diversity doll - kassia...

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Diversity Doll Lesson: Literacy (Recounts)

DIVERSITY DOLL EXAMPLE:

Diversity doll - front, outside. Diversity doll – front, inside.

Diversity doll – inside left. Diversity doll – inside right foot, quilt.

Property of Kassia Kukurudza, HBSc, BEd

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Grade: 3/4 Period: 1

BACKGROUND INFORMATION / RATIONALE

UNIT: Literacy (Recounts)LESSON TITLE: Diversity Doll

CURRICULUM EXPECTATIONS1.2 (Active Listening): demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by using active listening strategies in order to contribute meaningfully and work constructively in groups.2.3 (Clarity and Coherence): communicate orally in a clear, coherent manner, presenting ideas, opinions, and information in a logical sequence.2.7 (Visual Aids): use a variety of appropriate visual aids (e.g., overheads, diagrams, graphic organizers, charts, artefacts) to support or enhance oral presentations.

OVERALL LEARNING OBJECTIVE(S)Academic Objective(s) Collaborative Objective(s)

Students will learn to orally present a recount.Students will demonstrate this learning by:

• Using appropriate language (first, then, next, finally) and presenting ideas in a logical sequence (chronological).

• Referring to their quilt square to enhance their presentation (linking their language to their quilt square by pointing out events).

• Discussing why they chose this event and what about it makes it special.

Students will need to demonstrate attentive (active) listening in order to successfully complete the task.

Academic Task Analysis Collaborative Task Analysis Students will need to work at Recall,

Application, and Analysis levels of Bloom’s Students will need skill of recalling events

(including knowledge of transition words). Students will need to know how to make

connections (i.e. between the event and its meaning for them).

Success Criteria: We will use the following transition words

in our oral recounts: first, then, next, finally We will use our quilt square to help explain

our event, by making connections between our drawing and our language.

We will explain how this event is special to us.

New concept PracticeNote: Collaborative Skills divide into: Social Communication, and Critical Thinking


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ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Assessment for learning Assessment as learning Assessment of learning

Observation Learning Log/Journal Presentation/Performance Anecdotal Notes Self-Assessment Audio/Video/Technology Work Sample Peer-Assessment Project Interview/Conference Rubric Oral Report Checklist Quiz/Test Discussion Other:

Details: Students will assess own work/peers’ work as they are learning in order to understand the success criteria of the learning goal (assessment as learning). Students will be observed during their cooperative learning/ presentations and will participate in group discussions (assessment for learning).

MODIFICATIONS & ACCOMMODATIONS

Increased time Decreased time Use of Manipulatives Increased space Decreased space Oral Explanation Increased amount Decreased amount Peer Tutor/Partner Scribe Visuals Extend Grouping

TEACHER’S MATERIALS STUDENTS’ MATERIALS• Diversity Doll and Quilt Square model• Anchor charts• Large piece of paper for final quilt• Document camera

• Small quilt squares (with coloured construction paper backs)

• Markers• Targets for self-reflection

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES INSTRUCTIONAL INTELLIGENCE SKILLS/TACTICS/STRATEGIES

Linguistic Bodily/Kinesthetic Logical/Mathematical Interpersonal Spatial Intrapersonal Musical Naturalistic

Think-Pair-Share 3-Step Interview Framing Questions Inside/Outside Circle Johnson’s 5 Basic Ranking Ladder Round Robin Fishbone

Curriculum Outcome(s)Note: Only select the outcome(s) directly addressed in this lesson.Students will possess a beginning knowledge of making connections, attentive listening and recounts (including transition words).


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They will demonstrate a final understanding by presenting their oral recounts in a logical sequence using appropriate vocabulary and visual cues, and making connections between their event and their personal identities. They will attentively listen to other group members present.

Objective(s) based on the OutcomeThe “what” they will learn and “how” they will prove it – make sure it is specific, measureable, and matches regarding Bloom’s Taxonomy Students will learn to orally recount and event that they make personal connections with.Students will prove this by presenting an oral recount using transition words, logical sequence of events, visual cues (quilt square) and making explicit connections (e.g. “This event is important to me because it represents my heritage”).

Mental Set (5 min)Must link to past learning, involve all students, and relate to objective.

Think/pair/share about diversity.

“What comes to mind when I say ‘diversity’? How have you experienced diversity? Take a moment to think to yourselves, and then I will ask you to turn to an elbow partner and share your ideas. I will be asking some of you to share with the whole group (individual accountability)”.

