Curriculum

Workshop: Anti-Bias Lesson Plans

Becca Wilson

EDEC 55293

Texas Christian University

 Lesson Plans

Theme: Understanding Bias and Discrimination
Grade: 5

The three lessons addressing this theme will focus on identifying stereotypes,
differentiating different forms of prejudice, and developing a deeper understanding of the
word discrimination. By giving students a firm understanding of what perspective means
and how they use their own perspective to form stereotypes through looking at images and
writing descriptive language, they are able to take these skills they have just learned and
apply them to more complex situations regarding prejudice and discrimination later in the
week. The second day expands on the idea of stereotypes by having students learn all the
different terms associated with prejudice. This expands their vocabulary and allows them
to further reflect on times they have experienced prejudice. Finally, the last lesson allows
students to develop understanding of the word discrimination. This day gives them a
chance to compare the difference between discrimination and prejudice, as they have
already had experience using the term prejudice the previous day. In addition, students are
still given multiple opportunities to practice self-reflection and pull from their personal
experiences to develop understanding of these tough concepts. The culminating activity for
the final lesson requires students to analyze scenarios and determine if it represents a
stereotype, prejudice, or discrimination, effectively summarizing the three lesson plans and
allowing students to demonstrate knowledge of all three concepts.


Lesson One: Perspective and Stereotypes

TEKS:
• 110.16.27.A: Students are expected to listen to and interpret a speaker's messages
(both verbal and nonverbal) and ask questions to clarify the speaker's purpose or
perspective.
• 110.16.20.A: Students are expected to use and understand the function of the
following parts of speech in the context of reading, writing, and speaking: adjectives
(e.g., descriptive, including origins: French windows, American cars) and their
comparative and superlative forms (e.g., good, better, best).
• 126.7.2.C: The student is expected to collaborate effectively through personal
learning communities and social environments.
• 110.16.29: Students are expected to participate in student-led discussions by
eliciting and considering suggestions from other group members and by identifying
points of agreement and disagreement.
• 110.16.17: Students write about their own experiences.

Content Objectives:
• Students will be able to give examples of influences on perspectives orally.
• Students will be able to identify specific stereotypes they have heard about
themselves or others.

Language Objectives:
• Students will be able to define stereotype.
• Students will write descriptive language based on photographs.
• Students will discuss with a partner times when they have personally observed
stereotypes being used.

Key Vocabulary:
• Counteract
• Misinformation
• Perspective
• Stereotype

Prior Knowledge: I will activate prior knowledge by having students think about groups to
which they belong (cultural, gender, race, age, ethnicity, religion, family, etc.). This will
allow every student to access his or her own personal background and sort of “level the
playing field”. Students will share with a partner times when they have heard a stereotype
about a group to which they belong. Because students are using their own personal
backgrounds and experiences, there is no right or wrong answer.

Assessment/Reteach: I will assess throughout the lesson by listening to students’ oral
responses in discussion. If students begin to have misconceptions, I will reteach the
meaning of stereotype and give concrete, specific examples. Students may begin to merge
the definitions of stereotypes and discrimination without knowing, and it is important that
I distinguish the definition of stereotypes without revealing that what they are
representing is actually discrimination, because that is a later lesson in the unit. The formal
assessment of this lesson comes from students’ written descriptions of the photographs
displayed to the class and the ideas they generate onto the stereotypes worksheet,
completed as a class.


Lesson Two: Forms of Prejudice

TEKS:
• 113.16.22.A: The student is expected to identify the similarities and differences
within and among various racial, ethnic, and religious groups in the United States.
• 126.7.4.A: The student is expected to identify information regarding a problem and
explain the steps toward the solution.
• 126.7.2.C: The student is expected to collaborate effectively through personal
learning communities and social environments.
• 115.7.10.A: The student is expected to analyze respectful ways to communicate with
friends, family, teachers, and others.
• 110.16.29: Students are expected to participate in student-led discussions by
eliciting and considering suggestions from other group members and by identifying
points of agreement and disagreement.
 • 110.16.17: Students write about their own experiences.
• 113.16.26.B: The student is expected to use a decision-making process to identify a
situation that requires a decision, gather information, identify options, predict
consequences, and take action to implement a decision.

