Gwynedd-Mercy College

School of Education
Valuing Diversity ~ Deepening Community

Your Name: Michele Morelli

School: Simmons Elementary School

Date: 2/12/13
Grade/Topic: Grade 1/ Diversity

STANDARD:
PA Common Core: English Language Arts
CC 1.5 Speaking and Listening
PDE Student Interpersonal Skills
16.2 Establishing and Maintaining Relationships
PDE Civics and Government
5.1 Principles and Documents of Government
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATION:
Students will discover the meaning of diversity, culture and tradition by observing a
video story, participating in a discussion, and creating a cultural flag with their
peers.

I.
1.

PLANNING AND PREPARATION:

Briefly describe the students in your class, including those with special needs, explain
how you will meet the needs of all learners.
This lesson plan is developed for a 1st grade classroom of 20 children in
total, 12 boys and 8 girls. There are no children with IEPs in this class.
This lesson is designed to meet the needs of all of the students in the
classroom, paying attention to different learning styles such as auditory
and visual. I will provide additional assistance if needed.

2.

What are your expectations for this lesson? What do you want students to learn and be
able to do with the knowledge
The students will interpret the terms diversity, tradition and culture and
relate these topics to their own environments (school, family, community,
etc.). The students will also participate in a group activity where they must
create a cultural flag representative of all of the cultures in their group.
After the flags are complete the teacher will address each flag, asking each
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student to briefly explain their contributions. Working together in groups,

they will be exemplifying the idea of diverse people living/working
together in harmony, as well as making a visual example of this for their
other peers to see. The students will recognize other cultures as they
participate in the class discussion and the illustration of their flags.
3.

Why are these expectations suitable for this group of students?

These expectations are suitable for this particular group of students
because they are a very diverse and eclectic group. Referencing the PDE
standards, 1st graders can listen actively and respond to others in group
settings be them large or small, with fitting questions and thoughts. This
group is also at a developmentally appropriate age to introduce civic
principles.

4.

How do these expectations support the school districts curriculum, state standards, and
content standards?
These expectations support the PA Academic Standards specifically in:
PA Common Core: English Language Arts
CC 1.5 Speaking and Listening
CC.1.5.1.A: Participate in collaborative conversations with peers and
adults in small and larger groups.
CC.1.5.1.C: Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order
to gather additional information or clarify something that is not
understood.
CC.1.5.1.F: Add drawings or other visual displays when sharing aloud to
clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
PDE Civics and Government
5.1 Principles and Documents of Government
5.1.1.C: Define equality and the need to treat everyone equally.
PDE Student Interpersonal Skills
16.2 Establishing and Maintaining Relationships
16.2.5.A: Establish relationships that are positive and supportive of others.
16.2.5.B: Recognize and tolerate the uniqueness of all people in all
situations.
16.3 Decision Making and Responsible Behavior
16.3.5.C: Actively engage in creating an environment that encourages
healthy relationships.

5.

Explain the psychological principles/theories you used in constructing this lesson.

This lesson reflects part of Bruners Constructivist Theory. Bruner
theorized that children learn by constructing new ideas/concepts based on
their current knowledge of the subject. Children rely on their current
schemas or cognitive structures to help them understand new topics and
build upon other topics. This lesson encourages children to use what they
already know about their own culture and traditions to build a general
understanding of other cultures. It also encourages the students to tap into
their prior knowledge regarding equal and tolerant treatment of others in
the classroom and relate it to a larger scale, including people in the
community, state, country, etc.

II.
6.

CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT:

Describe the effective classroom routines and procedures resulting in little or no loss of
instructional time.

1.
2.
3.
4.

5.
6.

Prior to actual class time, the teacher will set up all of the necessary
materials on one table in the back of the room. For the first piece of the
lesson (the motivation and discussion) the students will be in their
assigned seats. After the discussion is complete, the teacher will then:
Use the count-off method to create 5 groups of 4 students each.
Assign each group to a specific table in the room, and ask the students to move over to
their designated areas.
Choose one student randomly from each group to distribute any necessary materials.
Explain to the students that they will have around 5 minutes to discuss what they want on
their flag, and where it should be placed. In these 5 minutes, each student should be
sharing 1 tradition or cultural idea from their family/background. 15-20 minutes will be
given to complete the illustrations (timing is subject to change, but the main goal is to
give the students a clear time frame).
Inform the students that they are to bring their cultural flag to the teacher after
completion. The teacher will then give them tape and ask them to hang their work at eyelevel on a wall in the front of the classroom.
Allow the groups whove finished first to talk amongst their group (at their assigned
tables) until the rest of the groups have completed the task.
*The teacher will be walking around the room, providing students with
easy access to assistance if needed.

