1. Topic-
Stereotypes
 
2. Content-
Subject Matter- Understanding Stereotypes and their impacts.

Key Vocabulary- Prejudice, Judgment, affiliation, demographics, and ethnicity.
 
3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
1.Induce critical thinking which targets the issues that revolve around stereotypes.

2.Provide the means for students to reflect upon their own bias and stereotypical ideations.

3.Strengthen the classroom community by promoting unity, transparency, and cultural responsiveness.
 
4. Objectives-
1.Identify, explain, and understand the implications that stereotypes have on individuals, groups, and society as a whole.

2.Understand that hasty, unfair assumptions can lead to stereotyping.

3.Identify and explain ways that we [as individuals] can reduce, or prevent, stereotyping.
 
5. Materials and Aids-
10 large sheets of paper.
Pencils, markers, and highlighters
Notebooks
Video: "Stereotypes in Animation"
Timer
 
6. Procedures/Methods-

A. Introduction-

1.Break the students up into groups and lead a discussion that introduces the lesson and calls upon the class to convey the ideas that come to mind when they hear the word, "stereotype".

2.Direct the students' attention to the television and prepare them to watch the video.

3.After viewing the video, ask the class to summarize the video while focusing on the situation, problems/conflicts that materialized, and ways that they believe could resolve such issues.
 

B. Development-

1.Explicitly cover the required vocabulary words: Prejudice, Judgment, affiliation, demographics, ethnicity (to name a few) by first asking the class to define the words while expressing what they mean to them individually. If the students struggle with the definitions, the teacher will select students to research the words by relying on the class library. Once the definitions are found, the words, their definitions, and parts of speech can be written on the board and the students can jot them down in their vocabulary journals while using each word in a valid, properly structured sentence.

2.The teacher will explain the process in which assumptions, which are aimed towards an entire group of people, can snowball into being a stereotype. The teacher can briefly cover snippets of American history that illustrate how the negative consequences that assumptions, stereotypes, and misunderstanding bred contention, pain, and severe hardship.

3.Ensure that all of the students have a firm understanding of the outlined fundamentals listed above. Encourage students to express any concern or misunderstanding that they may be experiencing and use this time to model students one-on-one to privatize the process. Reiterate the outcome of the one-on-one discussion for the entire class just in case another student may have had the same question but felt too embarrassed to openly acknowledge such. After all of the students are on the same page, the teacher will transition into the practice portion of the lesson.
 

C. Practice-

1.Ask the students to identify five categories that could be used to group people in school such as "jocks and brains" (Discovery Education, n.d, para 2). Annotate each category on one large piece of paper and place the five sheets around the room in a clockwise fashion. Announce that the students will conduct a carousel brainstorming activity and explain the rules/process. Put time on the clock and have each group go to a designated sheet of paper to engage the category. Using a unique colored marker, each group will formulate, and record, adjectives that they believe supports or explains the category. Once the time expires, the groups will rotate around the room in a clockwise fashion to proceed to the next category. Once all of the groups have offered there inputs to each of the category stations, the class will prepare for an open discussion.

2.The teacher posts the large sheets of paper on the board and reviews them with the class one at a time. While briefly focusing on the words that were selected for each category, the teacher will ask the class questions such as, "do assumptions apply to everyone within a group? ... Do most people hold the same assumptions about a group? Why or why not? ... Do assumptions tell us anything about a characterized individual? ... How do assumptions affect your behavior towards others?... Do these adjectives describe stereotypes? ... How can they be unfair or hurtful?" (Discovery Education, n.d, para 4). The class can explore the questions as groups or individuals; however, each student will be required to provide their own insight to each of the questions.

3.Repeat the above processes, however, instead of exploring school categories, break the class in five groups and have each group name one racial or ethnic group. The teacher will hand a large sheet of paper out to each group and they will write down the racial or ethnic group that they selected. The teacher will add to the clock and when directed, the groups will begin jotting down stereotypes that they have heard of that affects the racial or ethnic group that they are working with. Once the time expires, the groups will rotate the sheets around the room in a clockwise fashion. The teacher will reset the time and direct the groups to begin. This process will continue until all of the papers have made it around to each of the groups. The teacher will display the papers on the board and initiate a class discussion by asking several questions such as, "How do the stereotypes recorded by the class make you feel? ... What do you notice about the stereotypes being listed? ... Where have you seen these stereotypes portrayed? ... How do you think a stereotype might cause someone to act unfairly toward another person?" (Discovery Education, n.d, para 13). Again, the class may answer as part of a team or as individuals but all of the students are required to actively participate.
 

