|
|
December 13, 2005 |
|
| ...ideas | |
 |
|
 |
|
| Free
access to journal articles mentioned in this Inbox is provided for 21
days. After this free access period expires, articles are available to journal subscribers only. |
|
|
Supporting and Exploring Diversity December is a month when focusing on inclusion is one of our most important jobs. Karen Goldstein outlines the specific challenges faced in one elementary school in her Talking Points article "When 'Holiday Magic' Hurts" (E). How do we meet such challenges? "Exploring Culture through Children's Connections" (E) from Language Arts highlights diversity through a cross-curricular, literature-based Family Studies Inquiry that encourages students to explore their own experiences and roots and therefore to understand themselves. The ReadWriteThink lesson Creating Family Timelines: Graphing Family Memories and Significant Events (E) provides options to explore and research family stories that fit well with the article. To adapt the lesson more to students' holiday traditions, ask students to graph significant holiday memories and events as the focus of the activity. The Voices from the Middle article "Windows to the World" (M) opens students' perspectives through a variety of activities including travel journals and an exploration of the "Metaphors of America." Read six different strategies for bringing diversity to your classroom with the English Journal article "Joining the Dialogue: Six Teachers Discuss Making Changes toward a Multicultural Curriculum" (M-S). The "Soul Food" activity, for instance, invites students to share how food celebrates our differences while focusing on our common ground. Tap the ReadWriteThink lesson Cooking Up Descriptive Language: Designing Restaurant Menus (M-S) to invite students to create holiday menus that reflect their family and cultural customs. The Teaching English in the Two-Year College article "Thinking Differently about Difference: Multicultural Literature and Service-Learning" (C) encourages students to theorize difference from multiple perspectives by combining service-learning with multicultural literature study. Snowman? Snowperson? Snow Creature? The ReadWriteThink lesson Avoiding Sexist Language by Using Gender-Fair Pronouns (S-C), based on a Teaching English in the Two-Year College article, engages students in a brief writing assignment that concretely illustrates how language and gender stereotyping interact causally. Customize the lesson plan to fit the season by shifting the setting from the courthouse to a shopping mall, a gathering of people watching a holiday parade, or perhaps a group of people gathered in a snowy park for a Winter festival -- snow creatures optional :) NOTE: Free access to journal articles mentioned in this Inbox is provided
for 21 days. After this free access period expires, articles are available
to journal subscribers only. This Inbox Idea was published 12-13-2005. |
|