It's okay to be different: Teaching diversity with Todd Parr
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=890
A lesson plan for Grades 1–2 English Language Arts
About this resource
- Appropriate grades
- 1–2
- Subjects
- English language arts (listening comprehension, literature, writing), thinking skills (critical literacy), diverse learners (at-risk students, behavioral and emotional disabilities, gender issues, learning disabilities, multiple intelligences, physical disabilities, race and culture, socioeconomic diversity)
- Provider
- IRA/NCTE
Legal
This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.
After a shared reading of Todd Parr's It's Okay to Be Different, students work in small groups to discuss and write down what makes them diverse. The teacher introduces the topic of diversity by engaging students in an activity that recognizes and values their differences and similarities. Then, working in collaborative groups, students explore their similarities and differences using the questions from a handout for guidance. After students complete their small group discussion, they share their thoughts with the rest of the class and choose one difference that they would like to explore more thoroughly. Students conduct Internet research on Todd Parr, and the teacher models how they will create pages on diversity to be included in a book developed by the group. Using an interactive online flip book tool, students create the pages of their book, which they will illustrate and present to the class. Students also share the books with another class and engage in a discussion about diversity. Readwritethink provides several extension activities and assessment options.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 1
- Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.03: Read and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction text appropriate for grade one using:
- prior knowledge.
- summary.
- questions.
- graphic organizers.
- Objective 2.08: Discuss and explain response to how, why, and what if questions in sharing narrative and expository texts.
- Objective 2.09: Read and understand simple written instructions.
- Objective 2.03: Read and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction text appropriate for grade one using:
- Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
- Objective 3.01: Elaborate on how information and events connect to life experiences.
- Objective 3.04: Share personal experiences and responses to experiences with text:
- publishing non-print texts.
- discussing interpretations.
- recording personal responses.
- Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
- Objective 4.04: Extend skills in using oral and written language:
- clarifying purposes for engaging in communication.
- using clear and precise language to paraphrase messages.
- engaging in more extended oral discussions.
- producing written products.
- completing graphic organizers.
- Objective 4.06: Compose a variety of products (e.g., stories, journal entries, letters, response logs, simple poems, oral retellings).
- Objective 4.04: Extend skills in using oral and written language:
- Goal 5: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
- Objective 5.04: Use complete sentences to write simple texts.
- Objective 5.05: Use basic capitalization and punctuation
- first word in a sentence.
- proper names.
- period to end declarative sentence.
- question mark to end interrogative sentence.
Grade 2
- Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.02: Use text for a variety of functions, including literary, informational, and practical.
- Objective 2.03: Read expository materials for answers to specific questions.
- Objective 2.04: Pose possible how, why, and what if questions to understand and/or interpret text.
- Objective 2.06: Recall main ideas, facts and details from a text.
- Objective 2.07: Discuss similarities and differences in events, characters and concepts within and across texts.
- Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
- Objective 3.04: Increase oral and written vocabulary by listening, discussing, and composing texts when responding to literature that is read and heard. (e.g., read aloud by teacher, literature circles, interest groups, book clubs).
- Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
- Objective 4.04: Use oral communication to identify, organize, and analyze information.
- Objective 4.09: Use media and technology to enhance the presentation of information to an audience for a specific purpose.
- Goal 5: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
- Objective 5.04: Use the following parts of the sentence
- subject.
- predicate.
- modifier.
- Objective 5.05: Use editing to check and confirm correct use of conventions
- complete sentences.
- correct word order in sentences.
- Objective 5.04: Use the following parts of the sentence
