Early grades activity designed to confront gender stereotypes.
This is a part of Gender Doesn't Limit You! [1], also available as a PDF [2].
Note: Substitute your school's name for "St. Francis." You can replace the provided student names with names of your students, too.
Problem: Sometimes we use people's gender to separate kids into groups. This can happen when people make boys join a group just because they are boys, and make girls join a group just because they are girls, even if they don't want to be in that group! Remember that gender is whether you are a boy or a girl. This happens when boys tell girls that they have to sit on the other side of the room because they are girls.
Rationale: This isn't nice. It is wrong to separate people because of their gender. Just because someone is a girl does not mean that she should only be around other girls and not boys. Separating boys and girls because of their gender isn't nice. It is a type of bullying, and bullying is not allowed at St. Francis.
Questions: What should you do when someone separates you from them because of your gender?
You should answer: "That's weird! Being boys and girls doesn't matter here."
Case Practice:
I. Okay, so let's practice what we should say if someone separates us from another group just because we are a boy or a girl! Some boys and girls are sitting in a circle for story time. One boy says that all the girls need to sit on one side of the circle and all the boys need to sit on the other side of the circle. What do we tell him? One, two, three GO!
Answer: "That's weird! Being boys and girls doesn't matter here."
II. Good Job! Let's try another one. A class gets to have red and blue markers to make special holiday decorations. William says that all the boys should have blue markers and all the girls should have red markers. What do we tell William? One, two, three GO!
Answer: "That's weird! Being boys and girls doesn't matter here."
III. Good job! Let's try another one. Shanaya and her friends like to sit at a table and sing songs during lunch. One day, Stephen decides to join them. Shanaya and her friends say tell Stephen that boys have to sit at the other tables. What do we tell Shanaya? One, two, three GO!
Answer: "That's weird! Being boys and girls doesn't matter here."
IV. Good Job! Let's try another one. A class is making hats to wear for a concert. Some are hats have fancy red bows on them and some are plain. Rosa says that all the girls should wear fancy hats and all the boys should wear plain hats. What do we tell Rosa? One, two, three GO!
Answer: "That's weird! Being boys and girls doesn't matter here."
Links:
[1] http://www.tolerance.org/gender
[2] http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/tt_gender_doesnt_limit-2.pdf