What is Equality and How Does it Affect
Me?
A Unit for 4th Graders

taken from: www.claybennet.com
By
Brandy Johnson, Diane Erickson, and Lauren Sullivan
Table of Contents
Teacher Background information
Organization and Subject Matter Overview with
Goals and Objectives
This unit
on social justice issues is designed for the 4th grade. The National Council for the Social Studies
says that teachers must help students identify examples of rights and
responsibilities (NCSS 10b); recognize
and give examples of the tensions between the wants and needs of individuals
and groups, and concepts such as fairness, equity, and justice (NCSS 6h);
examine the rights and responsibilities of the individual in relations to his
or her social group, such as family, peer group, and school class. (NCSS 6a). In order to achieve this goal we feel it is
important for our students to understand diversity, the civil rights of African
Americans, the rights of males and females, and student differences in the
classroom community. We feel it is
important for our students to understand that all people must be treated fairly
and equally. We also want them to have
knowledge of the fact that not all people have been treated equally and many
still experience discrimination. In the
4th grade Utah State Core students focus on ways to help and
contribute to their community (
We feel that it is important for students to learn about the history of Civil Rights and equality. They need to understand the role that Martin Luther King Jr. played in getting African Americans their rights and also that he did it in nonviolent way. Martin Luther Kind Jr. has modeled that tension can be solved without hatred and war. Also if you want something bad enough and you are persistent your dreams really can come true. The students also need to be able to reflect on their own rights and dreams and their role in an equal community.
In the forth grade students are to be learning citizenship skills. We believe that teaching students about women getting the right to vote and about gender equality will help students be more appreciative and aware of gender equally. We also believe that social studies should teach students how the past affects their lives today. We believe that through teaching gender equality and how women weren’t able to vote since the 1920’s will give our students a better understanding of why women have been left out in history and why they have been stereotyped as the weaker gender. We also believe that it’s important for our students to understand that voting hasn’t always been a right. We believe that in teaching students that the right to vote is something that others have fought for and have been denied will make them have a greater appreciation for having the right to vote when they turn of age.
We also believe that our lessons in gender equality will help our students see the importance of not discriminating against gender and that one gender is not better or stronger then another. In the Utah State Core fourth graders are to gain an understanding of culture. In teaching about gender equality students can gain an in-depth understanding of how women were treated in the past, how women were treated played a part of created and shaping the U.S. culture, and help students understand why women are sometimes viewed differently then men. We also believe that our lessons in gender equality will help student’s correct misconceptions and stereotypes about gender. Lastly, we believe that teaching our students about gender equality and how it came to be will help teach the idea that everyday people can bring about big/great changes. Everyday people can make a difference, they might not see the results for a long time or maybe not even in their lifetime but they should never give up on what they believe is right and equal.
We feel it is important for students to be knowledgeable and respectful of other cultures and people and learn to identify how those differences help shape our community. Our lessons are designed to help make it meaningful to the lives of our students by incorporating them in activities about them. Each of the four activities in the last four lessons incorporates the students’ lives by asking questions about themselves, their family and their community. We believe that teachers hold great power in helping to create a community is which people are respectful of one another and understand different cultures and backgrounds.
After completing this unit on equality our students will have deeper understanding of what equality is, how it effected the past and how it affects them everyday of their life. It is our hope that the students will treat each other, their families, their friends, people in their community and anyone they come in contact with in their life with respect and genuine equality.
In order to teach the lessons on Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights the teacher needs to be familiar with Martin Luther Kind Jr. and his involvement in the Civil Rights. The following is an extraction from the African American Almanac.
The life of Martin Luther King Jr.
Any number of historic moments in the civil rights
struggle have been used to identify Martin Luther King, Jr. — prime
mover of the
King was born Michael Luther King in Atlanta on Jan. 15, 1929 — one of the three children of Martin Luther King Sr., pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Alberta (Williams) King, a former schoolteacher. (He was renamed "Martin" when he was about 6 years old.)
After going to local grammar and high schools, King enrolled in
Married by then, King returned South to become pastor of the
A national hero and a civil-rights figure of growing importance, King summoned together a number of black leaders in 1957 and laid the groundwork for the organization now known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). King was elected its president, and he soon began helping other communities organize their own protests against discrimination.
