Activity 1: 6-8 Lessons SO…What’s the Challenge? Activity Overview: Students examine their personal experiences with intolerance, as a victim or a perpetrator, and consider the consequences of just standing by when others are targeted. They consider all of the “pieces” that make up who they are and watch an authentic story about a group of teenagers who mock a young girl because of her intellectual disability, one “piece” of who she is. They examine the impact of well-known people mocking those with intellectual disabilities and reflect upon the causes of intolerance and prejudice. They then brainstorm about how intolerance and prejudice could be reversed, particularly with kids their age. Finally, students create a product to influence their peers to reverse trends of intolerance and prejudice, particularly against those with intellectual disabilities. This lesson would work well in a unit that explores civic responsibility, societal influence, human experience, or peer pressure. Activity 1: SO…What’s the Challenge? Cross-Curricular Connections: In addition to language arts, this lesson extends into social studies – particularly civic responsibility – as well as technology. Students examine the rights of those with intellectual disabilities, consider whose responsibility it is to protect equal rights, and take action to help their generation protect those rights. The lesson’s conclusion challenges students to create a technology-related product that helps empower their generation. Academic Skills Addressed: • Analyzing and evaluating the relationship between literary text and social contexts — e.g., identifying issues of significance within the text and generating open-ended questions about the text and its personal relevance; • Communicating understanding of texts; • Creating imaginative texts using strategies to contribute to collaborative projects — e.g., finding relationships among ideas generated by the group and exploring the ideas of others; • Conveying meaning through text content and design; • Identifying personal character traits; • Posing reasoned questions drawn from previous learning and from personal experiences; Special • Speaking and writing to express personal ideas; and Olympics is • Using persuasion to change perceptions and behavior. humanity’s Desired Outcomes: greatest Students will: • Recognize the consequences of judging or being judged by only one personal classroom, trait or characteristic. where lessons • Reflect upon the difficulties of standing up for what is right, especially to one’s of ability, own friends. acceptance, • Identify the roots and consequences of non-inclusive, intolerant behavior. • Influence others to reverse the trends of intolerant, non-inclusive behavior and inclusion toward those with intellectual disabilities. are taught on Time Required: the fields of Two to three 45-minute class periods competition by our greatest teachers - the athletes. 2 Materials Needed: • Student journals (or sheets of paper) • Computer with access to the Internet • Copies of Reproducible 1.1, Pieces of Me; Reproducible 1.2, The ‘“R” Word in Our World; and Reproducible 1.3, You’ve Got the Power! Background: • Before beginning the lesson, you may want to watch the speech by Special PHOTO BY: Ryan Eades Olympics Youth Leader and Notre Dame honor student Soeren Palumbo, which students will watch and reflect on during the lesson. Soeren tells the story of an incident that happened to his younger sister Olivia, who has intellectual disabilities, when she was mocked at a store by a group of teens. The speech is close to nine minutes long and can be found at: http://www.specialolympics.org/video.aspx?id=6066&terms=soeren+palumbo • Familiarize yourself with the initiatives that are part of the Special Olympics Fan Community, found at: http://www.specialolympics.org/community Important Terms: inclusion, intellectual disabilities, intolerance, prejudice, stereotypes, tolerance “A rewarding life is filled with challenge, so do not pity me. Give me a chance!” Thomas Gatu, Special Olympics Athlete 3 Activity 1: SO…What’s the Challenge? Activity Steps and Suggestions: PART ONE 1. Write the following quote on the board as students enter the classroom, “There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” (Harry Potter fans will recognize the quote from Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.) (Educate) 2. Challenge students to read the quote and answer the following questions about it in their journal, or on a sheet of paper: • What does this quote mean to you? • Do you agree or disagree with it? PHOTO BY: Ryan Eades • How does it relate to an experience in your own life? (Educate, Motivate) 3. Encourage students to share answers with the rest of the class. If time allows, expand the discussion to explore why it’s so difficult for kids their age to stand up to