A Culture of Respect Challenges Students to Connect

© 2010 RaceBridges For Schools. This teacher’s guide is part of an initiative for educators called RaceBridges For Schools, which seeks to provide tools for teachers and students to motivate them to build stronger and more inclusive communities. This guide may be freely used, reproduced and distributed for educational purposes as long as this copyright information is displayed intact. Info: www.racebridgesforschools.com

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Our two online sites which are referenced to within this Guide are : www.RaceBridgesForSchools.com

and www.RaceBridgesVideos.com

You will find all of the lesson plans and videos that are referred to throughout this Guide on these two sites as

well as many other units on diversity themes.

INTRODUCTION

The RaceBridges For Schools and the RaceBridges Videos Sites continue to grow. On these two sister sites, you

will find a variety of free lesson plans and resources about race relations and diversity for high school teachers

(and Youth Leaders). There are also audio and video stories.

Our world consists of thousands of cultures and their stories. The array of teacher materials expands. As you

look at the variety of subjects and stories on our two sites we realize that all these resources can be a little

overwhelming. So we wanted to give you one possible pathway through this wealth of materials.

What follows is a guide for a teacher who would like to select from all our free resources to create a specific

one-day Unity Day with a focus, if you choose, in the second half of the program on race.

All lessons and resources in this guide are located on the two internet sites www.RaceBridgesforSchools.com and

www.RaceBridgesVideos.com.

In this Teacher’s Guide, two of the lessons can be used wholly as written: Claim It: Differences and Similarities –

Creating Inclusion and We All Have Race. (The Teacher’s Guide below gives the url to find those lesson plans or go

to www.racebridgesforschools.com and click on the titles of the lessons.)

The other parts of this Unity Day curriculum use excerpts or combinations from several lessons. (Where we

used excerpts or combinations we have edited those lessons for you and included them in this Teacher Guide in

the order in which you will use them.)

http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/

http://www.racebridgesvideos.com/

BRIDGEBUILDER UNITY DAY


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OBJECTIVES & OUTCOMES

Many of us grew up in communities segregated by such factors as race, ethnicity, religious affiliation and income.

Today, we and our students face a much more diverse world. As diverse groups come together to learn, work

and play, issues of fairness, respect and cooperation don't simply take care of themselves. Talking respectfully –

and learning something from each other - is a SKILL. It takes practice over time to create inclusive educational

environments and prepare students to be advocates for a more inclusive world. Holding periodic Unity Days is

one way to fit these important life lessons into an already crowded schedule.

These Unity Day lessons can be taught within a single class, for a student organization or for the whole school.

But how we teach inclusion is as important as what we teach. To reach

high school students, diversity training needs to be:

fun

thought-provoking

heart-touching

personally as well as socially relevant

and it needs to move beyond simply talking about cultures’ foods and

holidays to a deeper understanding of our similarities and differences

The lessons and excerpts were chosen for this Unity Day so that students

would be actively engaged not simply lectured to. We hope these lessons

will be used to prevent conflict, but they are also effective following an

incident of bullying or discrimination. Where pep rallies and such can often unite students through a common

opposition - the other school’s team - we hope to balance this energetic competitive approach with creating

enthusiasm and excitement around including everyone. Competent, respectful diversity training can foster positive

relationships within a school and prepare students to assume a more compassionate and effective role in the

larger community.

At the end of the Unity Day students will:

appreciate the rich background of other students

connect and work with students they might not have in the past

develop empathy for each other’s struggles to be included

reflect on times inclusion has worked and what it takes to feel included and include others

understand the difference between prejudice and racism

hear stories of how racism still affects people’s lives today

learn respectful, safe ways to intervene on each other’s behalf if someone is being bullied

UNITY DAY AGENDA : OVERVIEW



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An Overview of your Unity Day includes:

I. WHO’S IN THE ROOM? – 20 minutes

(NOTE: From page 4 of Storytelling: A Toolkit for Bridging Differences and Creating Community. If your class has

done a lot of community building, you can skip this first exercise.)

