What is your role? Lesson Plan

TeachPeaceNow

Lesson: What is your role?

Objective: To help students understand the difference between being a bystander and an activist.

Preparation: Select a book to read aloud that shows someone being victimized. Some possible books include Going Some Place Special (McKissack), Say Something (Moss), White Socks Only (Coleman), Mayfield Crossing (Nelson)

Procedure: Read the story. Then make a chart on the board like the one below.

Victim(s)

Bystander(s)

Ally(s)

Talk about what each role looks and sounds like.

List characters under the roles they played in story.

Follow Up Discussion Question

Ask students if they have ever taken one of the roles. Discuss how they felt. What they could they have done differently? Did it make a difference who else they were with?

Extensions:

1. All grades: Rewrite the story for for “justice” Have students retell the story with people who were bystanders joining with the ally.

2. 2nd grade and up: Have students make similar charts in their reading journals and using books they have read place characters under the role they take in the story.

3. High School: Use the chart to evaluate historical events and the role different important personages played, such as the emancipation of the slaves during the Civil War or the elimination of apartheid in South Africa,

Home * Issues * Groups * Activities * Contact Us* About Us