“To Be Me” Disability Awareness Activity Heather Fosnaugh June 21, 2007

Materials Children’s literature on the disabilities you want your students to learn more about Note cards with specific information about disabilities (at least 3 or 4 for each disability covered in the lesson) Paper for KWL charts

Goals To build knowledge and understanding of disabilities To increase empathy and acceptance of people with disabilities

Getting Started… Today, we will be learning about disabilities! There are many disabilities, so we will not have time to learn about all of them in one day. We will be learning more about five different disabilities: Hearing Impairments, Vision Impairments, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Physical Disabilities and Asperger’s Syndrome.  Write the disabilities on the board or post signs in the classroom. We are going to work in small groups. Since we will be learning about five disabilities, we will need five groups.  Divide into five groups. Students can either pick their groups based on the disability they want to learn about or groups can be selected by the teacher.  Pass out blue paper. We will use a KWL chart to help us get started! Fold your blue paper in three sections (like a letter). Write “K” in the top section. Write “W” in the middle section. Write “L” in the bottom section.

Gathering Information You will have about five minutes to work on the K and W sections of your KWL chart. What does your group already know about the disability? What does your group want to know? When you are finished writing your answers on the K and W sections, set your KWL chart to the side. We will use it again later. Now, I’m passing out note cards that have some information about a disability. Read your note card and stand by the disability you think your note card is describing. The five disabilities are posted around the room. If you need help, ask your group!  Take turns reading the note cards and then post them on the board under the disability Now that we know a little more about the five disabilities, we are going to write short books about them! To show you how your group may want to organize your book, we will read a book called To Be Me by Rebecca Etlinger.

Now You’re the Author! What did you notice about the book To Be Me?  The book gave facts about Asperger’s Syndrome  The book gave ideas on how people can help someone with Asperger’s Syndrome  The book showed that the boy, David, was similar to his classmates in many ways (he’s an “average-looking kid”, he has a family, he wants to have friends) Now your group can begin writing short books about your assigned disability. You should use the information on the note cards and the information in these books to gather facts about the disability.  Pass out books about disabilities to each group You can model your book after To Be Me or your group can write your book in a different way. Be sure to include facts and some ideas for how we can help a person who has the disability. Your group will have about 20 minutes to write a rough draft of your book. After your group finishes your book, complete the “L” section on your KWL chart. What did your group learn about the disability?

Sharing Time! You have all worked very hard on your books! Now we’re going to have an “Author’s Circle” to share our books with the class. Each group wrote about a different disability, so we can all learn from each other!  Students share books and can ask questions about the disabilities.

Standards Guidance Standards Identify cultural groups and give examples of the challenges faced by various cultural groups Describe ways in which students demonstrate respect for other students. Academic Standards Discuss ideas for writing, keep a list or notebook of ideas, and use graphic organizers to plan writing Write responses to literature that: demonstrate an understanding of a literary work; support statements with evidence from the text; develop interpretations that exhibit careful reading and understanding Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person, adjusting tone and style as appropriate Write summaries that contain the main ideas of the reading selection and the most significant details.

Adaptations Use different note card information and books about disabilities based on the grade and ability level. The note card information could also be written as facts rather than as dialogue. Assign groups to ensure that they include weaker and stronger students Allow extended time for students who need it Provide computer access for students to type their books Assign each student a section of the book to work on  Facts about the disability, how to treat a person with the disability, anecdotal info./dialogue Assign roles in the group  Researcher (finds information), Writer, Illustrator, etc.

Extensions This lesson could be used to learn more about other common topics of concern such as:  Bullying behavior  Career Exploration  Racial and ethnic diversity  Socioeconomic status  Family changes (divorce, birth of a sibling)  Death & grieving This lesson could also be used for academic subjects such as social studies (ex. learning about various countries/cultures), health topics, science lessons, etc. The lesson could be used in combination with experiential learning (such as a disability awareness or career day)

Bibliography Etlinger, R. (2005) To Be Me. WPS Creative Therapy Store. Los Angeles, CA

Finding Books on Disabilities… National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) at htm htm