7.

Identify what you will do to set clear standards of conduct and behavior management of
student behavior.

8.

The classroom rules will be written in a large font on a poster board at the
front of the room. The teacher will call attention to this list before the
lesson has begun. This list will include some general classroom rules such
as:
Inside voices are to be used at all times (unless specified)
There is to be no fighting or hurtful words used in the classroom
Hands are to be raised when a question arises, and students are expected to wait patiently
for help from their teacher.
No swearing
Treat peers with the same care that you expect from them (listen to opinions and ideas,
respect and accept differences, etc.)
Specific rules for this lesson include:
Each group member will work together to return the materials to their proper place in the
classroom
While in groups, the students are expected to actively listen and respond to their peers
ideas.
A reiteration of the general classroom rule of respect; the children will be hearing of
traditions and ideas that they do not practice, so it should be stressed that the students are
kind and accepting of their peers differences.
Respect personal space boundaries
Hands are to be raised (no calling out) during discussion times.
Identify what you will do to establish expectations for student achievement
The teacher will establish expectations for achievement first by modeling.
After each students reports to their group table, the teacher will identify
what the flag project entails (each student must represent a piece of their
culture on their group flag). These directions will be clear and concise to
ensure student comprehension. The teacher will then show either a
personal example of a cultural flag, or one from a previous class. They
will explain each illustration on the example flag (identifying which are
traditions, ways of life, holidays, foods, etc. and which cultures/parts of
the world the examples are from) to give the students a greater
understanding of the project expectations. Any additional questions will be
gladly answered.

III.

INSTRUCTION:

9.

What will you do to motivate students?

There are two motivational pieces to this lesson. To begin the lesson, the
teacher will present to the students a box of crayons, holding up a few
different colors to be observed. The students will be asked to identify the
crayons similarities and differences. The students will then be asked to
relate this idea to their families, explaining why they are similar to and
different from other families (this is where traditions, culture and diversity
will begin to come in). After this short discussion has been completed, the
students will watch a video called The Crayon Box That Talked based
on the book by Shane De Rolf.

10.

What will you do to activate prior knowledge?

The teacher will activate prior knowledge by using a simple question and
answer method. Some of the questions asked will include:
(Display box of crayons, pull a few out for children to observe) Take a look at these
crayons. How are they the same? How are they different? (ANALYSIS)
(After watching short video) Have you ever felt the way the crayons did? What are some
reasons for not getting along with others? (COMPREHENSION)
Think of yourself and your family as a crayon from a crayon box. What makes you
different from other people/families? Do you celebrate unique holidays? Do you have
unique traditions (the term tradition will be explained along with this question and
teacher will go into depth later in the lesson)? (ANALYSIS)

11.

How do you plan to engage students in the content? What will you do? What will
students do?

The materials needed for this lesson are:

Crayon box (for motivation)
The Crayon Box That Talked video on Vimeo.com (for motivation)
1 large poster board per group
Markers
Crayons
One pencil per student (each student should bring their own to their group)

