Rationale
The goal of this curriculum unit is to bring to the forefront the uniqueness of each individual and for the children to embrace their own unique qualities as well as accept the uniqueness of others. “Media literacy is an important part of multicultural education because many people’s conceptions of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class are constituted in part by the media” (Kellner, 1998, p.109). It’s crucial for young children to be trained in this new media literacy because “critically dissecting cultural materials also empowers students to reflect upon their own commonalities and differences” (Kellner, 1998, p. 107). Through the poem titled ‘I’m Quite Unique’(see Appendix H), the children will be able to express and discuss their own unique qualities and characteristics and that of their friends and classmates as well. This unit will also engage parents through the use of Flipgrid and introduce them to this new learning platform. There will also be discussions about other children at our sister locations and classrooms around the world through Flipgrid’s #GridPals.
Curriculum Areas
Language and Literacy
Suggested Frameworks
TEA (Texas Education Agency) State Standards:
Phonological Awareness Skills:
*Children should be engaged in listening to books, poems, nursery rhymes, and songs that feature rhyme and alliteration.
ISTE Standards:
3) Knowledge Constructor
c) Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
6) Creative Communicator
a) Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
3) Global Collaborator
a) Students use digital tools to connect with learners from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, engaging with them in ways that broaden mutual understanding and learning.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
- List three things that are unique to them
- Relate to the children shown in the poem and compare themselves with the children
- Express what they like about their friends
Vocabulary
Unique, Celebration, Character, Personality
Preparation and Prerequisites
- A day or two before this lesson plan, the teacher will introduce the words unique, character and personality.
- The teacher will plan with sister schools or any other schools in the United States or around the world that might be having discussions about various cultures to exchange videos on Flipgrid (see Appendix I).
- The teacher will e-mail parents to let them know about the video project a week prior and to have the children bring in one item representing their culture.
Time Needed
- Two 30-minute sessions over consecutive weeks.
Material and Equipment
- Tablet to play the poem ‘I’m Quite Unique’ on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PnV8RbL6Wo
- Pencils and crayons
- Paper to draw
General Step-by Step Procedure
- The teacher will gather all the children and have them sit on the reading mat.
- The teacher will reiterate to the children the words ‘unique’, ‘character’ and ‘personality’.
- The children will then watch the poem ‘I’m Quite Unique’ being read online on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PnV8RbL6Wo on the tablet.
- The poem will be played again for the children to view.
- The teacher will then pause the video at intervals to ask the children what is unique about each child that is being portrayed and if they notice any similarities to themselves.
- The children will then be asked to head to their learning centers (they will be separated into two groups).
- They will be asked to draw pictures of themselves with the crayons and pencils.
- Then the teacher will ask them what characteristics they like about themselves and their friends.
- Teachers will then e-mail the Flipgrid codes (https://flipgrid.com/13965090) to the parents through Tadpoles (software used to communicate with parents about their child’s daily activities). They will ask the parents to record a thirty second video of their child telling three unique things about them that their classmates do not know about. The parents will have one week to submit the recording.
- The following week, these recordings will be played for the children to view as well as those from the sister schools or schools around the world.
- Ask the children to describe the children they see and if they can relate it back to the children in the poem.
- Probe the children to examine if children who look different from them might still have the same characteristics.
- Have the children tell about the item they brought in and celebrate everyone’s uniqueness.
Assessment
Formative assessments
After watching the poem, ensure that each child has a chance to verbalize what is unique about the children in the poem. Similarly, at the learning centers, each child must be asked what characteristics they like about themselves and their friends so as to ensure they understand the words ‘unique’ and ‘character’.
Summative assessments
In the following week, ask the children what they know about being unique and of being of a certain character. Ask them to recall what they saw and heard from the videos from the other children.
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