II. CLAIM IT: DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES - CREATING INCLUSION – 60 minutes

III. STORIES OF BEING ON THE OUTSIDE/STORIES OF BEING INCLUDED -65 minutes

(NOTE: This lesson is a combination of exercises from Keeping the Peace!, Storytelling: A Toolkit for Bridging

Differences and Creating Community and Sticking Together, Sharing our Stories, Our Differences and Our

Similarities)

IV. WE ALL HAVE A RACE – 60 minutes

(NOTE: You can choose to add an additional hour to the discussion of race by including selections from the

RaceBridges Videos and Audios suggestions.)

V. TAKING A STAND FOR EACH OTHER – 15 minutes

RaceBridges Video – The Other 9/11 Story by Susan O’Halloran or Remembering Lisa Derman by Jim May

VI. CLOSING – 5 minutes

Total: 3 hours and 45 minutes to 5 hours or more if the additional resources are used.



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Obviously, you can select lessons and/or shorten lessons from this Teacher’s Guide to accommodate the time

you have and the amount of experience your students have with creating community and with these topics.

However, if you do edit the lessons in the Teacher’s Guide, we ask you to consider the emotional journey

students will take during their Unity Day. The order of the lessons as shown here move the students from easier

to deeper personal sharing and from easier topics to a more challenging one i.e. “race”. If you shorten this

Agenda, please design a similar progression.

TEACHER’S GUIDE: UNITY DAY

(NOTE: The areas that are bolded are what you SAY to the students. The other areas give you instructions or

background on the exercises.)

I. WHO’S IN THE ROOM? – 20 minutes

(NOTE: From page 4 of Storytelling: A Toolkit for Bridging Differences and Creating Community)

This exercise is a quick warm-up that gets everyone on their feet and talking

and offers a chance to practice storytelling and listening skills.

Begin by asking the group a few questions and allow for some discussion and

examples.

Who has ever been interviewed? What type of interview was it?

What was the experience like for you? After hearing some reactions,

introduce this game.

Now, look around the room and find someone you don’t know at

all, or don’t know very well, or haven’t worked with before. Go

and stand next to your partner and find a place to settle in the room.

This should happen very quickly. If you know the group well, keep an eye out that best friends separate and

everyone gets matched up. If you have an odd number, make one group of three. You can write the items they

are to ask on the board.

Decide with your partner who is A and who is B.

Now, A – you have one minute to interview B. In that one minute, you need to find out their

name, where they’re from, what year they’re in, what they want to be when they grow up, their

favorite color, their favorite band and one story about a place they love to visit. After one minute,

I’ll ring this bell and call “Switch” and then it’s B’s turn to get the information. The game is to try

and remember as much as you can from what your partner tells you. Ready? Go!



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(You can decide the relevant questions based on the ages and interests in the group. The questions should be

factual in nature and easy and fun to answer. Much of the joy of this game comes from keeping time each step of

the way.)

After both A and B have had turns:

Stay with your partner and let’s form a circle. Now, one at a time, each pair will go to the center of

the circle and take turns introducing your partner to the group. You have only 30 seconds to tell us

everything you can remember from your interview. Who’s first? Lets go!

Group Discussion after game:

After each pair has gone through the introductions, take some time to reflect together on the exercise. Some

possible discussion questions include:

What was it like to interview your partner? To be interviewed?

How did you communicate to your partner that you were paying attention?

Did you learn something new about each other?

You can add more questions and tailor this discussion to the needs of your group. This is a good time to talk

about the importance of paying attention, maintaining eye contact, and not interrupting as good techniques for

building trust when listening to stories.

(NOTE: If your class has done a lot of community building, you can go right to the second exercise, Claim It!)

II. CLAIM IT: DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES - CREATING INCLUSION – 60 minutes

To read the lesson go to www.racebridgesforschools.com and click on Claim

It! or use this url:

http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/wp/wp-

content/uploads/2010/07/Claim_It_LESSON_PLAN_FINAL.pdf

Take the full hour making sure the students have time to debrief in their

groups and to create Personal and Classroom Commitment Statements.

(Alternative: If you have done something similar before – where students

identify themselves by crossing the room – read Cultural Mapping page 4 in

the Theater Games lesson for ideas on changing formations. Go to:

http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/wp/wp-

content/uploads/2010/07/GAMES.pdf)



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III. STORIES OF BEING ON THE OUTSIDE/STORIES OF BEING INCLUDED – 65 minutes

(NOTE: This lesson is a combination of exercises from Storytelling: A Toolkit and Keeping the Peace and Sticking

Together)

A. Story Brainstorm – 15 minutes

We are going to do a special activity today. You already have

everything you need to do this activity and, in fact, you are an

expert, because it is based on the true stories of your life and

each person in this room.