their own friends and how they have felt when they have or have not done so. Tell students that the theme of standing up for what is right provides the basis for this lesson. (Educate) 4. Distribute Reproducible 1.1, Pieces of Me. Students will identify the characteristics and traits that make them who they are and explore the impact of being identified by only one “piece.” Explain the directions, and give students time to complete the worksheet. Then ask: • If you could only describe yourself using words from one of these “There are columns, which column would you choose, and why? all kinds of • If you could only describe yourself with one word from that column, would you be able to do so? If others only saw one “piece of you,” courage. It which would you want them to choose? Ask student volunteers to share which box they’d choose. takes a great • What are the challenges and consequences of only using one “piece of deal of courage yourself” to describe who you are? What about using one “piece” to see to stand up to someone else? (Educate, Motivate) our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone PHOTO BY: Ryan Eades 4 Activity 1: SO…What’s the Challenge? Activity Steps and Suggestions: PART ONE 5. Tell students that they are going to watch a speech that illustrates the consequences of judging someone by one piece of themselves. Have students watch the Soeren Palumbo speech. You may want to show students the speech in its entirety or break it up using the guide below: a. Stop the speech at 1:28 when Soeren describes the teens teasing an African-American child and using a racial slur. Ask students if they could ever see themselves or their friends doing something similar. They likely will say no, making the story’s reveal more powerful. b. Stop the speech at 4:25 after Soeren polls his audience to see if they discriminate based on age, gender, or race. He then asks how many have used the terms or stayed silent when others used the terms, “retard” or “retarded.” Poll your students using the same question. c. Finally, show the final part of Soeren’s speech in which he reveals that his younger sister Olivia was the real target of the teenagers at the store. (Educate, Motivate) 6. Hold a class or small group discussion using the following questions as a guide: • Did you predict that the target of the teens’ discrimination was Soeren’s sister? If not, what was your reaction? • How do you think the teasing made Soeren feel? • How would you describe the teens who were teasing Olivia? (Students may use words like “mean,” but you may also want to introduce words like “intolerant” and “prejudiced.”) • Why does the use of the “R” word demonstrate intolerance? • Is it just as bad to remain quiet when someone is calling someone a “retard” as it is to use the term yourself? • How does Soeren’s story relate to Dumbledore’s quote from the beginning of the lesson? Why is it so difficult to be an innocent bystander? • How does the story relate to the “Pieces of Me” exercise you just completed? How would your life be different if you were judged by just one element of your life, especially if it was one you could not control? • How might Soeren’s story be different if (1) Olivia had been seen by the teens as more than a “retard” or if (2) One of the teens had stood up to Why does the others? the use of • What are the important lessons we can learn from Soeren’s story? the “R” word (Educate, Motivate) demonstrate intolerance? 5 Activity 1: SO…What’s the Challenge? Activity Steps and Suggestions: PART TWO 1. Challenge students to share examples of intolerance and prejudice toward those with intellectual disabilities that they’ve seen in the news or in popular culture. Do they hear the R-word used in movies or songs? Do they hear famous people use it? If so, does that make it seem more or less acceptable? Distribute Reproducible 1.2, The “R” Word in Our World, which gives four examples of the R-word being used in a form of entertainment or pop culture. Read one or more of the examples and discuss why the R-word may have been used in the example (to entertain, to insult, etc.); what the likely impact was; and what they would say to the artist or entertainer who used the slur. Finally, have students draw conclusions about the impact of using the R-word in popular culture, at school, and in the community as a whole. (Educate, Motivate) 2. Refer students back to Soeren’s story (or another of the intolerance examples shared during the lesson). Ask questions such as: Why do you think that the teens were mocking Olivia, considering they did not know her? What possible reasons might cause someone their age to be intolerant of others? Reasons might include: influence from family, friends, or society; insecurity; fear; unfamiliarity; ignorance; competitiveness; need to conform; need for power; or lack of education.