Lesson Plan- Individual Development and Identity Strand

Teachers: Daniel Vaught

Date of Lesson/Class/Period: November 13, 2006
Subject: 10-12th Grade Sociology
Topic: Prejudice & Discrimination
Essential Questions:

How are prejudice and discrimination different?

How can everyone relate to prejudice or discrimination in their lives?

General Objective[s]:
NCSS IV: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study
of individual development and identity, so that the learner can:
e. examine the interactions of ethnic, national, or cultural influences in specific
situations or events;
f. analyze the role of perceptions, attitudes, values, and beliefs in the development
of personal identity;
g. compare and evaluate the impact of stereotyping, conformity, acts of altruism,
and other behaviors on individuals and groups;
VUS.14 The student will demonstrate knowledge of economic, social, cultural, and
political developments in the contemporary United States by
c) explaining the media influence on contemporary American culture and how
scientific and technological advances affect the workplace, health care, and
education.
GOVT.1 The student will demonstrate mastery of the social studies skills citizenship
requires, including the ability to
g) select and defend positions in writing, discussion, and debate.
GOVT.17 The student will demonstrate knowledge of personal character traits that
facilitate thoughtful and effective participation in civic life by
b) practicing courtesy and respect for the rights of others;
Learning Outcomes:

In their study of prejudice and discrimination, SWBAT define key concepts

through completion of a note-taking guide.
In their study of prejudice and discrimination, SWBAT point out
stereotypes/prejudice in Spotswood high school through small group work and
class discussion.

In their study of discrimination, SWBAT predict social labels through the Guess
My Label activity.
In their study of stereotypes, SWBAT evaluate stereotypes as demonstrated by a
PowerPoint Wheres the Stereotype game.

Assessment: Methods of Evaluating Student Progress/Performance:

Formal Assessment
o Students will be checked for completion of a small group brainstorm list by
turning in one list for each group.
o Students will be checked for completion of the Guess My Label activity by
turning in a prediction/response paper for each student.
Informal Assessment
o Students will be checked for completion of the note-taking guide by the
teachers observation while walking around the room.
o Students will be assessed for their comprehension of stereotypes through
questioning by the instructor in the Wheres the Stereotype? activity.
o Throughout the class, instructor will observe, move around the class and ask
questions in order to assess student understanding.

Content Outline:

Prejudice
o Definition: widely held negative values to a group and individual
members.
The quality of adversely prejudging entire groups of people
without knowledge or examination of facts with which to form
informal judgments.

Associated with attitudes.

o Prejudice is not carried out by an act, it is just a thought.
Example: A woman thinks black men are criminals or a White man
feels Jews are greedy.

Racism
o An extreme form of prejudice that assumes one race or ethnicity is
superior over others.
o Example: Hitler felt Aryans were better than Jews.

Discrimination
o Definition: acting upon opinions by treating people unfairly.
o Discrimination: Behavior that shows prejudice. Failure to treat people
equally because of a bias based on characteristics such as race, religion,
sex, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, and disability.

o Examples: A woman moves her purse closer when a black man enters an
elevator with her or a man doesnt pick a girl to play basketball cause he
thinks she wont be good.
Types of Segregation: De Jure and De Facto
o De Jure Segregation: The spatial and social separation of populations that
occurs as a consequence of legal measures.

segregation that is imposed by law

De jure segregation has been prohibited in the United States since

the mid-1960s.

Examples: Before the Civil War (1861-1865), blacks were

not allowed to join state militias or the U.S. Army or Navy,
and the federal government refused to give passports to free
blacks.

o De Facto Segregation: The spatial and social separation of populations that

occurs without legal sanction.

de facto segregation occurs when blacks, for example, live in

neighborhoods with other blacks which results in the neighborhood
schools being largely black.

Minorities
o Definition: A group of people with physical or cultural traits different
from the dominant group in society.
o Not always in terms in numbers. Even though a group may have more
numbers in area, another group can still be referred to as dominant.
o Often experiences both prejudice and discrimination.

