Printer-friendly versionObjectives
- Students will draw conclusions about boundary crossing from history and literature.
- Students will identify boundaries in their classroom or school, cross those boundaries, report back and reflect on what they learned.
Materials
- Download and copy Papalotzin and the Monarchs/Papalotzin y las Monarcas for students
- Colored paper, pipe-cleaners, scissors, glitter and glue for butterflies; poster paper and pens for posters
After sharing the story of the Little Rock Nine with students, read Papalotzin and the Monarchs/Papalotzin y las Monarcas with them.
Ask students to make butterflies using colored construction paper, glitter and glue. Assign students to small groups, and ask the group to choose a special color that all of their butterflies will be. (i.e. one group has all red butterflies, the next has all green, etc.) Make sure that no two groups of friends have the same color choice. For the rest of the school day, allow students to play and study only with their butterfly group.
The next day, tell them that the rest of the week they'll need to "Mix It Up" and do classroom activities with a different colored butterfly every day.
As a follow-up activity, students can cut their butterfly wings into four equal parts and then trade with each other so that all the butterflies are multicolored, representing how they have "Mixed It Up."
Discussion or Writing Prompts
- What was fun about being with your first group and choosing a color that only your group would have?
- How did you feel when you were asked to do things with different colored butterflies?
- How did it feel at the end of the day (or week) when you had done things with classmates whom you didn't usually work?
- What do you like about the new and more colorful butterflies made of all the different colors?
