Identity Pack Session: The Skin I’m In Please note that this PowerPoint is one of six sessions/ideas and resources in the SL Identity Pack. You will need to look through it carefully and edit it for your class/group. This work is only recommended where a teacher is working with a group they know well. It is particularly important to be aware of any students in the group who are looked after.

Session: The Skin I’m In Learning Objectives To examine how skin colour and appearance are part of identity but do not tell the whole story about an individual To investigate the diversity existing within our group Learning Outcomes I can assess and discuss my own and other people’s appearance and other aspects of identity.

Starter: Change Places Stand in a circle and then change places if you answer “Yes” or “True” to the statement. Did you notice anything you had in common with another person? Did you notice anything different between you and another person? Can you explain what unique means? Was there anything unique to just you? Ideas could include: change places if you like chocolate, like sunshine, have brown hair, play cricket, have a brother, etc. Keep an eye out for those who don’t move and see if you can come up with suggestions that mean nearly all the class eventually changes place. Explain that in the game we have been thinking about ourselves, or what we call “identity”.

Main Activity What do you think this book is about?

Read Skin Again. You might need to read it more than once Read Skin Again. You might need to read it more than once. Allow students at least a minute to reflect on the text, drawing or writing anything they think of it that time (including any questions) that relates to the text.

Discussion In pairs or groups, discuss these questions: What does the author mean by “Skin is just a covering”? How would you describe your skin? Can our skin colour tell other people a lot about us? How do we let others know who we really are/what we are really like? Let the students discuss these questions in small groups – it’s up to you how their ideas are recorded. Bring the group back together for a whole-class discussion and ask for feedback from each group. Discuss skin colour and other aspects of appearance, including whether they think you can know and understand someone just from looking at them.

Plenary What else is important to us? Write responses to the last question on the board, e.g. hopes and dreams, place of birth, where you live, family, beliefs, fears, pets, faith group, personality, music/books/TV you like, languages spoken, food, favourite colour, etc. – this is needed for the next session.

Extension Task or the Main Activity The Skin I’m In Write your own versions of the poem. You could use ideas from your discussion. Whether this is an extension or the main activity will depend on how long you have for each session. There are a number of ways you could carry out this task. For example: Discussion around the questions in one section and the next section, then write their poems. Just the discussion. A quick discussion with most of the time spent writing the poems.