Content Objectives:
• Students will understand that stereotypes often lead to prejudice.
• Students will be able to identify ways prejudice is displayed.
• Students will be able to distinguish the different forms of prejudice.
• Students will analyze scenarios that contain various forms of prejudice.

Language Objectives:
• Students will define prejudice.
• Students will orally discuss phrases and feelings related to the word prejudice.
• Students will write three to five sentences reflecting on a time they experienced,
observed, or had feelings of prejudice.
• Students will discuss with three peers different scenarios containing prejudice and
write their responses.

Key Vocabulary:
• Ableism
• Ageism
• Anti-Semitism
• Attitude
• Bullying
• Classism
• Discrimination
• Homophobia
• Islamophobia
• Prejudice
• Racism
• Sexism
• Slurs
• Weightism

Prior Knowledge: In the beginning of the lesson, students have to form connections
between the words “stereotype” and “prejudice”. In addition, in defining the word,
“prejudice”, I will break it into its two parts: pre and judge. Hopefully, students’ prior
knowledge of these two words will help them in determining a definition for the word
“prejudice”. During the bulk of the direct instruction, I will use a semantic web. This will
help students draw from their background and experiences to think of phrases and feelings
that come to mind when they hear the word “prejudice”. Finally, in the writing activity,
students are drawing upon their own experiences with prejudice to complete the
assignment.

Assessment/Reteach: I will informally assess students’ understanding through their
responses to the semantic web activity. This will help me determine if there are
misconceptions between stereotypes and prejudices. It is important that I distinguish the
difference between a prejudice (an attitude) and discrimination (an action). Even though
discrimination is explicitly taught in the next lesson, bringing the distinction up now will
hopefully prevent misconceptions and confusion between the two terms as students are
learning them. I can formally assess students through their written reflections of personal
experiences with prejudice, but I would probably choose to make this a personal journaling
activity for students with no grade attached. I would instead assess students based on their
responses to the Prejudice Scenarios handout. This would give me an idea of how students
are using their knowledge of prejudice as well as critical thinking skills to create solutions
to actual situations that contain examples of prejudice. I think this activity would give me a
better idea of how my students would use the knowledge from this lesson in the real world.

Accommodation: I have three students who are dyslexic in my class. Instead of having them
complete the culminating worksheet that requires written responses, I will have them form
a group and choose two of the four scenarios to dramatize. They will be required to act out
the scenario, and a “narrator” will present the form of prejudice the scenario represents.
Then, a fourth character will be required to act out the “what you can say” section of the
worksheet. This person will respond with an appropriate statement that helps the
character using prejudice to understand how their actions affect others. This
accommodation takes away the writing component of the activity, but still allows me to
assess their understanding of the different types of prejudice and how they affect people.
• 117.119.1.D: The student is expected to express emotions and relate ideas using
interpretive and planned movement and dialogue.


Lesson Three: Discrimination

TEKS:
• 110.16.29: Students are expected to participate in student-led discussions by
eliciting and considering suggestions from other group members and by identifying
points of agreement and disagreement.
• 110.16.29: Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity.
• 115.7.6.C: The student is expected to identify ways to enhance personal
communication skills.
• 113.16.26.B: The student is expected to use a decision-making process to identify a
situation that requires a decision, gather information, identify options, predict
consequences, and take action to implement a decision.

Content Objectives:
• Students will be able to identify different forms discrimination takes in our society.
 • Students will analyze scenarios that contain stereotypes, prejudice, and
discrimination. Students will be able to decide which is being represented in each
scenario.