After finishing his first book and making a trip to
Three years later, King's nonviolent tactics were put to their most severe
test in
Later that year King was a principal speaker at the historic March on
In the North, however, King soon discovered that young and angry blacks
cared little for his preaching and even less for his pleas for peaceful
protest. Their disenchantment was one of the reasons he rallied behind a new
cause: the war in
Although he was trying to create a new coalition based on equal support for peace and civil rights, it caused an immediate rift. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) saw King's shift of emphasis as "a serious tactical mistake" the Urban League warned that the "limited resources" of the civil-rights movement would be spread too thin;
But from the vantage point of history, King's timing was superb. Students,
professors, intellectuals, clergymen and reformers rushed into the movement.
Then, King turned his attention to the domestic issue that he felt was directly
related to the
King interrupted these plans to lend his support to the
But he never got back to his poverty plans. Death came for King on
However, King's legacy has lived on. In 1969, his widow, Coretta
Scott King, organized the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social
Change. Today it stands next to his beloved
— Based on The African American Almanac, 7th ed., Gale, 1997.
In order to teach the lessons on
gender equality the teacher needs to have a general understand of when and how
women got the right to vote. It wasn’t
until 1920 when women received the right to vote. Until then women had to go along with what
the men voted for and wanted. The women
were basically to be seen and not heard.
Women had a limited amount of rights. They were seen as a weaker human
being because of their gender. The 19th amendment is what legally
gave women the right to vote and to have more of a voice in their daily
lives. There were many struggles and
protests that took place in order for the issue to be acknowledge and
changed. Many people helped get the 19th
amendment passed but there are two people that really fought and got this
movement started. These two ladies are
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Both women believed, dreamt, and never gave up on the idea that women
should be able to vote. They believed
that women should be given the same rights as men. These two women worked together to help women
receive the right to vote. Although
neither one lived to see the 19 amendment became part of the
The teacher also needs to understand that all people are equal and important. Being different make us individuals and unique. It’s important that teachers help students identify and appreciate each others differences. Diversity exists in everything we do and every where we go, it is all around us. The more we learn about other peoples differences the more we can learn to love and respect them and cherish our own differences.
Unit Issue: What is Equality and How Has it Affected Me?
Social Skills: respect
Outcomes/Unit Goals: The learners will be able to identify examples of rights and responsibilities (NCSS 10b); recognize and give examples of the tensions between the wants and needs of individuals and groups, and concepts such as fairness, equity, and justice (NCSS 6h); examine the rights and responsibilities of the individual in relations to his or her social group, such as family, peer group, and school class. (NCSS 6a).
Social Studies:
-Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” speech
-Role-play equality situations
-Segregation and multiculturalism
-Why did Dr. King receive the Noble Peace Prize
-Discuss Rosa Parks
-Timeline of Civil Rights movement
-Diversity in classroom
-Why didn’t women have the right to vote?
-How did women get the right to vote?
-What have women done that has helped are world?
-Do a timeline of women getting the right to vote
-What other areas did women not have a voice in?
Teacher Resources:
-internet
-books
-people who experienced that era
Read Alouds:
-Goin’ Someplace Special by Patricia c. Mckissack and Jerry Pinkney
-The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
-Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles
-The Rage Coat by Lauren Mills
-books about fairness, discrimination, segregation, justice, and equality
-books about gender equality
-books about diversity
Students
Reading/Literature:
-Biographies of Martin Luther King Jr.
