Thrive Summer Camp LESSON # 1

LESSON TITLE: Identity Boxes (outside) GRADE LEVEL: 4-11 SUBJECT AREA: How the world sees me TIME ALLOCATION: 2 hours

OBJECTIVES: Interns will get to know students in small group setting/more personal Students will practice English in comfortable environment Students will analyze how others see them & how they feel about it Students will collage the outside of their box representing how others see them GROUPING OF STUDENTS & RATIONALE: Small groups, each with an intern/co-teacher MATERIALS: Magazines Shoe boxes Scissors Glue Foam brushes Styrofoam plates SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: n/a PROCEDURE AND ACTIVITIES o Put plates, magazines, boxes, scissors, glue & brushes on tables Welcome: schedule and explain word wall: Everyday when we come to class, one of you will be assigned to add a word to the word wall saying the Karen word and the English translation. This to teach the Americans words in your language. We want you guys to teach us too this summernot just us teach you! It is also for you guys to look at if you forget how to say a word in English. So, pick words that you forget easily or words that are useful for us to know or fun and silly words. (WHATS A DEFINITION?) 2 minutes Look through a magazine and make a list of 10 words that you dont know & your best guess of a definition of the word Give list to intern They will pick 5 words that are most useful for daily English Ask 3 friends if your definition is correct. Pick 3 words to write on 3 note cards. Write the word in English, definition in English and in your language. 2 minutes TIME ALLOCATIONS PRIOR KNOWLEDGE NEEDED: Understand concept of a persons inside and outside

10 min

2 minutes 1 minute

1. PRE-ACTIVITY: ADVANCE ORGANIZER o Assess understanding of inside/outside of a person with questions to whole group o Explain activity: Decorate outside to represent who we are on the outside & inside to represent who we are on the inside; show example box

45 minutes-1 hour

o o

Explain purpose of activity: get to know them, us & each other better, practice English in a safe environment Instructions: how to use brush & paste, dont paste on the bottom, can paste the top, use 5 words and pictures (can draw or write)

2. ACTIVITY o 1 intern at each table o Interns make a box as well o Get to know the kids & tell them about self (ask open-ended questions like: Why are you putting that picture on your box? How do you think Americans see you? How would your friends describe you? If I asked your family member what youre like, what would they say? How does it make you feel that this is what other people think about you? Tell me about what you are gluing to your box. How do you say that in your language? Lets put it on the Word Wall!) o Encourage the children to make connections with one another (ask questions like: How old are you guys? Where do you go to school? What do you like to do? When did you come to America? What neighborhood do you live in? Do you have siblings?) o Collage magazine paper & glue onto box 3. POST ACTIVITY When a table of students finishes, students will play hangman with intern at their table.

15-30 min

ASSESSMENT: By asking students why they cut out the picture they did, the teachers will be able to identify their understanding of how people view them. The boxes themselves will speak to how students view themselves. POST TEACHING REFLECTIONS: The magazine activity was a bust. The magazines that we had for the boys were National Geographic and the words in those articles are huge! Plus, if you dont know ANY English, how the heck do you use context clues to figure out what the word means? You simply cant. I asked many of them to do an impossible task. I thought that I did a really good job clearly explaining the directions, drawing diagrams of what their papers should look like, and how to set up the notecards. I even gave examples and wrote the directions step-by-step on the board to refer to if they forgot! I thought I was being an overachiever. The other interns were frustrated because it just seemed impossible for them to help. So, instead of keeping my cool and smoothing over the bumps, I gave into the pressure and the self-aware stream-of-conscious thoughts started pouring out of my mouth. Asking others to make decisions for what to do next since the activity wasnt working, laying down my credentials as illegitimate and degrading my abilities. I tend to do this when my plans dont work out. Even when I had confidence and worked hard to plan. I just bring myself down to the value of what I think everyone else sees me as and allow self-hatred to gurgle in my stomach. I made a quick decision to send the kids that barely spoke English to outside with another intern-- he would read to them. He is a champ for reading with them for an entire hour! I tamed the rowdy bunch with Group Stretch Time and gave instructions for the identity boxes. I struggled to find a clear way to explain the inner and outer person. One example didnt make sense at all. And once we got them started, some just slapped pictures on their boxes that didnt have anything to do with self -identity. But whatever! This it the meat and potatoes of a new teacher. I learned what level English these students are at quickly and clearlytheres no painless way to do that! Its either a written assessment, a failed project or, the most dreadful, a speaking assessmentpainful for teacher and student alike. So, people might think Im a worthless teacher. Maybe I handled the failure without confidence and maybe I allowed them to devalue me. And I know that I cant sustain a lifelong teaching career with my shoulders to me ears throughout every lesson like I did today. Im just gonna have to roll with my

mistakes and develop a better sense of humor! I need to accept right now that I will always face imperfect lessons, but that doesnt make me a teacher that cant be used to make an impact. I know that God is so mu ch bigger than my 99% thought-through lesson and He is totally competent to do work emotionally, spiritually or educationally through my lessons. Something beautiful might have happened in one of the hearts of those kids today. Someone might have learned a new word or felt more loved than they do at school or trusted us a centimeter more. My yapping to probe, What does that say about you? How does that picture of jellybeans describe you? was a gradual untying of yokesan embodiment of Isaiah 58:6. Isnt the fast I choose: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and to tear off every yoke? Their thought processes about their identity and value that is placed on them by society has been at least partially dragged into the light today. The yokes of the lies they believe about being worthless in our society are being broken. The Truth we reiterate is seeping into their hearts. The value of that is longer-lasting than any list of vocab words.