After sharing with elbow partners, have students offer ideas about diversity (not going to popcorn with this class because it may lead to a lot of calling out, tend to be very good at offering responses by raising hands). This mental set will allow me to activate students’ prior knowledge, ensure that all students have a similar basic understanding of the concept, and assess their understanding of diversity. After we are done sharing, I will write a definition for diversity that we can post, based on student responses (but basically, “Diversity means that we all have differences, and we need to celebrate these differences because they make us special”).

Check for UnderstandingAll students must be involved and it must relate to the objective. Will check for understanding of diversity through conversations and by listening to students during think/pair/share.


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Sharing the Objective and Purpose in Student Friendly Language (3 min)Share what the students will be learning and the purpose of the academic (and collaborative objective if applicable). For Collaborative Tasks you will have both an academic and a social/ communication/ or critical thinking skills objective.

Learning Goal: We will learn how to retell an important story so that our friends can understand.

Success Criteria: • We will use transition words (like first, then, next and finally).• We will tell our story in a logical order.• We will use our quilt square to help explain our story.• We will explain why this story is important to us.

Even though co-constructing the success criteria would be more effective, I will complete the anchor chart beforehand and will instead just explain the success criteria, because of time constraints and because the students will be co-creating an anchor chart for our collaborative goal later. The students will be spending a long time on the carpet during input/modelling as well, and I know that they will begin to get fidgety after about 10 minutes.I will discuss collaborative goal after modelling my Diversity Doll because it is essential for the students to understand how important this social goal is in relation to our activity. Input/ Modelling/ Demonstration (12 min)Can they see all the attributes/ do they discuss them?“Today we will be working in groups to share our personal stories and practice oral recounts, but first I’m going to show you something I have been working on for a long time”.

Begin by explaining my Diversity Doll:• “I made this Diversity Doll so that I could share with you some of my personal stories. My doll

has lots of different parts, and each one tells a special story about my culture, my family, my past, my interests and my goals”.

Explain the outer appearance of my doll:• “My doll is dressed half in overalls and half in a skirt and a blouse. Can anyone guess why I

chose to do that? Take a moment to think to yourselves and then we will hear some ideas”.• “The right side of my doll represents me when I was about your age. I’m wearing overalls

because I grew up on a farm. The left side of my doll shows who I would like to become. Can anyone guess what I’m dressed as? (wait time, responses). I’m dressed like a teacher, because that is what I am now”.

Back of doll:• “This poem is about diversity, I’m going to read it out loud and as I read it, I would like you to

think about some of the diversity that we see in this classroom”. Inside:

• “The inside of my doll shows some of my interests and stories that I would like to share with you”.

• Family, farm, pets, rugby, Toronto, Ukraine/Scotland, forensics (“When I was in university, before I decided to become a teacher, I studied something called “forensic anthropology” which is the study of human skeletons and bones”).

• “This quilt that I have made is very special, because it recounts my personal life story. Each square of the quilt represents a different part of me, or a different experience I have had (explain a few). This is an activity that I would like to do today”.

Collaborative Goal:


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“Before we talk about this activity, I would like to talk about our social goal for today: Listening attentively” (I will concentrate on the collaborative goal during this lesson as it is very important for the students to use this skill during their cooperative group work to foster safe environment and allow the activity to run smoothly). Will do an anchor chart with students – “What does listening attentively look like/ sound like/ feel like?” Will give students wait time but not think/pair/share for time reasons.

Model my Quilt Square:• “Today we will be working together to make a class quilt that shows the diversity of

experiences we have had. You will each be making your own quilt square that recounts one event that was special to you, and that still means something for you today. This could be anything that is important for you, like a trip, or a family event, or something that happened in school. This is my event that I would like to share with you.”

• Show my quilt square on the DocCam, about the time I went to visit my family’s first house in Canada. Model how to orally present, “First, we drove for a long time, all the way to Manitoba. Then, we went to visit a Ukranian museum…”

Independent Practice (22 min)Directly supports the objective.

• Split students into groups to work by giving each of them a quilt square with a different coloured border. At each table will be a label marking the group that should work there.

• Students will have 1 minute to think to themselves about the event they will be recounting (“You will be sharing with your group in one minute”).

• Students will have 1 minute to share (“You only have one minute for everyone to share, so be respectful and keep your ideas short. Remember our social goal”).

• Students will have 8 minutes to draw their square. They will be doing their own square independently, but a low buzz in the classroom is acceptable. Students will be told that if they have a question, they should refer to members of their group first.

Sharing:• “We are now going to share our quilt square with our groups. We only have 8 minutes overall,

2 minutes each, so keep an eye on the clock. Remember our success criteria (refer to anchor chart) and our cooperative goal of listening attentively”.


