What is Race and Racism?
Materials
Journals
Computer
Projector
Smartboard/dry erase/blackboard
Globe/Map
-What does race mean?
-Think of reasons why people have different colors and shades of skin
-Why do you think some people feel negatively towards people with different colors of skin?
-Students might struggle with their responses; teacher should help students along & give ideas for the above questions
-The sun has a powerful effect on the color of our skin, and the people who live in areas where the sun is more powerful will have darker skin. People
who live in areas where the weather is colder, or where the sun is less powerful, will tend to have lighter colored skin (use globe or map to
relate this to the continents, hemispheres, and equator).
-Skin color is also hereditary, or given to you at birth depending on your parent's race.
-How many different types of skin colors are there? Have students come up to the SmartBoard (or blackboard, whiteboard, etc) to write their thoughts.
-If not already discussed: People can also come from a combination of races. If your parents are two different races, you will be born with a mixture of
their two races. A person's family background can contain people of a variety of races where you might be a combination of 3, 4, 5, or more!
People:
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rosa Parks
Cesar Chavez
Thurgood Marshall
Assessments
Extensions / Advanced Learners
Materials
Journals
Computer
Projector
Smartboard/dry erase/blackboard
Globe/Map
- Have students write responses in their journals to the following questions:
-What does race mean?
-Think of reasons why people have different colors and shades of skin
-Why do you think some people feel negatively towards people with different colors of skin?
- Come together and have a class discussion about the student responses.
-Students might struggle with their responses; teacher should help students along & give ideas for the above questions
- Show images of people from around the world and explain that people’s skin color often times is a reflection of the part of the world that they, or their ancestors, are from. Students can discuss their family's background from the previous night's homework.
-The sun has a powerful effect on the color of our skin, and the people who live in areas where the sun is more powerful will have darker skin. People
who live in areas where the weather is colder, or where the sun is less powerful, will tend to have lighter colored skin (use globe or map to
relate this to the continents, hemispheres, and equator).
-Skin color is also hereditary, or given to you at birth depending on your parent's race.
-How many different types of skin colors are there? Have students come up to the SmartBoard (or blackboard, whiteboard, etc) to write their thoughts.
-If not already discussed: People can also come from a combination of races. If your parents are two different races, you will be born with a mixture of
their two races. A person's family background can contain people of a variety of races where you might be a combination of 3, 4, 5, or more!
- What is racism? Ask for a volunteer to read the definition.
- Why do you think that some people feel this way? Does it seem right?
- Close by saying that a lot of racism is built up from ideas and events in our history. Have students choose a person and begin researching for homework. We will continue our research in class.
People:
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rosa Parks
Cesar Chavez
Thurgood Marshall
Assessments
- Journal entry: completed each response, wrote in complete sentences, free of grammatical & spelling errors
- Class discussion: participated, maintained respect for self and others
Extensions / Advanced Learners
- Students can use Google Maps to plot different types of cultures and people around the world
- Research the number of different races or the scientific reason behind skin color