Language Objectives:
• Students will define discrimination.
• Students will listen to sentences about discrimination and demonstrate personal
experience or observation by standing up and explaining their experience orally.
• Students will discuss with a partner times they have experienced discrimination.
• Students will work with small groups to read several scenarios and prove in writing
whether they represent stereotypes, prejudice, or discrimination.

Key Vocabulary:
• Discrimination
• Institution
• Vandalize

Prior Knowledge: Students are immediately able to apply their prior knowledge during the
activity during direct instruction. Students are invited to stand when they hear a sentence
about discrimination that they have seen, heard, or experienced. Not all students that stand
have to share an explanation, so students who may struggle with explaining things verbally
would still get the chance to show that they know about the topic without the stress of
presenting in front of the entire class. Students are also given the chance to talk with a
partner about times they have experienced discrimination, or a time when they saw it on
TV or in a book. This gives every student the chance to share, even if they haven’t had a life
experience that includes discrimination.

Assessment: The beginning of this lesson is a review of the previous lesson, re-defining the
word prejudice and giving some examples. Throughout the lesson, there are many chances
for me to informally assess students’ understanding of discrimination through their
discussions. The final assignment asks students to determine if a situation represents
stereotypes, prejudice, or discrimination. I would use this handout to assess students’
understanding of the distinction between these three complex terms. Because only one
student writes on behalf of the group, I can see how my students are collaboratively
thinking about these scenarios, so they are also being assessed on their teamwork and
communication.

Extension: For an extension, I might have students choose a scenario from the handout and
determine what happens next. They would work in groups of 3-4 and create a
dramatization of the scenario. This would give students a chance to not only determine
whether the situation represents stereotypes, prejudice, or discrimination, but it would
also give them an opportunity to use critical thinking skills to actually come up with a
solution. It would also allow students to act out what the effects of the actions would
actually look like, so other students could visually see the target’s feelings being affected.
 • 117.119.1.D: The student is expected to express emotions and relate ideas using
interpretive and planned movement and dialogue.


Modification

Scenario: Molly is a student with an IEP in my class. She has a mild intellectual disability, so
she is still able to participate in most of our class activities. She is very quiet and reserved.
She has trouble when lessons contain many reading materials, and often needs
modifications to writing activities. Her IEP dictates that I must provide Molly with notes or
outlines of lessons so that she can refer to them throughout the lesson. It also states she
needs writing activities shortened and can complete them orally instead. She generally has
minimal issues with oral communication, but is overwhelmed when asked to speak in front
of the entire class. She works well with small groups, but I have observed that often she
sort of hides within the group, letting the rest of the members discuss and complete
activities without her input. For this reason, I need to ensure that I am observing her or
working directly with her during these lessons because they involve so much small group
work.

Because all three of the lessons are largely discussion-based, Molly will be able to
participate fully in almost all the activities. For each lesson, I will give Molly a laminated list
of the new vocabulary in larger print with the definitions. She can keep this on her desk
throughout the week and refer back to it during discussions. In addition, because I am not
requiring every student to participate in the whole-group discussions, she does not need to
feel pressured to contribute orally if she is struggling to understand a concept. When the
students break into smaller groups to complete writing activities, Molly can choose
whether she would like to work in the small group, with a partner, or with me at the back
table. I can work with her to assess her understanding orally, or shorten the writing
exercise. For lesson one, I will not require Molly to take notes with the class following the
photograph activity. Instead, she will be given a copy of the notes ahead of time, so she can
simply follow along and read. For lesson two, I will allow Molly to illustrate a time when
she saw or experienced prejudice instead of completing the three to five sentence
paragraph. In addition, she will be allowed to join the dramatization group for the final
activity instead of completing the worksheet. Finally, for lesson three, Molly will work with
me for the final activity. I will read to her the scenarios and have her circle the word
“stereotype”, “prejudice”, or “discrimination”. I will ask her to explain her reasoning to me
orally, and I will make notes of her responses for my own assessment purposes.