1. I know the people in my class are all different
Year 1 – Being the same and being different
I know the people in my class are all different
This lesson fits into the Being the Same Being Different strand. It focuses on recognising different types of feelings and gives opportunities to consider how others might be feeling in different situations. Children explore talking about how you’re feeling and how this can make themselves and others feel better.
© Leeds South and East CCG

2. Learning outcomes Knowledge Skills
I recognise that everyone is different
I am beginning to learn about empathy
I can say a way my friend is different to me and say that’s ok 2

3. How we will work together
Can you remember the group agreement we have already talked about, let’s take a minute to think about them.
Teacher notes
Read these through with the children. Hopefully the group agreement will be displayed in the classroom already. 3

4. What do we already know? Group discussion Differences
‘___ has ___ eyes/nose/ hair and I have ___ eyes/nose/hair. We are different and that’s ok’
Group discussion
Identify one difference between you and the person next to you. Share ideas and discuss ‘What differences are there between all the children and adults in our class/school/community, etc.?’ Practise sharing differences using the sentence scaffold; ‘[name] has _______ eyes/nose/hair and I have _______ eyes/nose/hair. We are different and that’s ok.’ 4

5. Let’s get started Spot the difference! How good is your memory?
Can you identify which object is missing when the cloth is pulled away?
‘Spot the difference’ game. Children identify which object is missing when the cover is pulled away. Collate 7/8 familiar objects and cover them over. Remove one of the items without the children seeing. Can they identify the ‘difference’/ which item has gone? 5

6. Meet Elmer! Talk partners
What is different about Elmer and the other elephants?
How might Elmer feel about being different from the other Elephants?
Identify one difference between you and the person next to you. Share ideas and discuss ‘What differences are there between all the children and adults in our class/school/community, etc.?’ Practise sharing differences using the sentence scaffold; ‘[name] has _______ eyes/nose/hair and I have _______ eyes/nose/hair. We are different and that’s ok.’
© David McKee, Anderson Press, All Rights Reserved. 6

7. Elmer the Elephant
Right click on ‘Video link’ hyperlink and click ‘open hyperlink’ to access video. Watch video clip. (Stop at 1:04)
Why might Elmer have decided to slip away while the other elephants were still asleep?
© David McKee, Anderson Press, All Rights Reserved. 7

8. Elmer the Elephant Why did she want to look like the other elephants?
Discuss: Why might Elmer have decided to slip away while the other elephants were still asleep? Why did Elmer want to cover herself in the berry juice? Why did she want to look like the other elephants?
Why did she want to look like the other elephants?
Why did Elmer want to cover herself in berry juice?
© David McKee, Anderson Press, All Rights Reserved. 8

9. Make your own animal
Children to choose and decorate an animal. How is there animal different to their friend’s animal? Children to say how they are different. 9

10. How has our learning progressed?
Talk partners
‘My animal has ___ and your animal has ___. They are different and that’s ok’
‘I have ___ eyes/nose/ hair and you have ___ eyes/nose/hair. We are different and that’s ok’
Collect all the animals together to make a collage with the Elmer lolly sticks from lesson 2, (Friends and Family Y1). Discuss and celebrate the differences between each of the Elmers and the other animals. Reinforce the fact that being different is ok and the positives associated with everyone being different. Children to practise sharing/ celebrating the differences between their Elmers, animals and also between themselves, using the sentence scaffold as before. 10

11. Taking the learning away
Celebrate the differences which exist between your friends and family. Tell someone else what you really like about them and why 11

12. Additional resources and help
Talk to your teacher or an adult in school
Talk to your Mum, Dad or someone you trust at home about how you are feeling
If you have them: – Write your worry down and post it in the class worry box – Talk to a peer mediator in your school – Write your worry down on the worry wall on the school’s website
Contact:
im-a-young-person
Where can I go for help? 12