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Brooke Kania Diversity Project October 3, 2013 Title: All the Colors of the Earth Author: Sheila Hamanaka Recommended Reading Level: Scholastic recommends ages 4-7, and this lesson was constructed for pre-kindergarten level learning (All the Colors of the Earth Discussion Guide, 2008). Brief and Clear Story Summary: This story incorporates heavy illustrations and descriptive language to introduce a relationship between humans and nature. This relationship is based on colors, giving an appreciation to all shades and hues (Hamanaka, 1994). The illustrations blend the skin of the individual to a particular aspect of nature. Although the pictures are descriptive enough, the language uses great imagery to further the child’s imagination (Hamanaka, 1994). There is about one sentence per page, and the language flows nicely from one page to the next. This book is one that would be great to read aloud and read expressively to children. This book is rather short in wordiness; therefore there is no deep plot or conflict within the pages. However, the general theme is an embrace of diversity and overall connection to our natural world. Complete Description of the Learning Center/Interactive Bulletin Board This lesson would take place in the fall, because it’s a season of natural changes that are clear for younger students to visualize. Also, there is a great deal of diversity in colors and wildlife. Early October would be an adequate time to have this lesson, because the weather would be nice for the children to enjoy. I believe a huge problem with the younger generation is the lack of outside exposure. Most kids come from their car or bus and go straight into their house after school, spending the rest of their day on the TV or computer. When I was younger, outside play or outside class was more frequent, and when I went home I spent most time outside. I feel by connecting the children to nature as well as appreciating the variety of our surroundings, children may be promoted to spend more time outside. I. Read the book aloud outside by a large tree. A. Before reading the book, I would ask:

• What’s your favorite thing about nature? Activities? Something you see? Smell? Hear?

• Look around outside, what are some of the colors you see? • What would it be like if everything was the same color? • What’s the best thing about differences? • What’s something special about you? About one of your classmates?

B. I would read the book expressively and take time to really let the images of the page sink in. • I would ask questions throughout: What’s that? (To some of the animals) • I would read the last line a few times, repeat it

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C. When the book ends, I would ask the kids what they think the last line (“Children come in all the colors of the earth and sky and sea.”) means.

• What’s different about the children? What’s the same? • Do you think children are as different on the inside as they are on the outside? Why

or why not? • “We might all have different shades, but that’s the beautiful thing about nature!” • “Now it’s your turn to find some colors of nature.” I would have the kids go in a

group of 4 to fill up all of their color holes with something outside that correlates with the color.

II. Nature color walk A. Groups of 4 will allow for collaboration between students, and also make it easier to find items of different colors. Have to match things they find outside with the respective color in their boxes (Life is Good, 2008). B. I will give the kids 10 minutes to do this, if they finish early, they can make their print on the fingerprint tree, or start the interactive bulletin board. C. I will actively participate in this exercise, walking around making sure the children are focused, but are also having fun. I will ask anyone if they need help, or if I find something unique outside, I may introduce it to some students to put in their container. D. Their color boxes will be shared to the class after we are done with the interactive poster/exercises. III. Fingerprint tree This activity really plays into the theme of, “all the colors of the earth.” The children will be able to visualize how each individual has a different fingerprint (leaves) but together we collectively make up the community (tree). A. Labeling the parts of a tree

I. Students will label the different parts of the tree (Velcro) and if they have extra time, they can put leaves on the tree (Velcro).

B. Diversity I. The bulletin board will be displayed in the classroom for the children to see the tree. If we have any issues of discrimination, I will be able to reference the tree when talking to the children. II. “We are like branches on a tree, we grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one” - This quote is on the poster, and a good representation of what it means to be different, but part of a common group at the same time.

IV. Living or nonliving? Students will place the objects/animals/plants in a living or nonliving category (Velcro). They can use washable markers and the living or nonliving checklist to help them make their decision. Some of the animals in this activity were found in the book we read.

