Social+justice-based


 * 1."Kindness Jar" (Grades 2nd-8th)**

My first activity was an idea that I had to teach my students about kindness. It is easier for children to tell on other students in the class about things that they are doing wrong or inappropriate and this is when I thought it would be a good idea to "tell on" another student when they are doing something kind. This activity would consist of a "Kindness Jar" that would be neatly decorated and the goal would be to fill the jar with kindness acts from the students in the class about each other. The teacher will not take part in this activity but will help guide students about what certain acts are considered "kind" The directions to this activity are simple...if you see someone doing something kind, write it down on a piece of paper and place it in the "Kindness Jar". Once the jar is filled, the teacher will openly read what the students have said about one another.After doing so, the papers will be hung throughout the room displaying how much kindness there is in the classroom. This is a great activity for students because it gives them the chance to make the nice comments that the teacher would probably be doing. This creates a learning environment that all students could feel comfortable in.


 * 2.“Quilting Our Diverse Classrooms”( Grades K-8) - Thank you Lauren for the great idea!**

My second activity is also adapted from the “Classroom Activities” section of the Teaching Tolerance website ([]).The activity could be modified for various grade levels. Since I teach 1st grade, I will adapt the lesson for primary grades. Before beginning this activity, I would read aloud[| __The Patchwork Quilt__]by Valerie Flournoy to get my students “hooked”. After reading and discussing how a quilt can tell a story, I would tell students that we are going to make a classroom quilt that tells the story of who we are. Students would be asked to think about things that are important to them and their families. I would create a graphic organizer to better guide their thinking. It would have four sections. The first section would be labeled “person” and I would explain that I wanted them to think of one person in their family who they most want to be like when they grow up. The next section would be labeled “place”. This is where I would ask the children with the help of their families to draw a representation of where their grandparents came from (most of my students are second-generation U.S. born). In the next section labeled “celebration”, I would ask the students and families to draw a picture of an important celebration/holiday in their family. Finally, in the last section, I would ask the students to draw something that shows what they like to do. I would model a graphic organizer of my own to help the student’s understanding. Once the home-connection part was completed, each student would begin making a quilt square using the pictures and words from their graphic organizer. In my 1st grade classroom, I would probably use paper, markers, paints, etc. to create the squares, but for older students you could use a variety of materials. Once each square was complete, I we would use string to complete the classroom quilt. I would have students chose a partner who they wanted to tell the class about through their quilt square. Like the first activity I chose, this lesson has a clear curricular connection for me. Our first unit in Social Studies is on families and this would be a great culminating activity. I think this is a great activity because it allows for students to celebrate their differences and understand that although each square or student is unique, they can come together as one beautiful quilt or classroom.