Social Studies Curriculum Unit
Spring 2013
By: Darla Yang
A person's skin color is one of the first things people notice when they meet new people. Skin color has been associated with race for as long as I can remember. It has led to racism that existed throughout history, and is prevalent today. Students come to school and realize they do not look like people in their classroom, and might even be called names because of this. The reason why I want to do this social unit is because I feel it is important to discuss race and ethnicity in a safe space. The classroom should be the ultimate safe learning environment for a student at school.
During my elementary years, I did not have many conversations about race, ethnicity, racism, or discrimination. Experiencing differences in terms of treatment based on my race or ethnicity made me sad as a child, and I do not want any of my students to leave my classroom feeling the same way. It is important to inform children that differences in skin color exists, but it is how we respect them that builds stronger relationships among people and a safer world. It is also about giving students the language to express their feelings and conceptualize their experiences.
Not only is it important to understand what race is, it is crucial for my students to learn to respect people’s differences. By getting my students to build respect for racial differences, I am assisting them in building a caring classroom. Respect is also a life-long skill students need to know. Along with this, is the statement by Bigelow (1999) in "Standards and Multiculturalism," that students cannot make sense of their world without understanding the idea of racism. Students need to know about racism to face the realities that exist in the world. From the unit, students are recognizing that there are differences among people, but those differences need to be respected and not judged. In the lessons, the teacher should spend some time incorporating multiple perspectives by using different sources that discuss what race is, as well as how people can show respect. The reason for this is to allow students to make up their own minds as to how to approach respecting race. Providing multiple views of anti-racism actions will give students various options as to how they want to create their assessements throughout the unit.
My unit was informed from Ladson-Billings (1995) article "But That's Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy." I thought a great deal about how to make this unit culturally relevant to my students, academically rigorous, and spark critical consciousness. I incorporate these ideologies throughout my unit. I also pondered about how I could establish in my classroom what Ladson-Billings (1995) described, which is that the "bond was nurtured by the teacher's insistence..." and students were encouraged to "learn collaboratively, teach each other, and be responsible for each other's learning" (p. 163). These are things I want to build in my future classroom because creating an environment where students can learn from each other and form a connection is part of showing respect. As I wrote or adapted each lesson, these statements are some of the things I questioned and reflected on.
Although this may seem like a tough unit for first graders, I am sure that once these lessons are adapted, they will get students to respect differences. Through this unit, students are able to meet various MMSD Social Studies standards and NCSS standards that revolve around the individual learner and how they can make sense of their world.
Spring 2013
By: Darla Yang
A person's skin color is one of the first things people notice when they meet new people. Skin color has been associated with race for as long as I can remember. It has led to racism that existed throughout history, and is prevalent today. Students come to school and realize they do not look like people in their classroom, and might even be called names because of this. The reason why I want to do this social unit is because I feel it is important to discuss race and ethnicity in a safe space. The classroom should be the ultimate safe learning environment for a student at school.
During my elementary years, I did not have many conversations about race, ethnicity, racism, or discrimination. Experiencing differences in terms of treatment based on my race or ethnicity made me sad as a child, and I do not want any of my students to leave my classroom feeling the same way. It is important to inform children that differences in skin color exists, but it is how we respect them that builds stronger relationships among people and a safer world. It is also about giving students the language to express their feelings and conceptualize their experiences.
Not only is it important to understand what race is, it is crucial for my students to learn to respect people’s differences. By getting my students to build respect for racial differences, I am assisting them in building a caring classroom. Respect is also a life-long skill students need to know. Along with this, is the statement by Bigelow (1999) in "Standards and Multiculturalism," that students cannot make sense of their world without understanding the idea of racism. Students need to know about racism to face the realities that exist in the world. From the unit, students are recognizing that there are differences among people, but those differences need to be respected and not judged. In the lessons, the teacher should spend some time incorporating multiple perspectives by using different sources that discuss what race is, as well as how people can show respect. The reason for this is to allow students to make up their own minds as to how to approach respecting race. Providing multiple views of anti-racism actions will give students various options as to how they want to create their assessements throughout the unit.
My unit was informed from Ladson-Billings (1995) article "But That's Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy." I thought a great deal about how to make this unit culturally relevant to my students, academically rigorous, and spark critical consciousness. I incorporate these ideologies throughout my unit. I also pondered about how I could establish in my classroom what Ladson-Billings (1995) described, which is that the "bond was nurtured by the teacher's insistence..." and students were encouraged to "learn collaboratively, teach each other, and be responsible for each other's learning" (p. 163). These are things I want to build in my future classroom because creating an environment where students can learn from each other and form a connection is part of showing respect. As I wrote or adapted each lesson, these statements are some of the things I questioned and reflected on.
Although this may seem like a tough unit for first graders, I am sure that once these lessons are adapted, they will get students to respect differences. Through this unit, students are able to meet various MMSD Social Studies standards and NCSS standards that revolve around the individual learner and how they can make sense of their world.