinking that any person who always gets good grades also always exhibits good behavior. Another stereotype would be thinking that people who are good at sports or on sports teams are not very intelligent. Tell the class that what happens when people stereotype is that they don't think about the individual, the person behind the category. It is more respectful to know a person before making a judgment about who they are.

Learning about Stereotypes

Begin a discussion on the subject of stereotypes. Tell the class that there are many different stereotypes about many different groups. Discuss sexist stereotypes with the class—for example, ask how many people feel that there are certain jobs that only men should do? Elicit from the class whether they know of any jobs that some people think only men should do. Under the heading Sexism, list the jobs that students suggest (e.g., carpenter, baseball player, scientist, President of the United States). Also, have the class suggest typically female occupations (e.g., teacher, secretary, nurse, maid). Ask the class whether both men and women can do any of the listed jobs. Tell the class that when someone believes that only men can do certain jobs or only women can do certain jobs, they are stereotyping.

Tell the class that other types of stereotypes could involve people's race or where they come from. Note: in bringing up examples of stereotypes, be very mindful of the sensitivities of the specific students in your class. Write a few examples of racial stereotypes under a Racism heading.

Explain that sexism and racism can lead to discrimination against groups of people. Discrimination means to treat someone unfairly due to a prejudice or wrong assumption about that person because of such things as his or her race, gender, religion, age, or appearance.

Discuss with the class how stereotypes make them feel. Ask how they think children or adults of a particular gender or race feel when they hear stereotypes about their groups. Ask students where they might have seen the listed stereotypes portrayed. They may recall movies, television shows, books, and magazines where these stereotypes were presented.

Ask students whether they have ever judged a person or assumed what the person was like on the basis of a stereotype. Ask students whether they know a saying or phrase that names this practice (e.g., "Don't judge a book by its cover"). Have they ever chosen, on the basis of a stereotype, not to sit next to or with another student? Ask how a stereotype might cause one person to act unfairly toward another.

Getting Beyond Labels

Tell the class that they will be working in pairs and that their partner might be someone they have not spoken with or worked with before. Give each pair of students a Getting to Know You Handout. Have the students in each pair interview one another and fill in the handout. Give the partners 10-15 minutes to complete the handout.

After the handout is completed, write these words on the board: "A picture is worth a thousand words." Discuss the meaning of this famous saying. Display self-portraits of several artists/photographers or go to the Web sites Vincent van Gogh Portrait gallery and The Frick Collection to view self-portraits by Van Gogh and Rembrandt, respectively. Ask: How are these pictures similar? How much do you know about artists by looking at their portraits? Discuss. Elicit: Not very much about their lives, personalities, etc. Tell the class that they will be creating a collage portrait of the person they interviewed. Inform the class that a collage is made by creating or taking separate items and placing them together in a composition on a surface, such as paper, canvas, or screen. The goal is to craft a message or feeling by way of the patterns, content, and often unexpected interaction between the fragments that are brought together.

Each student should think about all his or her partner's interests, personality traits, hobbies, etc. Elicit from the class some images that can represent the personality traits of their partners. Discuss the collage project. Tell the students they will be finding pictures that represent the concepts you've just discussed. Ask the students what kind of pictures could be used for, say, honesty or loyalty. Suggest that a picture of a dog could represent "loyalty"; a picture of two birds could represent "friendship." This will help them get started. Ask them if any particular colors can help represent traits; for example, the color blue could represent "trust." Emphasize that you want them to be creative and original, yet they must always ensure that their pictures have some connection to their subject/partner. They can start to look for images at home and bring them in to class, and they will also have the opportunity to look for images during your next lesson. You can print out or show students some examples of collages at Collage Town: The Gallery of Collage and Photomontage*.

*Note: This site is targeted to an older audience, and may have some parts not be suitable for younger students; however, there are good examples of collage here for all students and good teacher reference material here. Teacher supervision is recommended.

Creating an Expressive Collage

The collage piece of this lesson can and should be created over the course of several days. As the students learn more about their partners, additional materials can be added to their artwork. Tell the class that just as the whole of a person is made up of many different parts, so each of them is going to make an art piece of many different parts that represent the whole of who his or her partner is. This art technique is called collage.

Distribute materials to each table, including magazines, newspapers, scissors, glue sticks, construction paper, markers, crayons, and colored pencils. Have each student go through the magazines, newspapers, and other media to start collecting images representative of his or her subject. Each student should place images on a solid piece of construction paper, not gluing them down until all of them have been collected and arranged.

Instruct students to leave a 3" x 3" square of their construction paper clear, and to draw in it an image that represents their subject. The drawing could represent the subject's physical appearance, or it could represent some aspect of the subject's personality.

When students have finished, have each artist display someone else's collage anonymously and see whether the class can guess what and who the images represent. After discussion, the artist can explain his or her ideas about the collage.

Discuss with the class the ideas and purpose of the collage project: to illustrate that you can't know a person just by looking at him or her; that you need to talk with a person and learn about his or her opinions, ideas, and thoughts before deciding who he or she is.

Display the collages in a student art gallery.

Assessment:

Refer to the Assessment Rubric to assess student performance.

Extensions:

None

Sources:

None

Authors:

• Scholastic Inc.
  New York, NY