-Read Alouds
-Articles from internet
-Biographies of women who have achieved
Oral Language:
-Prepare own dream speech and recite it
-role-play
-talking with groups and/or pairs
Written Language:
-define words: fairness, segregation, discrimination, justice, and equality
-Research Noble Peace Prize
-Martin Luther King Jr. essay sheet
-books about me (student makes books for themselves)
-written papers
Science:
-cotton
-Earth Day
-Radium
-Radioactivity
-Cancer
Math:
-graphs of: equal pay in past and present, occupations (male/female), political leaders (male/female), diversity
Technology:
-The Cotton Gin
-Research on internet women that made/or are making a difference in the world
-movies
-DVD’s
-internet
-projector
Music:
-Song: The World is a Rainbow
-African drum groups/cultural music
-Songs about: gender and it’s great to be different
Physical Education/Movement/Health:
-Teach a new activity/game that’s not stereotyped as a male or female activity/game
-Have students create a game/movement that’s for all genders
-Different cultural dances
Accommodations for
Learners:
-draw pictures
-label instead of writing
-Verbally tell
-Model for students
-work with others/parent volunteers
Field Trips/Guests:
-Different cultures
-Law makers
-Have a person that lived in the 1920’s come and talk to class.
-Have a council person come in and talk about voting
-Go to an election
Assessment:
-notes
-papers
-observations
-role-plays
-portfolios
-test
Culminating Activity/Unit Projects:
-Commercial
-Make a book about Equality
-Do an assembly about Equality for school
The overall question that will be addressed in this unit is: What is equality and how does it affect me? The unit will address three NCSS standards in particular: Power, Authority, and Governance (6) and Civic Ideals and Practices (10). Our unit goals are the following three NCSS performance expectations: Identify rights and responsibilities (10b), recognize and give examples of tensions between the wants and needs of individuals and groups, and concepts such as fairness, equality, and justice (6h), Examine the rights and responsibilities of the individual in relations to his or her social group, such as family, peer group, and social class (6a). The Utah State Core standard 4 objective 1 and 2 support our goals for this unit. This unit is organized under the same theme (equality) into three different sections. The first section focuses on Civil Rights and Martin Luther King Jr. We chose to address these issues to give the students some background knowledge on equality and social justice. They need to be aware that everyone should be treated fairly, and that in history and still today people are not receiving equality. People who are unaware of their individual rights are more likely to have those rights abused. The second section of this unit focuses on gender equality. We chose to address this issue because we wanted our students to understand that one gender is not stronger or more superior to the other. Again history plays a big role in addressing this issue because women have been treated and represented differently than men. The last section of this unit is to address the issue of equality in the classroom. We feel that it is important for students to be knowledgeable and respectful of other cultures and people and learn how to identify those differences that help shape our community. Teaching equality in the classroom teaches the students the importance of viewing different perspectives and cultures. History is made up of many points of view and is consistently changing. “Interpretation is an inseparable part of historical understanding” (Levstik & Barton pg.7).
In this unit, the lessons are integrated across the curriculum. For most of the lessons in this unit, a one hour block is needed every day. The learning activity bank lists lesson that could be taught, however, twelve sample lessons are provided in great detail. All of the activities will be done in groups of 5 or on an individual basis to obtain our main goal: what is equality and how has it affected me? In some of the lessons, the teacher will been to be involved in helping the students lead a conversation and answer questions. Students will be learning about different aspects of equality and transferring their knowledge of equality to their work which will be displayed around the classroom and even the school. In some of the lessons, the students will be moving around from center to center in groups. Because of this, you will need adequate room for these activities. The classroom will be filled with books and other resources on equality so that if students finish their work early, or have a personal inquiry about equality, they will be able to gather and collect their information easily. (see classroom plan below)
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WEEK 1 |
WEEK 2 |
WEEK 3 |
WEEK 4 |
|
TOPIC |
Civil Rights |
Gender Equality |
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Student Differences |
|
NCSS |
• The learners will be able to identify examples of rights and
responsibilities (NCSS 10b) |
|||
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4.1 Show
appreciation for the uniqueness of other cultures. |
4.1 Demonstrate
respect for cultural differences and promote cultural understanding and good
citizenship. |
||
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4.2 Identify
ways to help and contribute to the community. |
||||
|
LEARNING |
Intro. to Equality |
Learned how women |
Read aloud about Pioneer |
Make a class quilt to |
|
Study Martin Luther King |
Create a paper about a |
Discuss why the Utah |
Participate in centers |
|
|
Listen to Martin Luther Kings |
Discuss situations |
Play a game about Pioneer |
Incorporate a graph |
|
|
Students learn what their |
Write about a time |
Students participate in |
Create a public service |
|
|
Discuss freedom in |
Discuss and write a |
Play a guessing game |
Students create a |
|

Title of Lesson: Introduction to: What is Equality and How Has it Affect Me?
