What's Fair? Upper Elementary

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Objectives
Activities will help students:

• Distinguish between what is fair and what is unfair
• Reflect upon unfair situations from history and in their own lives
• Offer solutions as to how to remedy a seemingly unfair situation

Essential Questions

• Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t feel like you were being treated fairly?
• Have you ever treated anyone unfairly?
• What would you do if you saw someone being treated unfairly?
• What does it mean to accept responsibility?
• Why is it important to treat people fairly?

Glossary
bias [bahy-uhs]
(noun) prejudiced, or favoring one person or point of view more than others

fair [fair]
(adjective) free from bias, dishonesty or injustice

unfair [uhn-fair]
(adjective) not fair, not conforming to approved standards as of justice, honesty or ethics 

Materials

• Bag of candy (or new pencils)
• Journal
• Handout: Fair or Unfair (PDF)
• Newspapers, news magazines, access to Internet (for optional extension activity)

Activities

1. Before students enter the room, divide them into two groups by the month they were born (e.g., Jan.-June and July-Dec.). Then do the following:
   • Divide students into two groups without telling them why they are being separated.
   • Direct the students in each group to sit in different areas of the room.
   • Choose one of the groups to favor. Without explaining why, give everyone in your favored group a few pieces of candy (or new pencils). Explain to the class that only one group will get the candy. That same group will be the only ones to get other special privileges (such as extra recess time, no homework, being first in line, etc.) Students in the other group likely will protest.
   • After a few minutes (or until someone in the other group says, “that’s not fair!”), stop the exercise.
   • Ask students if they know what determined whether they were in the favored group or the non-favored group. Encourage all guesses and share the answer.
2. How did you feel during the exercise? Do you think you would have felt differently if you had been the one getting the candy and special privileges than if you had been the one not getting the candy and special privileges? 
3.  (Note: Write the word, “fair” on the board.) What does the word, “fair” mean to you? Write your definitions on the board and come up with one definition as a class. 
4. Do you think that it was “fair” or “unfair” that some kids got candy and other special privileges? Why or why not? If not fair, what would have made it fair? Would it be fair to give the candy to students who earned it? Would it be fair if all students got the candy? Would it be fair if you picked 10 students names out of a hat to get the candy? 
5. (Note: Distribute the Fair or Unfair handout.) Divide students into groups of five. Read the situations on the handout and, with your group, decide which ones you think are “fair” and which are “unfair.” For each that is “unfair,” come up with a way that you think it could become fair. Share answers with the class. 
6. Then, in your groups, determine which of the situations you think is most unfair and why. Compare answers with the rest of the class. Do you all agree? If not, is it possible to reach consensus? Do you think situations that affect more people are more unfair than those that affect just a few? Are situations that show bias or discrimination more unfair than those that just show favoritism? What about those in which people’s lives are in danger? 
7. What events from history would you label as “unfair?” Think about people’s rights (right to vote, slavery), biases and discrimination (girls not being allowed to play sports, laws requiring segregation by race), terrorist acts (World Trade Towers in New York City, Oklahoma City bombing), natural disasters (Hurricane Katrina), etc. Do you think it is important for us to learn from or try to change the unfair things that happen in life? 
8. What about your life? Has anything unfair ever happened to you? In your journal, write about something unfair that has directly affected you. Why was it unfair? How did it make you feel? Did you learn anything from it? Sometimes what is considered unfair to one person may benefit another. Might someone else think what you wrote about was fair? 
9. Finally, think about something “unfair” that you observed or that you were somehow responsible for. It may help to brainstorm ideas with a partner first. For example: 
   • Have you ever left someone out, like when playing a game?
   • Have you ever gotten something you may not have deserved?
   • Have you ever watched someone treat someone else in a way they didn’t deserve?
   • Do you enjoy rights that someone else may not have, even though you haven’t earned them?
   • What stereotypical portrayal have you made about others?
10. Write a mock letter to the person or group that you feel was treated unfairly. Share why you think this treatment was unfair, what you think you could have done differently and how you plan to act differently in the future.

Extension Activities
Unfair things happen in your community and around the world every day. Look through newspapers, magazines and Internet news sites to find an article or photo that you think shows something that is unfair. Present your article to the class and tell why you think it is unfair and what you would do (if you could) to change it.