Hand out large (4” x 6”) index cards. No names on their cards.

Pick one of these three ideas and list all the times you can

think of when you felt on the outside – misunderstood,

stereotyped or alone. Don’t write about the whole event at

this point. Just jot down a word or phrase that will help you

remember the various incidents.

Have written on the board:

Times when you were misunderstood - people didn’t see you for who you really are.

Times when you were stereotyped.

Times you felt alone.

Give students 2 minutes for this fast brainstorm.

Now you’re going to choose just one of these times and write a short story about it.

Everyone’s story has value, and today we will discover together how by listening to each

other we can learn a great deal about our world and ourselves.

Who has a storyteller in their family or in their life? Who is that person? What did you gain

from knowing that person? Can you describe the storyteller’s style?

Allow the answers to these questions to lead to the question – What are stories?

Allow the group to respond. (You may want to bring in some of the ideas from the “Why Storytelling?”

section at the beginning of the lesson, Storytelling: A Toolkit).

Also, if you did the Who’s in the Room? activity together, you could mention here that stories get beyond

the facts (What’s your favorite color? Where are you from?) to the details and feelings of the events in

our lives (a time when…).



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Here are some key points to bring up in your discussion with the group:

Stories have ACTION; they are events in which something happens.

Stories involve people, sometimes just two, sometimes many.

Stories often have a BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END.

Then ask them to turn their cards over and take 5 minutes to write about one of the incidents from their

brainstorm on the front of their index cards, Have them include what happened, basic sensory details and

how they felt during and after the incident. Their names should not be on either side of the card.

I’m going to ask for you to tell a particular story and most likely, the first story that jumps

to your mind when you look at your list is the right one. There are no right or wrong stories;

whatever story you choose to tell today will have value for the group. Try not to censor

yourself. At the same time, the story you tell here today should feel SAFE to share.

Although we are not attaching any names to these stories, this is not the place for a story

that will make you feel very fragile or unsafe. Is that clear? I do want you to tell a story

that’s important to you. Tell a story that made a difference in your life that you will have

felt good about sharing now and later.

B. Anonymous Story Sharing – 15 minutes

When they are done, have students fold their cards in half and then collect the cards in a basket; jumble

them together. Place students in small groups of 3-4. Have each student pick a card from the basket. In

their groups, each student should read aloud the story (not the brainstorm list) on the card he/she picked

out.

Once students have finished (this should take app. 5 minutes), gather students together and have students

brainstorm a list of what they heard, especially what the stories have in

common. Keep a list on the board.

C. Storytelling in Groups – 15 minutes

Create groups of 3-4 students (same groups or new). Circulate while students are telling stories to help keep

them on track. Sit down and listen to a couple of the stories. Be sure to stop groups after 15 minutes so

that you have time to hear some of the stories in the large group.

Now, we’re going to tell very different stories. Instead of writing down stories, we’ll each take 3-

4 minutes to tell our stories. One of you will be the recorder – jot down the person’s name and

a few details from their story. One of you will be the timekeeper. Timekeepers, tell the person

who is speaking when they’ve shared for 3 minutes and, then, when they’ve spoken for 4

minutes and need to stop.



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For your story, choose from one of the following:

1. Tell about a time when you made a sacrifice for a community to which you belong. (The community

could be a team, your family, your group of friends, a club activity, your place of worship, etc.)

2. Tell about a time when someone surprised you by going out of his or her way to help you.

3. Tell about a time when you felt most included in a group.

When all the students have shared their stories:

Now, have a discussion within your group and choose which one of your stories you’ll share with

the entire class. The same person can tell the story or someone else from the group can share

it.

D. Sharing Stories with the Class- 10 minutes

Each group shares one story. When the story is finished, ask the class what

they learned from that story. Take all reasonable responses. Listen to as

many stories as time allows.

Group discussion: Great! What was it like sharing stories with one

another? What were the effects of listening to one another?

Take all reasonable responses. Look for answers such as “we got to know

one another better,” “we found we had something in common,” “I feel closer

to the people in my group,” etc.