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V. Bee Yourself Students will place the different life cycle stages of a bee in the appropriate nesting location. They will be able to utilize the bee life cycle key (which also has the answers) if they are having trouble. If the students have extra time, they can stick on the fun facts (Velcro). Learning Outcomes I. Science

• Life Cycle: Students will be able to learn about the life cycle of a bee, which was present in the story. The purpose of this is so the student can gain understanding about the development of living things. When discussing this, we can relate the life cycle of a bee to the life cycle of a human. Although they are different, we relate in that we grow in size, we achieve full maturity size when we are adults, and that we as living things have the ability to change. I chose the life cycle of a bee because I found it to be fairly simple with only 4 main stages of development. I included a reference sheet with the cycle for the students to use if they were having difficulty placing the bee stages in the right location. The fun facts also teach students about the different social interactions and jobs that bees have. Fun facts were set up in case the student finished the life cycle activity with extra time.

• Parts of a Tree: This activity allows students to become familiar with tree anatomy. Because we would read the story outside under a tree, we could introduce certain parts of the tree before or after reading the book. This way, the students can be confident when completing the activity because the material is familiar to them. If the students have extra time, they can add on leaves to the tree, sparking creativity. There are multiple Velcro locations that the leaves can be placed, so the children can rearrange the leaves any way they like.

• Living and Nonliving: This activity helps students determine whether each object/plant/animal is living or nonliving. I created a laminated checklist for students to mark “Yes” or “No” with erasable markers. This checklist incorporates the 5 characteristics for living beings:

o Movement o Growth/Change o Respiration o Digestion o Reproduction

This way, the students can work through the checklist to come up with an answer. I wanted a learning approach that focused on the student’s learning process rather than the teacher lecturing the answers. I was inspired by the Reggio Amelia approach, and thought that this checklist provided a good guidance towards helping the child conclude what is living and what is not (Kim, 2009).

• Color Boxes: With this activity, children will work in groups of 4 to match objects of nature into their respective color box. This incorporates different aspects of nature, where students can identify things they come across. This sparks creativity and curiosity within the individual. There may be things outside the students have never come across before, or alternatively, things they know very well. Overall, this will help children learn about things they may see when they are outdoors.

II. Color differentiation

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• Children will have to place things they find outside in the correct color bowl. The students I’ve worked with in pre-kindergarten are still working on differentiating colors and shades. They have had some trouble choosing what is red and what is purple. This activity involves a lot of different colors for the students to observe. Each team will have slightly different shades in their color box so we can have a variety of different collections. Students can work with each other in a collaborative manner to distinguish colors and what to collect.

III. Appreciation for nature • By having these activities outside, this emphasizes that there is beauty all around us, and

all you have to do is look. I anticipate the students will find new things outside they haven’t seen before, and become excited about this. By spending the afternoon outside doing fun learning activities, I expect the children will have a lot to share once they come home. This potentially could lead to the parents and children spending more time outside.

IV. Referencing/Utilizing resources • The bee life cycle exercise has a reference sheet for the children to use, and the living and

nonliving checklist helps students make a conclusion. They will develop skills for using resources to help solve problems. Especially with the bee sheet, the illustrations are different compared to the poster, and the students will have to be able to acknowledge how different pictures represent the same thing. This helps in life, when students encounter different versions of things, they won’t be so one-sided and assume the two versions represent different entities.

Connection to Diversity I. All the Colors of the Earth

• Scholastic recommended “All the Colors of the Earth” as a book that celebrates diversity (All the Colors of the Earth Discussion Guide, 2008). I can fully understand why this book was recommended, because it beautifully describes the unity behind our different colors. The vibrant descriptions and intricate illustrations work towards celebrating how we are all distinctive colors and the beauty of our differences. The simplicity of the story almost makes the theme of embracing diversity even clearer.

II. Bee Yourself • The “fun facts” around the bee activity describe the different jobs of the bees. In group

discussion, I would introduce how all of the bees may look different and have different daily jobs, but they are all working towards the same goal: to benefit the community/hive. This can be related to the students in the class, who each have a daily responsibility (door holder, weather person, line leader, etc.) but all work together to create a great day of learning! This is a great way to incorporate science and diversity while relating the material to the students.

