Grades 3 to 5

Recently, professional football players Brendon Ayanbadejo and Scott Fujita spoke out to support marriage equality. Their advocacy brings to the surface a discussion that has been going on for a long time about homophobia in professional sports. It raises questions about homophobia and gender stereotyping in school sports, too. This lesson asks students to identify and discuss homophobia and gender stereotyping in athletics, and think about how to combat these attitudes and behavior at their own schools.

This year at Seth Johnson Elementary, in Montgomery, Ala., the fourth- and fifth-grade students will participate in the National Mix It Up Lunch Day on November 10th. In preparation of this day, we challenged fifth-graders to think about how they matter to the people around them – and to write essays titled “We All Matter.”

This lesson asks students to think about how school districts can address the needs of increasingly diverse populations. It takes as its starting point a debate in New York City’s public schools. New Yorkers are asking whether or not Muslim holidays should be school holidays, as some Christian and Jewish holidays are. This question is relevant in many cities, districts and states. The activities ask students to engage with the question and think critically about best actions to take.

In this jigsaw activity, students will review information from brochures/websites about local hair care providers, interview a local hair care provider, synthesize the material and teach it to others. Students will identify similarities and differences between the providers and gain a deeper understanding of diverse ways people care for their hair.

Students use the 2010 Census to explore family diversity and the different ways to define a family. They research about the experiences of Michael Oher, a professional football player for the Baltimore Ravens, who scrambled for survival without a family. To wrap up, students create a We Are Family mural to celebrate family diversity.

Jennifer Greene’s story tells of Chief Charlo and a small band of Salish being forcibly removed from their home, the Bitterroot Valley, in 1891. To the Salish, home was not a structure, a town or even a specific site. Home was the land.

This activity was developed to facilitate awareness and understanding of diverse definitions of home as well as the many issues related to children and their homes.