#1689. What is Prejudice?

Social Studies, level: Elementary
Posted Sun Apr 23 17:16:23 PDT 2000 by Eric R. Vogelsang (erv3@hotmail.com).
Sample Lesson Plan
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA
Materials Required: candy, power point machine (or other lecture presentation material)
Activity Time: 45 minutes
Concepts Taught: it's a terrible thing to experience prejudice, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks overcame prejudice

Sample Lesson Plan: What is Prejudice?

Rationale:
Prejudice is something that all children need to be aware of. Young
students need to know what prejudice is and what it's like to experience
prejudice. Children need to learn about prejudice and they need to learn
about the struggles that people have overcame through history so that the
children will know that they should stay open minded and not hold any
prejudiced views. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks are two of the
more famous people in history who've overcame prejudice and students to
be aware of those people and why they're famous as well.

Objectives:
Following this lesson all students should be able to:

1. explain what it feels like to experience prejudice
2. tell who Rosa Parks was and what she did to become famous and
what state she did it in.
3. tell who Martin Luther King Jr. was, why he was important in
history, and how we was connected with Rosa Parks.
4. give the name of Martin Luther King Jr's most famous speech
and explain where and why this speech was given.

Learner Characteristics:
See my learner characteristics page

Lesson Activities:

Step 1 (5 minutes)- As the children are entering the class, have all
the boys sit in the very back of class and the girls sit in the front of the
class. After all the girls are seated, give them each a piece of candy and tell
them that they get the candy because they are girls and tell the boys that
they do not get the candy because they are boys.

Step 2 (5 minutes)- After the candy is passed out to the girls
announce to the class that every boy gets an automatic A for the day
because they are boys and the girls do not get an automatic A because they
are girls.

Step 3 (5-10 minutes)- Have all the children go back to their
original seats, pass out candy to the boys and tell the class that no one gets
an automatic A for the day. Then ask the boys how they felt when they had
to sit in the back and weren't allowed any candy just because they were
boys. If no one is quick to respond, ask them if they thought it was fair or
unfair and why they thought that. Do the same with the girls, ask them
how they felt when the boys got an automatic A just because they were
boys. Ask the children if they knew what it was called when someone
wasn't allowed to do something because of something they can't control
like their gender. If no one answers, explain to them that it's called
prejudice (or discrimination, or sexism, or racism would be valid
answers).

Step 4 (5 minutes)- Ask the children if anyone had ever heard of
Rosa Parks and if so ask them what they know about her. Do the same
about Martin Luther King Jr. After that, tell the children that Martin
Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are both people in history who
experienced prejudice and overcame it to become famous.

Step 5 (15 minutes)- Do a power point presentation on the lives of
Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks telling basic information about
where they were born, what they did to make them famous, and how they
overcame their prejudice to help people in the future (this could also be
done with transparencies and an overhead projector or a simple
chalkboard lecture depending on the resources available).

Step 6 (5 minutes)- Ask the children how Martin Luther King Jr.
and Rosa Parks overcame prejudice. Ask them if they think Martin
Luther King Jr's birthday should be a national holiday and why. Try to
initiate discussion about the importance of learning about people like
Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks

Lesson Notes:
Check out my content notes page