The teacher will then begin the lesson after question #6 is followed, with the exception of
sending one student from each group to collect materials (this will come later):
While the students are in their assigned seats, the teacher will begin with the crayon box
motivation (explained in question # 9). This motivation will include the first bulleted
prior knowledge question in question #10 of this lesson).
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 After the short discussion is complete, the students will watch the video, The Crayon
Box That Talked, based on the book by Shane De Rolf.
The teacher will then ask the students the second bulleted prior knowledge question from
#10 of this lesson.
After this question has been answered by some of the students, the teacher will explain to
the students that each of them are unique in their own way; they may look different and
have different lifestyles, opinions and ways of doing things from their peers. The teacher
will tell the students that they are all like the crayons from the motivation; unique, their
own color. The teacher will also say that this does not mean that they cannot respect each
others differences and live in harmony.
The term diversity will be defined and related to the students in the classroom (some
things that can be pointed out are the differences in hair or eye colors, favorite colors or
food, etc).
The third bulleted prior knowledge question will then be introduced. Before the question
is addressed by the students, the teacher will explain that each of their families is a part of
a larger culture. The teacher will define culture as a way of life for a particular group of
people (usually unique to a specific location), which can include holidays, foods, beliefs
and traditions. They will also define a tradition as a specific action that has been followed
for many, many years by a certain group of people or culture. The teacher will give some
examples for culture and tradition such as:
o The teacher may be a part of an Italian family, so they can tell the students that in their
house, pasta is a staple in many of their meals.
o The teacher may share that they celebrate Christmas, which is a part of their familys
culture.
o The teacher will share a few traditions, such as opening one present every Christmas Eve,
or making Pizzelles on Christmas Day with the family.
The students will be encouraged to share some of their differences with the entire class.
The teacher will be involved in the discussion, making sure that the students are
comprehensively answering the questions regarding their personal traditions and
holidays.
The teacher will then tell the students that they are going to apply their new knowledge
about diversity and culture by creating a cultural flag with a group of their peers. They
will explain to the students that each student must draw 1 picture that relates to their
culture (traditions, foods, and holidays). An example or 2 will be provided and explained.
The teacher will follow the classroom routines mentioned in question #6 of this lesson in
regards to the division of groups and distribution of materials.
Now that the students are in their groups and have their materials, the teacher will address
question #7 of this lesson, classroom rules and rules specific to this lesson.
After the rules are discussed, the students may begin working on their flags (a clear timeframe for brainstorming and drawing will be given to the students as mentioned in
question #6 of this lesson)
The students will be encouraged to first draw their ideas in with pencil and then to apply
color with markers and crayons.
The teacher will give 5 and 10 minute warnings to the students. After the allotted time is
up, each group will be given a piece of tape to hang their posters at eye-level on a wall in
the front of the classroom.
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 It will then be each groups responsibility to return their materials to the proper place in
the classroom.
The students will return to their assigned seats. The teacher will then briefly address each
flag, asking each student to quickly explain their contributions to the flag.

12.

Describe the use of questioning and discussion strategies that will encourage students to
participate in class.
The motivation of this lesson involved Q&A strategies, as well as a large
group discussion. These strategies allow the students to tap into their prior
knowledge to better help them understand the terminology discussed in
this lesson. The discussion piece is most important because students at this
age need many examples from both their teachers and their peers.
Regarding Blooms levels of questioning, majority of these questions are
analysis and comprehension-based. Some questions that will be asked
during the cultural flag activity include:
What is your favorite holiday to celebrate with your family?
Can you think of anything that you and your family do every year?
Are there any foods you eat that are specific to your culture? (Examples will be given
such as meatballs, potato latkes, eggrolls, etc.)
All three of these questions are knowledge and comprehension based
questions. These questions will help the students better understand the
activity in which they are participating.

13.

What difficulties do students typically experience in this area, and how do you plan to
adapt/modify to meet their needs?
Students at this age may have a hard time understanding such a broad
concept as culture. In order to combat this, the teacher must be able to give
many specific examples of the concept (these examples are discussed in
question #11). The teacher must also be able to directly relate these
concepts to specific students (for instance, a teacher who knows their
children well should be able to help them generate ideas by using what
they already know about their family/home life). Considering that the
students will be in groups of 4, they will be able to converse among each
other to generate ideas and solidify their understanding. Students at this
age may also have a hard time working in groups. Specifically, they may
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have trouble sharing the allotted time given to create their illustrations.
The teacher must tell the students that the poster is large enough for all of
them to draw at once, and must also encourage the students to respect each
others boundaries and artworks. After a group has completed their flag,
they will be asked to remain at their table. They will be encouraged to
continue their conversations about their cultures, sharing similarities and
differences.
14.

Identify what informal and/or formal assessments you will use to monitor student
learning.
The teacher will be looking to see if the students have grasped the
terminology of the lesson. To determine this, they will be listening to the
students explain their cultural flags, taking informal notes. The teacher
will also be walking around the room, informally observing the groups
conversations. What is said during the class discussion will also be taken
into consideration. There will be no formal assessments of this lesson.

15.

What will you do to bring closure to the lesson?

To close the lesson, the teacher will once again define the terms diversity,
culture and tradition, which was the main focus of this lesson. The
students will then be asked to turn to the peer next to them and share one
interesting fact theyve learned about their classmates today. After the
students have shared their thought, the teacher will mention to the students
that they will be looking into some specific cultures in the next few days.
Tomorrows lesson will briefly discuss Chinese culture.