Stereotype
o Definition: a distorted, exaggerated, or over-simplified image applied to a
category of people.
o Most common product of prejudice
o Stereotypes are often associated with minority groups.
Examples: Athletes are all brawn and no brain and teenagers are
terrible drivers.

Student and Teacher Activities with Estimated Time Blocks:

Set Induction: As the students walk into the classroom, the instructor will treat the
males different than the females. The instructor will walk around the classroom

talking and interacting with the male students. The instructor will pass out pieces
of candy to male students, excluding the females. Then, the instructor will start
the lesson overview without acknowledging the complaints of the females. After a
minute or two, in which the females will inevitably become more vocal, the
instructor will stop and ask the female students what they thought about the
events that just occurred. The instructor will ask them to express their feelings and
opinions towards the simulation. The instructor will then ask why they thought
the faux favoritism was wrong. Was it because the instructor is of the same
gender? Is it because males are considered the dominant gender in society? After
a few mins. of discussion, the teacher will hand out candy to the females as well
and begin the lesson overview. (10 mins.)

The instructor will then give a brief PowerPoint lecture to introduce terms of
prejudice and discrimination. As the lecture overview slide is being surveyed, the
instructor will pass out the note-taking guide to each student. After going over the
lecture overview and the note-taking guide instructions, the instructor will lecture
the PowerPoint information concerning prejudice, racism, discrimination,
minorities, and stereotypes. The instructor will also provide examples of each to
help the students visualize and relate to the concepts. Throughout the lecture, the
instructor will move around to check for note-taking guide completion and proper
behavior and ask questions to ensure comprehension. (20 mins.)

After the lecture is over, the teacher will ask students to count off by 6s, starting
with the person nearest to the instructor with 1, to the person behind him or her,
with 2 and so forth till 6, then back to 1. After the counting has finished,
the instructor will ask all the ones, twos, threes, etc. to meet in a certain area of
the room of the instructors discretion. After the groups have met, the teacher will
instruct the group to nominate someone to be the recorder. Their task, the
instructor will say, is to develop a list of examples of prejudice, discrimination or
stereotypes in school. In doing so, they should think beyond some of the more
obvious examples, such as athletes are dumb. They should evaluate how the
school staff, for example, can be stereotyped or how even the cool kids are
stereotyped at times. The students will be instructed to find examples of prejudice,
discrimination and stereotypes. The instructor will walk around the room, sitting
down with groups to ensure lists are being formed and all students participate.
The teacher will pass out 6 slips to each group and a magic marker to each group.
He or she will also stick the three construction papers on the board. The teacher
will ask all the groups to finish their lesson and pick two examples each of
prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes that they would like to post on the
blackboard. Then the teacher will ask the groups to nominate someone to post
their slips on the blackboard in the appropriate places. The blackboard will look
like this:

After each group has placed their slips on the blackboard, the teacher will select a few
examples and discuss them with the class, asking if it is a legitimate example and how
so. After a few minutes of this discussion, the teacher will ask the students to get back
in their seats. (20 mins.)