Teachers: Diane Erickson, Lauren Sullivan, Brandy Johnson
Date:
Time Allotted: 1hr 25 minutes
Grade Level: 4th
Number of Learners: 30
Unit Theme: What is Equality and How Does it Affect Me?
Standard(s) Met: (see below)
Goal: The learners will be able to identify examples of rights and responsibilities (NCSS 10b); recognize and give examples of the tensions between the wants and needs of individuals and groups, and concepts such as fairness, equity, and justice (NCSS 6h); examine the rights and responsibilities of the individual in relations to his or her social group, such as family, peer group, and school class. (NCSS 6a).
Objectives: The learns will participate in a
situation in which unfairness takes place in the classroom, they will reflect
on how it made them feel, define and role-play situations in: unfairness,
segregation, discrimination, justice and equality, in order to identify
situations in which human affect equality for others. (
Materials Needed: note (see attachment #1), dictionaries, 4 poster papers, 30pencils, markers, crayons
Motivation: Have secretary bring in note. (see attachment #1)
Procedures:
Accommodations: ESL learners will draw a picture of a situation in which they have had to deal with an unfair situation or been treated differently then others. They will also write a caption for their picture.
Closure: Each group will share their poster and role-play situations. Also one or two ESL students will share their picture. (25 minutes)
Assessment/Evaluation: Listen and take notes on how students define unfairness, discrimination, segregation, justice and equality. Also note how students role-play the situation and what background knowledge they use. File notes on students in their portfolio.
Extension: Groups that finish early can make a KWL chart on: unfairness, discrimination, segregation, justice, or equality.
Teacher Reflection: What will I change next year? What went really well this time?
Attachment #1
Mrs. Erickson and class,
I have been noticing that your class has been working extra hard. Every time I see your class they are on task, working hard, and learning. I would like to reward your class for a job well done. Please send down the following to the lunchroom: Matt, Sherry, Jaxson, Andrea, Jacob, Julie, Tyler, Braden, Alex, Caleb, Brett, and Rachel to be rewarded for a class that is doing an excellent job!
Thanks for being such great Naples Elementary Wise Owls. Keep up the great work Mrs. Erickson and class!
Sincerely,
Dr. Klien
Title of Lesson: Martin Luther King Jr.
Teacher(s): Lauren Sullivan, Diane Erickson, Brandy Johnson
Date:
Time Allotted: 50 min.
Grade Level(s): 4th
Number of Learners: 30
Unit Theme: What is Equality and how does it affect me?
Standard(s) Met: See Below
Goal: The learner will be able to identify examples of rights and responsibilities (NCSS 10b); recognize and give examples of the tensions between the wants and needs of individuals and groups, and concepts such as fairness, equity, and justice (NCSS 6h); examine the rights and responsibilities of the individual in relation to his or her social group, such as family, peer group and school class. (NCSS 6a)
Objectives: Given the materials, the learner will
listen to a read aloud about equality, listen to a poem about Martin Luther
King Jr., contribute to a web about him and what he did for the African
American people, and write some ideas about how they can make the world a more
peaceful place in order to identify ways to help and contribute to the
community. (
Materials Needed: Goin’ Someplace Special by Patricia C. Mckissack and Jerry Pinkney, Martin Luther King poem by RHL School (attachment #1), 30 pieces of drawing paper, 30 pencils, and 30 copies of Martin Luther King Jr. essay papers. (attachment #3)
Motivation: Read the Martin Luther King poem aloud to the class. Who was Martin Luther King Jr.? What is he famous for? What makes him a hero? Why do we celebrate his birthday every year? (5min)
Procedures:
Accommodations: Provide ESL students with an essay sheet written in Spanish.
Closure: Have a few students share their essays with the class. (5min)
Assessment/Evaluation: Review each student’s web about Martin Luther King Jr. and essays before filing them in student working portfolio files.
Extension: Write your own poem about Martin Luther King Jr.
Teacher Reflection: What will I change next year? What went really well this time?