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• “I want you to decide in your groups one thing that you have learned or that surprised you during your sharing. You have one minute to decide and then I will be choosing someone at random from each group to share with the whole class”. (This will increase individual accountability).

Check for Understanding• All students must be involved and it must relate to the objective.• Will check for understanding of oral recounts by listening to students during group sharing,

and looking for success criteria.

Closure (5 min)Final summary of key ideas by all students, directly relates to objective.

Have students self-reflect on their achievement of the collaborative goal, their understanding of diversity, and their enjoyment of the activity by having them do a target (their ticket out the door) to be handed in.

“Each of you has been given a target with three sections. In the first section, it says, “Listening Attentively”. I would like you to think to yourself how well you listened in your groups today, and put a dot to show how well you think you listened today. If you put your dot in the outer circle, that would mean, “I could have listened better today, I need to work on this skill”. If your dot is in the middle circle, it would mean, “I listened pretty well, but I still have some things to work on”, and if your dot is in the inner circle, it would mean, “I listened very well today, and I tried my best to be attentive”. Take a moment to think to yourselves now, and then put a mark where you think it belongs. Remember, this is private, and the only other person who will see it is me. I will be using it to reflect on my own teaching of this lesson.

Now let’s look at the second section, that says, “ Understanding Diversity”. I would like you to make a dot in the circle that best shows how you think you understand diversity. The outer circle means, “I don’t really understand diversity”. The middle circle means, “I understand diversity, but I still have a lot


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of questions”. The inner circle means, “I really understand diversity, and I can see how it relates to my life and my personal recount”. Take a moment now to reflect and mark your target.

Let’s look at the last section, which is marked, “Fun Level”. I would like you to make a mark that shows how much you liked this activity. If you didn’t really enjoy it, put a mark in the outside circle. If you had a pretty good time, put a mark in the middle circle. If you thought it was a really fun activity, put a mark in the inner circle. Take a moment to do that now.

Thank you everyone for a great lesson. I’ll be collecting your targets and your quilt squares now (as a ticket out the door/ for the next period – depending on when I teach this lesson)”.

Check for UnderstandingAll students must be involved and it must relate to the objective. Will check for understanding of collaborative goal (attentive listening) by looking over their targets after class, and checking how their self-reflections correspond with my observations. I will check for understanding of visual cues in oral recounts by checking their quilt squares.

Examples of Student Work:


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Diversity Doll ReflectionDiversity Doll & Lesson Plan: Two Stars & A WishDiversity Doll & Lesson Plan: Two Stars & A Wish

Diversity Doll I’m glad that I included a variety of activities for a

variety of ages/learners in my doll, so that I can use it for years to come.

I like that I layered the meaning of my doll, so I can share as much /little as I am comfortable with, depending on the context.

I wish that I had added a bucket to my doll, to hold more photographs and items to share.

Lesson Plan I like that I built instructional strategies into my

lesson plan and scripted questions, as this allowed me to teach much more effectively, especially when the unexpected arose.

I like that I incorporated oral and media literacy into the recount unit to build in an extra layer of diversity – considering the variety of ways to tell a story (e.g. oral storytelling in cultures).

I planned too much for my lesson and had to rush aspects, which decreased comprehension – I wish I had spread this out over two periods.

Language & Literacy:Language & Literacy:Reflection on lesson creation/planning: The mental set was not as fulfilling as I had hoped because it was not properly framed: I structured the question “What is diversity?” as a recall level, not realizing that this was an entirely new word for many students. In the future, I need to be more careful in considering students’ prior knowledge. The learning goal and success criteria were effective; I understand how important it is to give students a focused goal for the lesson, and a way to achieve that goal, in friendly language.Delivery: By scripting my lesson, I was able to frame questions and develop quick strategies for different behaviours that arose – this is something I will continue in the future. The doll was very exciting for the students and led to a lot of questions. In retrospect, I should have provided the students with a way to communicate their comments without slowing down the pace of the lesson, perhaps by giving them post-it notes to record their ideas and giving written responses later. I needed to spend more time discussing and modelling the social goal, because this was important to the learning goal and the cooperative group strategy, and by rushing it I diminished the effectiveness of the lesson. I will remember this in future literacy lessons.Professional Growth in Literacy: I lost ten minutes in transitions and this affected my lesson – I learned that in language lessons, it is important to be flexible, and to understand timing. It would have been better if I could have realized that the loss of time would make my lesson less effective and to respond by separating it into two language blocks. I also learned that even if the focus of the lesson is oral literacy, it is important to include other aspects of literacy, and to include thoughtful accommodations for students with verbal difficulties (for example, one student in my class is a selective mute, and she is more comfortable presenting when the focus is not on her. If I had asked her to present just to me, she would have been very uncomfortable, but by letting her talk with a small group of students and listening in, I could assess her learning more effectively).