III. Fingerprint Tree • This activity has a unifying force where the different fingerprints all collectively make up

the leaves of the tree. This way, students can see how they can be different; yet still feel welcomed in their class. I will make clear that their differences is what makes them special, just like their fingerprint that made a unique addition to the tree.

Discussion of the Implications Diversity on Early Childhood Education and Learning I. Outside influences

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• With social media, television, advertisements, and influences from family and friends, it is easy for children to be influenced by stigmatizations of groups of people, gender, race, and overall appearance. It is imperative to work on teaching younger children the importance of accepting all individuals for who they are, especially at the pre-kindergarten level. This is because this is an important time where students are learning about what type of individuals they aspire to become. Students are developing so much at this age, and discrimination can unfortunately, be embedded at an early age if the children are surrounded by bad influences.

II. Parents • Parents are so important in terms of teaching their children about diversity. Children

instill a specific trust in their parents, and look up to them as role models. I would plan on letting the kids bring home their findings from the nature walk to share with their family. This would hopefully lead to a discussion about what was learned during the day, and could be a beneficial talk for both the parent and child.

III. Administrators • It is important for the administration to be aware of stereotyping and discrimination

occurring in their school, and to tackle these issues immediately. The administrators do not only have influence over students, but also the teachers; therefore, they must act as constructive role models in terms of accepting diversity. It would be beneficial to include the administrators in this activity, maybe by having them help during the nature color walk. This way, they can experience what is occurring in the classroom, and help reinforce important themes of tolerance.

IV. Educators • The educators need to run the activity, but do much more than facilitate. Their positive

attitude during the interactive activity is crucial if they want the children to learn something from the work they are doing. The teacher needs to be clear in establishing the importance of diversity, and make sure the students understand. Something could occur where the student says something inappropriate about one’s race, gender, or ethnicity. It is the instructor’s job to confront the student if alone, or confront the class and discuss why the comment is inappropriate. The educators need to not only encourage diversity during the lesson, but throughout the year. By perpetuating this theme on a daily basis, it will make it easier for these themes to “sink in” for the students.

V. Paraprofessionals (Chapel Leader) • At my field site, on Wednesdays the children go to chapel for 10-15 minutes. I was

actually inspired to do a nature-related lecture after attending one of these chapel sessions. At this session, the Chapel Leader took the children on a nature walk. The children had bags, and they had to fill the bags up with things they saw in nature. God made these things, and the theme was to emphasize all that God has created. The Chapel Leader ended her session by saying, “God made all of these things, and he made everyone different, big and small, different colors, different everything. And he loves everyone the same, because they are all special.” I thought this interactive lecture would be a great way to follow up on the chapel lecture, by including nature and diversity as one entity.

VI. Friends • Friends are influential because children are constantly socializing. By having a lesson on

diversity, all of the students can learn, and learn from each other. I specifically made the

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lessons include group work, so the kids could come to conclusions together. This way, they would be positively influencing each other, embodying the theme of embracing differences.

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Works Cited

(2008). All the Colors of the Earth Discussion Guide. Scholastic. Retrieved October 1, 2013,

from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/collateral.jsp?id=32378

(2008, April 22). Life is Good. Lucky Beans. Retrieved October 1, 2013, from

http://luckybeans.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/04/life-is-good.html

(2010). Honey Bee Facts. Buzz About Bees. Retrieved October 1, 2013, from

http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/honey-bee-facts.html.

A Bee is More Than A Bug. Climate Kids NASA’s Eyes on Earth. Retrieved October 1, 2013,

from http://climatekids.nasa.gov/bees/

Bee Cartoon Cards & More. Zazzle. Retrieved October 1, 2013, from

http://www.zazzle.com/bee+cartoon+cards

Hamanaka, S., & Taliefero, C. (1994). All the Colors of the Earth. New York: Morrow Junior

Books.

Kim, B. S., & Darling, L. F. (2009). Monet, Malaguzzi, and the constructive conversations of

preschoolers in a Reggio-inspired classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(2),

137-145.