D. Independent Practice-

1.The students will be directed to lead a student-controlled discussion about the ways that the media "�television, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, and so on- utilize stereotypes and the initial reaction that seeing such as caused within them or within the vicinity of them. The teacher will initiate the discussion by providing an example of how stereotypes are often used in today's media. Once the students are aware of the example, the teacher will relinquish control of the discussion to the students once they have acknowledged that they understand the rules for the discussion: everyone will respect one another and their claims, each student will be given the opportunity, and are required, to participate in the discussion, and the class must remain focused on the topic at hand. If the students stall out, are struggling, or if the conversation starts veering off course then the teacher will step in and take control of the discussion in order to guide the students back on track. The teacher will closely monitor the students' input in order to gauge their understanding of the concept. Once the high-quality discussion comes to a close, the teacher will transition the class into another activity.

2.This time, the students will review the 10 large sheets of paper (five school categories and five racial/ethnic groups) that are displayed on the board and they will be given a set amount of time to individually brainstorm and write a story about a time in which they were the victim of, or witnessed, unfair bias due to skin color, wealth, gender, age, religion, clothing appearance, and so on (Understanding Stereotypes). Ensure that all of the students understand what is expected of them, have an ample amount of time to produce a quality story, and answers the following questions within the supporting elements of their story: "How did you know that you were being unfairly judged? "� What words or actions were directed at you because of assumptions or stereotypes? ... Why do you think those assumptions were made about you? "� How did the experience make you feel? "� How do you think you should have been treated in that situation?"� (Discovery Education, n.d, para 17). Once all of the students finished the writing exercise, they will pass their papers to the front of their rows and the teacher will collect them in order to transition into another portion of the activity.

3.The teacher will reorganize the students' papers and hand them back out to the class while ensuring that none of the students will receive their own papers. The class will then be directed to silently read the story that they have been given and write a response to the story. The response must include the feelings that the reader felt as they navigated the story, identify and explain the primary dilemma that was presented within the story, and provide recommendations that could be implemented that would have resolved all of the issues within the story. Once all of the students have finished this phase of the activity, the teacher will direct the students "�one by one- to read the story that they were given to the class and then present the responses that they formulated. The class will provide constructive criticism to the presenter by confirming with their responses or by offering others resolutions to the dilemma. The process will continue until all of the students were given the opportunity to present their story and responses to the class.
 

E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-

1.In the event that some or all of the students struggle with the concept of race, religion, and other key differences that makes us all unique then the teacher can reduce the categories from five to two by requiring the students to evaluate one domain "�gender (Discovery Education, n.d). The students can then be broken up into groups and conduct the aforementioned process with direct focus on the ideas, expressions, and feelings that gender creates.

2.In the event that a mixed group of ELLs are present in the class, the teacher must try to ensure that there are at least two peers that have either high-intermediate or advanced/fluent English proficiencies within each group. The teacher should implement cooperative learning strategies within the classroom to encourage students to extensively help one another out.

3.In the event that all of the students have a beginner level English proficiency, the teacher should request assistance from another professional such as a peer, paraeducator, ESL teacher, bilingual coach, or so on well in advance prior to the lesson start date. The teacher can divide the class into two mini classes which will then be divided into manageable-sized groups. This will give each teacher the opportunity to closely monitor and model each of the students more effectively. The teacher incorporate sheltered instruction practices by incorporating a Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model "�which is revolves around preparation, building background, strategies, comprehensible input, practice/application, interaction, lesson delivery, and assessment- as well (Echevarria, 2011).
 

F. Checking for understanding-

1. The teacher will assess student performance throughout the entire lesson by closely monitoring all discussions and activities. Informal assessments will take place during the discussions and brainstorming activities.

2. Formal assessments will take place during the story writing/presentation phases and a multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank test will be administered which will be comprised of 25 questions that stem from the material that we covered throughout the lesson.
 

G. Closure-

1.A review of the presentations and test will be conducted and an open discussion about the content lead. The teacher will summarize the material, goals, and learning objectives that were covered throughout the lesson and prepare the students for the next lesson ahead.
 
7. Evaluation-
1. Reflect upon the students' willingness to participate, enthusiasm for adopting new ideas, feelings toward bias and discrimination, course work, and scores. The teacher must ensure that the students are where they should be in relation to their grade/age level and the curriculum. If any of the students are lacking, the teacher must identify ways of approaching the issues that may be preventing the students from progressing.

2. Grade, review, and file all of the performanced-based notes and formal/informal assessments in the students' portfolios.
 
8. Teacher Reflection-
Reflect upon the overall ebb and flow of the classroom throughout the lesson. Were there any hiccups? Did the lesson run as smooth as could be? Was the teacher able to maximize their effectiveness throughout the lesson? What went wrong? What went right? Which areas are in need of improving and how can they be improved. Was the activities authentic, culturally responsive, and of high-quality? These are some of the questions that the teacher must ask him/herself in order for them to constantly strive for improvement regardless of how efficient they currently are.
 

This Lesson Plan is available at (www.teacherjet.com)