Embracing Differences

I'd like to share two articles I found that are both related to the idea of embracing cultural differences. They both have excellent ideas for integrating a variety of subjects and tools into a balanced lesson of identity and culture.

First Article:

Celebrating Skin Tone: The Science and Poetry of Skin Color
Rethinking Schools Vol. 29 No. 3
Spring 2015
By Katharin Johnson



Audience: educators

Key Points: "Worse than an unwelcoming world is the possibility of an unwelcoming classroom and school." This article shows how to teach acceptance and tolerance by teaching the biological basis of skin color and teaching students to think like poets to recreate personal poems of their own skin color. 


Relevance:
There are so many dynamics to this article. The first is the integration of two subjects. The first being science and the second literature. The teacher in this article is able to combine two contrasting subject areas in order to teach one lesson which is not only impressive but time efficient. Her students are not only exploring a combination of subjects but also learning about the dynamics of their skin color and embracing each other's differences. The next point is the idea that these topics can be taught to even the youngest of students. The children in this article are only 1st and 2nd graders but they are still fully capable of grasping these ideas. Finally, this article is allowing students to play the roles of the experts. Rather than teaching a lesson on the topic, the teacher is asking students to think like biologists and poets which is brining deeper context and meaning to the lesson at hand.


Second Article:

Teach Empathy With Digital Immigration Stories
Edutopia
May 28th, 2015
By Sara Burnett

Audience: educators (for teacher development)

Key Points: Digital storytelling about immigration teaches students diversity, personal history, narratives, while building writing skills, integrating technology, and engaging students in their own learning experience.

Relevance: This article shows how to integrate technology into the classroom by using digital resources to tell personal immigration stories. It also describes the importance of teaching and cultivating empathy towards diversity. This type of teaching allows students to create their own learning experience as they navigate through the stories of their family history. It's a chance to target multiple learning styles and students play the role of historian, writer, and storyteller.