E. What Makes For Inclusion? – 10 minutes

So, now we’ve told and listened to some stories about times things were working – people felt

involved and understood, included and supported. What did the stories have in common?

What did you learn about inclusion, both from the stories themselves and from the process of

sharing stories?

Take all reasonable responses. You may want to have a student record the answers

on the chalkboard for all to see.

Let’s revisit our list of Class Guidelines. We talked about a lot of things not to do so no one felt

left out or put down. Can we now add some ideas of what TO DO to create more inclusion and

increase the sense of community in our classroom? Does anyone want to add anything to

his/her Personal or Class Commitments?



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IV. WE ALL HAVE RACE – 60 minutes

For this lesson, go to www.racebridgesforschools.com and click on We All Have Race or go to this url:

http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/WeAllHaveARace.pdf

(NOTE: The lesson We All Have Race has five sections and runs for 60 minutes. We have included additional

resources you can use to augment each section.)

A: Introduction

You should not have to review Class Guidelines as these were created earlier. However you may want to

add a few that pertain particularly to race such as: No one can speak for their group, Presume innocence,

etc.

B: What Race Are You?

For an extensive discussion and examples of why biological “race” does not exist see the PBS series Race:

The Power of An Illusion. Session One discusses the science of race and race as a social construct. Session

Two shows how we’ve used this social construct to create and maintain inequality. The videos that

accompany each session run for one hour, but you can show the excerpts suggested in the viewing guide.

C: Racism vs. Prejudice

To show how anyone of any color can have personal prejudices and assumptions go to

www.RaceBridgesVideos.com and click on storyteller, Diane Ferlatte, and her video entitled Penny For

Your Thoughts on the Showcase page.

For historic examples of systemic racism click on “Video Showcase” and choose from these RaceBridges

Videos:

Anne Shimojima – Japanese American Incarceration

Susan O’Halloran – Beach Drowning and Race Riot

Linda Gorham – Rosa

Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo – Grandpa’s Story

Susan O’Halloran – The Oberlin Rescue of 1858

Lyn Ford – Finding Josephus

Mary Gay Ducey – Bartholomew



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Or go to www.racebridgesforschools.com and listen to these RaceBridges Audios with lesson plans:

Bittersweet: A Chinese American Daughter’s Legacy (Immigrant Story) by Nancy Wang

The Spirit Survives: The American Indian Boarding School Experience – Then and Now by Dovie Thomason.

For examples of how individuals have been discriminated against because of race or religion click on

“Video Showcase” and choose from these RaceBridges Videos:

Arif Choudhury – Where Are You From?

Gerry Fierst - Albuquerque

Jim May – Construction

Olga Loya – Why Do You Want To Go To College?

Diane Ferlatte – Next Town and You Never Know What the End Will Be

Michael McCarty – The Power of Love

D: Racism Today

For a discussion of the racism we live with today and how the past effects the present, see again the PBS

series Race: The Power of An Illusion. Using the examples of housing and wealth building, Session Three

shows how the inequalities of the past are still with us today.

It’s a good idea to balance discussions of today’s racism with examples of cultural pride and identity. Race

Bridges Videos that address these themes are:

Antonio Sacre – Looking for Papito

Olga Loya – Between Worlds and What’s a Mexican?

Gerry Fierst – Why Am I A Jew?

Linda Gorham – I Am Somebody

Emily Hooper – I Deserve to Be Here

E: Acting As Allies

If you would like to add additional material for Acting As Allies, use the exercise from the lesson Keeping

the Peace called Identify Interventions:

IDENTIFY INTERVENTIONS - 10 minutes

Students need to feel that they can act for their own good and for the good of others without getting

involved in violence. Create a simple scenario that involves harassment or bullying based on race (see the

resource “Finding New Words: A Resource for Addressing Bullying at School” on

www.racebridgesforschools.com site for some examples and rewrite them to focus on race).



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Describe the scenario to your class. Have students discuss the scenario in pairs. For one minute, pairs

should discuss what the person being bullied or harassed could do to stop the problem without violence.

Have some pairs share their ideas. Then, pairs should spend another minute discussing what an on-looker

could do to intervene without violence. Have some different pairs share their ideas. As a class, create a

list of the best ideas to put on the board.

