Social Justice Lesson Outline

Mrs. Casanovas 5th Grade Class

Topic: The Affect of Stereotypes in Society

Rational: After speaking with Mrs. Casanova about her students and the topics the class
as a whole have touched on, we decided to tackle the affect of stereotypes in our society.
Mrs. Casanova mentioned that her class had been discussing equality in our society,
specifically racial equality. The class has also talked about human rights for all despite
your background and race. We felt that based on the conversations the students have had,
they understand that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and kindness no matter
whom they may be. This lead us to think about what issues of social equality the students
might face first hand or even perpetuate, which lead us to stereotyping. Although they
may not realize it, children are offenders of stereotyping and if not addressed, those
children grow into adults who stereotype and cause real harm in our society because of it.
Our goal for this lesson is for students to understand that their actions play a role in what
makes our society unfair, but they can change their actions by being aware and standing
up for whats right. People and the world are not perfect, but we are trying to make it
better starting with ourselves.

Common Core Standards:

Math
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NF.B.6
Solve real world problems involving multiplication of fractions and mixed
numbers, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the
problem.

Social Justice Standards:

JU.3-5.12
I know when people are treated unfairly, and I can give examples of
prejudice words, pictures and rules.

JU.35.14
Iknowthatwords,behaviors,rulesandlawsthattreatpeopleunfairlybasedontheir
groupidentitiescauserealharm.
AC.35.19
IwillspeakupordosomethingwhenIseeunfairness,andIwillnotletothersconvince
metogoalongwithinjustice.

Intro:
Start by creating a safe learning environment. Announce that we will be
discussion a difficult topic and talking about mistakes many of us have made, but
that does not mean we are bad people. We are all here to learn and become better
citizens and in order to do this we need to be open minded, accepting of others,
and loving.
Write Stereotype on the board and as a class create a definition of stereotypes. If
needed give a couple of examples of stereotypes.
Pass out small slips of paper to each student.
Explain that they will anonymously write down a stereotype that they have heard
or used on the slip and put it in the hat. If they cannot come up with a stereotype,
they may write down a hurtful statement they have heard or have said to someone.
Remind students that this is a safe, non-judgmental, accepting, and loving space
where we may be admitting to mistakes and learning from them in order to be
better people and create a better society. Meaning, it is ok if we have used
stereotypes or said hurtful things to other because today we will learn from our
mistakes and try our best to make positive changes.
Read slips aloud and have short discussions about how the stereotype is untrue
and harmful.
Transition into shortened read aloud of How We Are Smart by Nikola Lisa.

Lesson:
Read a few pages of How We Are Smart by Nikola Lisa.
Discuss what different intelligences mean and the intelligences they feel they
obtain. Highlight that no matter what a persons culture and race is, everyone is
unique and will have different intelligences. Note that even stereotypes that seem
positive and are about positive abilities a group of people have, are also harmful.
Introduce poem assignment and prompt:
o Pass around paper to create brainstorm webs.
o Have kids write down what career they want when they grow up and
brainstorm reasons why. Or what their unique intelligence is and the things
they can do with their intelligence.
o Pass out paper for students to create a rough draft of a short poem.
Share poems if students wish to volunteer, if not just share the careers they wrote
about.
Using the Bureau of Labor and Statistics website, we will be showing students he
demographics of a few of the careers they wrote about. (Teachers, Doctors,
Nurses, Engineers, etc.) Make sure not to devalue any professions and emphasis
that everyone has value in our society.
 Discuss the demographics highlighting race and gender representation in each of
the careers. Focus on what stereotypes align with the demographics demonstrated.
(The goal of this discussion is to show how stereotypes have affected our society
by making certain groups of people feel like they cannot obtain the career they
want because of the stereotypes aligned to that career, gender, and or race.)
Create visual representation of the demographics of a profession using fractions
circles and write a brief explanation of how stereotypes affected the demographics
of that profession.

Closing:
Have a closing discussion about how they will approach stereotypes from here on
out.
Guiding Questions:
o What do stereotypes mean to you?
o What do stereotypes sound like?
o How are stereotypes harmful in your school?
o How are stereotypes harmful in America?
o What can we do when we hear someone using a stereotype or feel like we
are using a stereotype?

Materials:
Paper strips
Blank paper (for brainstorm web, rough draft, and fraction circle.)
Color pencils, crayons, and markers.