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Classroom Activities: Anybody Can Do Anything!
  


Lesson 5.4: Anybody Can Do Anything!

Books
Amazing Grace by M. Hoffman and C. Binch
Other suggested books about self-concept
Purposes
To encourage children to believe in themselves.
To encourage children to realize they can be anything they want to be.
To help children realize they can overcome being stereotyped.
Appropriate Age Group
Primary
Thematic Unit Connections
Self-Concept; Feelings; Deconstructing Stereotyping; Growing Up
Curriculum Connections
Social Studies; Language Arts

Objectives

  1. The students will make predictions about the story through a story map.
  2. The students will read/listen to the story.
  3. The students will take part in a class discussion to find out whether or not their predictions were verified when they read/listened to the story.
  4. The students will design a mobile to illustrate what they want to be now or when they grow up.
  5. The students will role-play different characters in stories.
  6. The students will listen to a panel of speakers who have chosen occupations that go against the traditional male/female job stereotypes.
Materials
Amazing Grace by M. Hoffman and C. Binch
Story map
Materials for making mobiles: coat hangers and art supplies
Materials for role playing
Panel of speakers
Other suggested books about self-concept

Introducing Selection

Activating Prior Knowledge
Ask students to brainstorm things they want to do now or when they grow up.

Setting Purpose for Reading Selection

  1. Introduce the book selection Amazing Grace by M. Hoffman and C. Binch.
  2. Hold the book up in front of the class. Introduce the name of the title, author, and illustrator. Flip through the book, giving the students a chance to see what they think will happen. Show the children a story map prediction strategy chart (see Figure 5.4). Review with the children definitions of story setting, characters, and problem. Ask children to predict the setting, characters, and story problem. Record group predictions on story map.
FIGURE 5.4 Story Map
SETTING TIME PLACE



CHARACTERS



PROBLEM



ACTION



OUTCOME


Reading and Responding

Read Selection
Have students read/listen to Amazing Grace by M. Hoffman and C. Binch.

Respond to Selection

  1. Have a discussion with the students to find out whether or not their predictions were verified when they read/listened to the story.
  2. Ask students who Grace wanted to be in the school play.
  3. Have a discussion about how Grace's classmates felt at first about her being Peter Pan. Explain how this is called stereotyping, and how Grace was stereotyped because she was African American and a girl. Then talk about how Grace was an amazing Peter Pan because she kept in mind that she could be anything she wanted to be.
  4. Ask students if they ever wanted to do something that was not acceptable to people around them. Ask them how they handled the situation. You may have to refer to Grace's decision to be Peter Pan.
  5. Tell students that they are capable of accomplishing their dreams and goals no matter what others say if they put their minds and hearts into it. Explain to the class that it is important to believe in and be proud of themselves so that when others say they can't become something because of their race and/or gender they can do it anyway.

Extending the Literature

Activity I
Have the students think of three things that they want to be now or when they grow up (e.g., join a sports team or be a musician). Help students assemble objects that symbolize the things they want to be now or when they grow up. Attach string to each and tie them to a coat hanger. Have the students present their mobiles to the class.

Activity 2
Have students role-play different characters in books they have read. Remind them that they can role-play any part, regardless of the character's gender, age, or race.

Activity 3
Set up a panel of speakers who have chosen occupations that go against the traditional male/female job stereotypes; for example, a female conductor, a male nurse, and so on. This will help children avoid gender stereotyping.

Activity 4
Have each child or group of children read/listen to another story about self-concept from the list below. The children can share how the character's problem was resolved by the end of the story.

Ashley, B. 1991. Cleversticks. Crown. (Self-concept, Asian Americans)
Baehr, P. 1989. School Isn't Fair. Simon & Schuster. (Self-concept)
Carle, E. 1984. The Mixed-Up Chameleon. Harper. (Self-concept)
Carlson, N. 1990. I Like Me. Penguin. (Self-concept)
Cogancherry, H. 1990. All I Am. Bradbury. (Self-concept)
Greenfield, E. 1977. African Dream. Harper. (Self-concept, African Americans)
Hudson, C. W., & Ford, G. F. Bright Eyes, Brown Skin. Sundance. (Self-concept, African Americans)
Kirk, D. 1994. Miss Spider's Tea Party. Scholastic. (Self-concept)
Lester, H. 1988. Tacky the Penguin. Houghton Mifflin. (Self-concept)
McKee, D. 1989. Elmer. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. (Self-concept)
Mitchell, R. P. 1993. Hue Boy. Dial. (Family, self-concept, African people)
Payne, L. M. 1993. Just Because I Am. Free Spirit. (Self-concept)
Pfister, M. 1992. Rainbow Fish. North-South. (Self-concept)
Seuss, Dr. 1990. Oh, the Places You'll Go. Random House. (Self-concept)
Stevens, J. R. 1993. Carlos and the Cornfield. Northland. (Hispanic people, self-concept)
Waber, B. 1966. You Look Ridiculous: Said the Rhinoceros to the Hippopotamus. Houghton Mifflin. (Self-concept)
Tsutsui, Y. 1988. Anna in Charge. Viking. (Self-concept)
Yarbrough, C. 1979. Cornrows. Coward-McCann. (Self-concept, African Americans)
Young, E. 1987. I Wish I Were a Butterfly. Harcourt Brace. (Self-concept)
Zolotow, C. 1972. William's Doll. Harper & Row. (Self-concept, gender equity)

From Alora Valdez, Learning in Living Color: Using Literature to Incorporate Multicultural Education into the Primary Curriculum, ©1999, Allyn & Bacon, pp. 82-86.

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