Archive for the ‘The Arts’ Category

Student Empowerment: Making Good Choices

Sunday, July 1st, 2012

social_action_project

Grade: 3rd and 4th gade self-contained autism class
Topics: bullying, personal empowerment, differentiating/identifying good and bad choices
Social Justice Skills: Peer Education, identifying choices
Teacher: Sarah Davie

In my social action project, I use literacy to help my students with autism identify the actions of what a bully does. We conclude that a bully makes bad choices, which include hitting, punching, and taking other people’s food. After identifying bad choices, we provided alternative choices the bully could have made instead that were seen as good choices. In working with a general ed classroom, I was also able to read all of the students the story and get the peers’ feedback about bullies as well. We incorporated the peers using role play and recreating/rewriting their own versions of the book used for the unit.

Visit this blog: https://sites.google.com/site/makingachangesap2012/

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Posted in 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, Language Arts, Social Studies, Special Education, The Arts | No Comments »

Making Our Community Better

Sunday, July 1st, 2012

DSCF6532Grade: 4th grade unit
Topics: Bullying, Violence, Civil Rights
Social Justice Skills: Creating signs, Producing PSAs, Letter Writing
Teacher: Jim Fabros

During the Winter of 2011-2012, the 4th grade students of Room 113 at Abington Avenue School participated in a community walk in which they visited their favorite community restaurants and stores. This began their journey to investigate their community. This blog is dedicated to chronicle the activities and experiences of the students as they attempt to make their neighborhood a better place to live.

Ultimately, they decided that the most prevalent challenge to their direct community was violence, specifically bullying. After weeks of investigating and learning, the students produced signs and commercials meant to help raise awareness and motivate others to stop bullying. We hope to also be a part of creating a school wide conflict resolution group. Visit the link to view more details and process of our project.

Visit this blog: http://socialjusticeabington.blogspot.com/?zx=194741faefdce86e

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The CACAO Project: Children Against Chocolate Aided Oppression

Friday, June 24th, 2011

picket-signs-10Grade: 5th grade unit
Topics: Child labor, fair trade
Social Justice Skills: Letter writing, petitions, protest, PSA’s
Created by Dan Hildreth and Neil Rathan

This unit taught students about the use of child labor and the benefits of fair trade in the coca industry. Students wrote letters to chocolate CEO’s, created a petition to get fair trade chocolate in their local store, created PSA’s to educate the community and protested in front of M&Ms/Mars in Times Square.

Find out more: cacoaproject.wordpress.com

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Understanding the Past: Changing the Future

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Grade: 5th grade, general ed and Integrated Team Teaching
Topics: Racism, Discrimination, Civil Rights
Social Justice Skills: Letter Writing, Peer Education, Critical Thinking

Created by Emily Munzer, Daniel Hildreth and Neil Rathan, 5th grade teachers, Lower East Side, NYC

An in-depth unit on the American Civil Rights movement that spans from the 1940′s to the 1960′s. Students used historical fiction, non fiction resources, and documentary films to develop an understanding of the racial divide in the United States during this time period, identifying the differences between Individual vs. Institutional Racism, learning about key catalysts and leaders of the movement, and creating a content-specific glossary of related terms. The 5th grade ultimately wrote, directed, and acted in a “Living Museum” performance to showcase their understandings.

Find out more: http://noracisminthisclassroom.wordpress.com


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5th Graders say: Stop Unfair Child Labor Now!

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Grade: 5th Grade
Topics: Unfair labor, worker’s rights, fair trade, sustainability, fairness, slavery, unions
Created by Liav Shapiro, P.S. 230 Brooklyn, NY

This unit was created to teach students about unfair labor of the past and today, linking issues of children’s rights and labor rights. Students participated a “Fair Trade Boot Camp,” various simulations, created artwork, wrote letters to major U.S. companies, and became more critical of the foods that are sold in their local supermarkets.

Find out more: www.unfairchildlabor.wordpress.com

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