Attachment #1
Martin Luther King, Jr.
You faced injustice, hate and strife.
You fought for what should be.
You risked and finally gave your life,
So others could be free.
You could have hated, but you chose
To love and understand,
Rejecting violence to oppose
An evil in our land.
You'd not inflame, but still inspire,
With hope that wouldn't yield.
You called for boycotts, not for fire,
With faith your only shield.
You marched in protest for the poor
Of every shade and hue.
So many hardships you'd endure
For those who needed you.
You stirred a nation's heart and mind;
Your message still is clear:
That color's not how we're defined.
Your memory's always near.
Each year your birth's a holiday.
The nation honors you,
And wonders when we'll see the day
Your dream at last comes true.
Copyright 1998 RHL www.rhlschool.com
Attachment #2
The life of Martin
Luther King Jr.
Any number of historic moments in the civil rights
struggle have been used to identify Martin Luther King, Jr. — prime
mover of the
King was born Michael Luther King in Atlanta on Jan. 15, 1929 — one of the three children of Martin Luther King Sr., pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Alberta (Williams) King, a former schoolteacher. (He was renamed "Martin" when he was about 6 years old.)
After going to local grammar and high schools, King enrolled in
Married by then, King returned South to become pastor of the
A national hero and a civil-rights figure of growing importance, King summoned together a number of black leaders in 1957 and laid the groundwork for the organization now known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). King was elected its president, and he soon began helping other communities organize their own protests against discrimination.
After finishing his first book and making a trip to
Three years later, King's nonviolent tactics were put to their most severe
test in
Later that year King was a principal speaker at the historic March on
In the North, however, King soon discovered that young and angry blacks
cared little for his preaching and even less for his pleas for peaceful
protest. Their disenchantment was one of the reasons he rallied behind a new
cause: the war in
Although he was trying to create a new coalition based on equal support for peace and civil rights, it caused an immediate rift. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) saw King's shift of emphasis as "a serious tactical mistake" the Urban League warned that the "limited resources" of the civil-rights movement would be spread too thin;
But from the vantage point of history, King's timing was superb. Students,
professors, intellectuals, clergymen and reformers rushed into the movement.
Then, King turned his attention to the domestic issue that he felt was directly
related to the
King interrupted these plans to lend his support to the
But he never got back to his poverty plans. Death came for King on
However, King's legacy has lived on. In 1969, his widow, Coretta
Scott King, organized the Martin
Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change. Today it stands next
to his beloved
— Based on The African American Almanac, 7th ed., Gale, 1997.
Attachment #3

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated in the
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great Civil Rights leader. He knew the hazards of his work, but he believed in nonviolent protest and the need for change. His integrity demanded that he do the work despite the dangers of hatred and fear. It was a great deal of work for one man, and he knew that he could not do it alone. It was when people joined together the real progress was made. The work of every individual mattered.
Dr King has been dead for many years, but his work lives on. How can you help? Use the space below to list the things you can do today to make the world a more peaceful place.
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Title of Lesson: I Have a Dream
Teacher(s): Lauren Sullivan, Diane Erickson, Brandy Johnson
Date:
Time Allotted: 50 min
Grade Level(s): 4th
Number of Learners: 30
Unit Theme: What is Equality and how does it affect me?
Standard(s) Met: See Below
Goal: The learner will be able to identify examples of rights and responsibilities (NCSS 10b); recognize and give examples of the tensions between the wants and needs of individuals and groups, and concepts such as fairness, equity, and justice (NCSS 6h); examine the rights and responsibilities of the individual in relation to his or her social group, such as family, peer group and school class. (NCSS 6a)
Objectives: Given the materials, the students will
listen to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream”
speech, identify what makes a speech great, think about their dreams for their
family and themselves what would it be, and write a speech following the same
format that Martin Luther King Jr. used, in order to identify ways to help and
contribute to the community. (
Materials Needed: A computer with internet to access an audio clip of “I have a Dream” speech (a text copy is included as attachment #1), 30 pencils, 30 If I had a dream handouts (attachment #2).
Motivation: Why do you think people thought that Martin Luther King