If students don’t identify the following intervention possibilities during class, consider sharing these:

Stop the behavior, say:

Cut it out!

Keep your hands to yourself!

Leave him alone!

That is NOT okay!

Educate

Let’s not judge other on the basis of race (sex, religion, sexual orientation, etc.); that’s not a

measure of someone’s character.

You might think you were just fooling around, but teasing someone to that extent, in front of

others is humiliating and frightening. And, it’s bullying and against school rules.

It doesn’t matter that s/he annoys you. Using nasty language and spreading rumors is wrong. You

can control your own behavior.

Putting someone down is unacceptable; it’s never funny to make someone else feel bad or scared.

Your behavior says more about the kind of person you are than it does about the other person.

If you have time, you may want to have students actually practice intervening when they see someone

being harassed or bullied. It will be easier for students to stand up for themselves and others if they have

actually done it rather than just discussed it.

If you have time to role play, see the next section to this lesson: Practicing Non-Violent Interventions (20-

40 minutes)

V. TAKING A STAND FOR EACH OTHER – 15 minutes

Often, we talk about what’s not working, but it’s as important to share with students the times people

have stood together. Throughout history and into our present day, there are examples of courageous

moments when people have refused to be divided. Unity is always a choice. Remind your students that

they have this choice everyday. Are they going to succumb to Us vs. Them? Or are they going to be

champions for inclusion?



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The students can share the times an older sibling or a friend stood up for them and what it meant to

them. It’s also good to end the day focusing on the benefits the students receive when their school is

more inclusive - nothing wrong with enlightened self-interest here. What would it mean to you if you

didn’t have to worry about being left out? What if there was no bullying here or racial conflict? What if

you could walk up to any table in the cafeteria and know you’d be welcomed? What if people constantly

encouraged each other and your friends were always telling you what a good job you were doing and how

much they appreciated your unique talents?

Go to www.racebridgesvideos.com. Click on “Video Showcase” and choose from these RaceBridges

Videos:

Susan O’Halloran - The Other 9/11 Story

Jim May - Remembering Lisa Derman

ASK:

What would it mean for you if you knew other people would

stand up for you?

Do you believe we can make a difference in the world?

What would our school be like if it were even more inclusive?

How would it feel to be here?

How would you benefit?

What are you willing to do to make our classrooms and school more inclusive?

VI. ENDING & PLEDGE : A WAY FORWARD – 5 minutes

At the end of the day, give students a moment to think of how they would fill in these two sentences:

I learned…

I commit to…

Have them write their sentences on a piece of paper. Examples would be:

I learned other kids are afraid of being left out, too.

I learned I have things in common with kids I didn’t know very well.

I learned racism has been going on a long time.

I commit to not calling other people names.

I commit to not gossiping about other students.

I commit to saying something if I see someone being bullied.



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Ask for volunteers to share their statements.

If you have time, a simple ending ceremony can be very effective. For example, students can stand in a circle

with candles (with something underneath the candles to catch the melting wax). You start by lighting a thicker

candle, the “Unity Candle”, in the middle of the circle and then light your smaller, single candle from the unity

flame. You say your two statements out loud and model brevity: I learned... I commit to... Next, you light the

candle of the person to your left. He or she speaks their two statements and, then, lights the next student’s

candle until you have gone around the whole circle.

Instead or additionally, you can have students write their statements on a huge piece of butcher paper (no

names, please). Have the students work in silence and play music in the background. Students can also put

artwork or other positive slogans on the paper as well. Hang your “Unity Banner” in your classroom or

school lobby.

IN CLOSING...

We realize that teachers are under tremendous pressure to fit in all the materials they are charged with

presenting. But in any classroom there are two lessons going on: the one we, as teachers, think we’re teaching

and the one students are actually receiving. Without emotional safety and a feeling of belonging students simply

don’t learn, the lesson doesn’t get in.

Making time for a Unity Day is one way to create a welcoming classroom where students feel known, respected

and appreciated. It is our hope that this day (or if you choose to teach a series of classes) is wildly successful and

that you will come back to the www.racebridgesforschools.com and www.racebridgesvideos.com sites often for

more lesson ideas.

http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/

http://www.racebridgesvideos.com/

A Culture of Respect Challenges Students to Connect

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Transcript of A Culture of Respect Challenges Students to Connect