The teacher will then announce that the class is going to have another activity
with groups, but this one might be a bit more fun than the last. The teacher will
group the students into three groups, at the teachers discretion. The instructor
will ask the groups to form their desks into a tight circle. The instructor will then
go over the instructions of the activity. Each student will receive a sticker on their
forehead with a certain label on it that will define how they are treated by the
rest of their group when speaking about a pre-determined topic. The students will
not know what is on their own foreheads. As the placing of stickers is conducted,
the teacher will model the activity with the example Everything I say is funny
and the topic why we should vote. After the demonstration is completed, the
teacher will ask students to make sure everyone knows what to do. If not, the
teacher will model again or rephrase the instructions. The teacher will then tell the
groups to discuss the topic Are athletes role models?, starting with any person
in the group and moving clockwise. As the groups discuss (and inevitably laugh
and speak loudly), the teacher will move around the room and participate with the
groups, ensuring student fun and comprehension. The teacher will even put on a
few stickers himself and participate! After about 15 mins. of group discussion,
the teacher will ask the students to quiet down and return their desks back to the
normal position. The teacher will then turn on the overhead projector, displaying
the actual labels that were used. The teacher will say that these were the labels
that the students had. The instructor will ask the students to take out a piece of
paper and write about which label they felt they had on their foreheads. The
instructor will emphasize that the prediction should be written in sentence form
and include EVIDENCE. After 5-7 mins, the teacher will then ask the students to
take off their stickers and record if their predictions were right or wrong. After a
min. or two, the teacher will then ask the students to write a reflection about the
activity, specifically identifying their feelings during the activity. After 5-7 mins,
the teacher will ask the students to wrap up and collect the papers. (40-45 mins.)

Closure: The teacher will close the lesson by turning on a Power Point
presentation called Wheres the label? The teacher will explain that this activity

is much like Wheres Waldo but this time for Sociology class. The teacher will
then click to a picture of a laundry detergent ad with a smiling woman and say In
this picture, the stereotype is that woman clean. Not only do they clean, they
LOVE IT! After the class chuckles a bit, the teacher will then click to the next
slide and ask the class to identify the stereotype. The teacher will keep clicking
through the slides and having the class identify the stereotypes until the class bell
rings. (10 mins.)
Materials Needed for the Lesson:
- Overhead/projector
- Bag of candy
- PowerPoint lecture: Prejudice and Discrimination
- 3 construction papers with labels:
Examples of Prejudice
Examples of Discrimination
Examples of Stereotypes
- 36 rectangular slips of construction paper, each 2X8
- 6 black magic markers
- PowerPoint activity: Wheres the Sterotype?
- Note-taking guide for Prejudice and Discrimination lesson
- Plain white mailing labels, each with one of the following phrases written neatly on it
(create three stickers with each phrase):
"Ignore my ideas."
"Praise me."
"Agree with me."
"Argue with me."
"Everything I say is stupid."
"I annoy you."
"I confuse you."
"Interrupt me."
"Cut down my ideas, steal them and restate them as your own."
Differentiation:

To provide the lesson content to different learners, this lesson has been differentiated
by:
o A note-taking guide is provided to students during the lecture (learning
profile)
o Students are placed into cooperative groups during activities (interest)
o A PowerPoint presentation is incorporated during the lecture and during the
closure activity (learning profile).

Subject Matter Integration/Extension:

This lesson serves as an introduction to prejudice for Mrs. Lams Sociology class.
To introduce the students to prejudice and its concepts, we have used a lecture, activities,
and group work. The following lessons will discuss each concept in greater depth. Mrs.
Lam wanted us to have a lesson that brought students beliefs and opinions to the surface
for their recognition. The activities (Discovering Stereotypes and Guess My Label)
allow students to experience feelings of prejudice and discover their beliefs/opinions.
Reflections:
This was actually a lesson I taught to a class of 10th-11th graders in Sociology. The
lesson went well, in my opinion. The students seemed to enjoy the student-led direction
of the lesson. The lecture was brief, but insightful. It also had a graphic organizer that
both differentiated and engaged students. The activities were fun, unique and revealing in
numerous ways. Overall, the students gained a better understanding of what it felt like to
be discriminated against. The only regret I have of this lesson, is that it didnt go deeper
into the topic, exploring if prejudice was an inevitability in our society, and if not,
whether it should be eliminated. This would address higher-order thinking and meet
Bloom Taxonomys highest level of learning: evaluation.
Resources:
Shephard, J. (2003). Sociology and you. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill
The New York Times Learning Network (n.d.) Tackling Race Issues on the Field
An Exercise in Understanding Our Treatment of Others. Retrieved November 12,
2006, from
www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20000703monday.html