Reflection on lesson creation/planning: The mental set was not as fulfilling as I had hoped because it was not properly framed: I structured the question “What is diversity?” as a recall level, not realizing that this was an entirely new word for many students. In the future, I need to be more careful in considering students’ prior knowledge. The learning goal and success criteria were effective; I understand how important it is to give students a focused goal for the lesson, and a way to achieve that goal, in friendly language.Delivery: By scripting my lesson, I was able to frame questions and develop quick strategies for different behaviours that arose – this is something I will continue in the future. The doll was very exciting for the students and led to a lot of questions. In retrospect, I should have provided the students with a way to communicate their comments without slowing down the pace of the lesson, perhaps by giving them post-it notes to record their ideas and giving written responses later. I needed to spend more time discussing and modelling the social goal, because this was important to the learning goal and the cooperative group strategy, and by rushing it I diminished the effectiveness of the lesson. I will remember this in future literacy lessons.Professional Growth in Literacy: I lost ten minutes in transitions and this affected my lesson – I learned that in language lessons, it is important to be flexible, and to understand timing. It would have been better if I could have realized that the loss of time would make my lesson less effective and to respond by separating it into two language blocks. I also learned that even if the focus of the lesson is oral literacy, it is important to include other aspects of literacy, and to include thoughtful accommodations for students with verbal difficulties (for example, one student in my class is a selective mute, and she is more comfortable presenting when the focus is not on her. If I had asked her to present just to me, she would have been very uncomfortable, but by letting her talk with a small group of students and listening in, I could assess her learning more effectively).School & Society:School & Society:In teaching this lesson, I learned that my own diversity plays a huge part in the way I relate to students (and how they relate to me). My own identities (learning styles, intelligences, culture, experiences, etc.) create personal biases and teaching preferences that I have to consider in developing lessons that acknowledge the diversity in my class. For example, I am an artistic person and a visual learner, so when created this lesson I incorporated a visual arts component – in reflection, although I still think that this was a good activity, it was also an example of my personal biases. I also learned that certain elements of my diversity can create entry points that allows students to make connections to me and to better relate to me as their teacher. For example, certain parts of my doll (my Ukrainian heritage, my background in forensics, and my pet horse) really resonated with the students, and made them excited to share parts of themselves with me too.

In teaching this lesson, I learned that my own diversity plays a huge part in the way I relate to students (and how they relate to me). My own identities (learning styles, intelligences, culture, experiences, etc.) create personal biases and teaching preferences that I have to consider in developing lessons that acknowledge the diversity in my class. For example, I am an artistic person and a visual learner, so when created this lesson I incorporated a visual arts component – in reflection, although I still think that this was a good activity, it was also an example of my personal biases. I also learned that certain elements of my diversity can create entry points that allows students to make connections to me and to better relate to me as their teacher. For example, certain parts of my doll (my Ukrainian heritage, my background in forensics, and my pet horse) really resonated with the students, and made them excited to share parts of themselves with me too.In terms of modification/ accommodations, I need to remember that all students have different learning styles and exceptionalities, not only those who have been identified. In the future, I need to remember to consider each and every learner and the specific accommodations they need, even if it is just little things to help them learn. I think that in planning this lesson, I was too focused on specific exceptionalities and forgot other students in the process. I also learned that students have a diversity of backgrounds and experiences, some of which I can easily relate to and others I have never even considered. In order to create an equitable classroom, I need to carefully consider all students, and learn more about student backgrounds that I don’t have experience with – which may include asking students questions, and learning more about the community of the school through observations and participation in community activities outside of the school.

In terms of modification/ accommodations, I need to remember that all students have different learning styles and exceptionalities, not only those who have been identified. In the future, I need to remember to consider each and every learner and the specific accommodations they need, even if it is just little things to help them learn. I think that in planning this lesson, I was too focused on specific exceptionalities and forgot other students in the process. I also learned that students have a diversity of backgrounds and experiences, some of which I can easily relate to and others I have never even considered. In order to create an equitable classroom, I need to carefully consider all students, and learn more about student backgrounds that I don’t have experience with – which may include asking students questions, and learning more about the community of the school through observations and participation in community activities outside of the school.


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