It’s
Me:
I chose the activity called, It’s Me! I
chose this activity because it really gives the children a chance to maybe
notice things about themselves that they never noticed before. By drawing their own face with
the correct color crayon of their skin, they may notice that they have a mole,
or a birthmark that they never knew of.
They get to see and compare and contrast the similarities and
differences between their classmates.
It is age appropriate because they are able
to see their reflection, have a crayon and other materials to help them draw
themselves. They can look at the
color of their skin and match it to the crayon, match their hair color, eye
color, and go from there. We would
assist in making sure they see the positioning of their nose and mouth and eyes
and they can replicate what they see in the mirror. Something that is age appropriate doesn’t mean it has to be
easy, it means it can be challenging for that age group. Seeing and comparing the similarities
and differences in a more obvious thing, but seeing and understanding where
people come from and their culture is different, but challenging.
The three multicultural concepts I chose
that young children could understand are: Everyone is important, people are
similar, and people are different.
I chose these because in my activity they are seeing the differences and
similarities between their classmates.
Not only by the color of their skin, but their eye color, hair color,
shape and size of their mouth and nose, and maybe even things like moles on
their faces and such. It shows a
lot of diversity in this activity and shows you how many people can look alike
and many people can look different.
But we are all special and important to the world.
As stated in the text, “ An anti-bias
approach that helps children learn about human diversity, gain respect and
appreciation for diversity, learn to recognize and resist stereotypes and
unfair behavior, and learn to work with others to stand up for oneself or to
challenge bias; anti-bias education is implemented through classroom materials
and planned activities.” By doing such this, and with this activity we are
showing respect for our piers and appreciation for diversity because we are
seeing how people can be different.
We are also teaching them to resist stereotypes. By showing how we are all alike, yet
can look so different is a more physical way to show instead of tell. Children can make their own assumptions
on things, but with this activity we can show that similarities and differences
are a wonderful thing.
In this activity called, It’s Me! The children will be given skin colored
crayons, construction paper, a miniature mirror so they can hold it in front of
them to see what they look like, and then draw what they see themselves as from
the mirror. This activity
not only helps them recognize what they look like, but what others look like as
well, like the similarities and differences between their classmates. They could also see something they
didn’t know they had, such as a birthmark or a mole perhaps.
Another activity, such an extension
activity that the children could do is to draw another classmate. It can really show them how to see a
person not only from what they look like, but to appreciate who they are as a
person. They could include a
little survey to ask their classmate to learn more about that person and
connect it with what they truly look like and also what is inside.
One of the books that I found that would go
with this activity is called: Pancakes With Chocolate Syrup by Rebekah
Barlow Rounce. This book is
perfect because it talks about the differences between these two sisters. Their different eye color, skin color,
and hair color. But in the end
they are so much alike and like the same things and love each other for being
different, but have similarities as well.
The other book is called: All Kinds of People by Emma Damon. This book is perfect as well because it
talks about all the different kinds of people with colorful images of children
of all different sizes, hair types, skin tones, temperaments and personalities. It really shows the respect for all
different kinds of people and is a way to understand the differences between
everyone.
All in all this activity can be such a
wonderful learning experience in so many ways. It not only helps the children see themselves in a different
light, but they can compare and contrast the similarities and differences
between the entire classroom.
Having the children then look around the classroom and look at the other
drawings could be helpful. They
could compare the similarities with them and discuss them, then discuss the
differences and how they are both still special and can respect their
piers.
