I Have a Heart-Social Action Project

Erika Enriquez
Pacific Oaks College HD390

My Social action project is called I have a heart. Every child received a heart shaped
piece of construction paper. The children then read the book Janine, and discuss the books
characters. It began with the prompt Were the kids nice to Janine? From that point I
introduced the activity. The students are to keep their heart and every time a child says something
to them or about them they are to tare a piece of their heart. I then explained if it bothered you a
lot you can take a bigger piece off and if it hurt a little then you can take a smaller piece off. I
explained to the children that every ones heart will look differently at the end of the week
because everyone has different experiences and different levels of sensitivity.
The social inequality that I will be addressing through the implementation of this project
is acceptance of each other and respecting the differences among peers. I have chosen to do this
activity because I have come to realize that there is an underlying status among the school age
children I work with. Although 90 percent of the children are English as a second language they
have an internal bias amongst their peers. I had noticed that the other children did not treat the
children who had more of a language barrier the same. The tone of voice and level of respect was
not the same between the child who spoke clear English compared to the child that spoke broken
English. An example of this was one morning when a child named Kevin was getting in line to
go get breakfast. All the kids present were yelling at him telling him he needed to clean up and
that he didnt always have to be first. After a few comments I stepped in and asked the children
what the problem was. Kevin was shaking his head no, and saying it wasnt him. I then asked the
children if they were sure he was the one that created the mess. They insisted that it was him. I
could hear him say no and that it was another child. I then asked Kevin in Spanish what had
happened and he told me it was another child. I then asked the children if they had taken the time

to listen to what Kevin was saying. They said no and I then explained to them that it was
important to listen to each other before they accuse them of doing something.
The issue I am addressing has to do with the ism and even a bit of internalized
oppression. The children in my group have been lead to believe that if they dont speak clear
English they are of a lesser social status than others. The children without realizing it have begun
to treat their peers differently on the basis of their ability to speak English. One of the risks
involved in doing this activity is that the group doesnt take the activity seriously and therefore
the end result will have no impact into their future actions. Another risk would be not having the
support from the parents due to them not realizing the issue at hand. As the children share with
their parents what we are doing they might not be in agreement with the peer atmosphere in the
classroom. They might not find it a real issue and discourage the children from being honest.
The ultimate goal of this action plan is to bring awareness to the children about using
hurtful words and acceptance of each other on the basis of their own actions. By conducting this
activity the children are able to visualize the effects of hurtful words. I hope to be able to allow
the children to use the paper heart as a type of tangible object that permits them to visually see
how comments hurt others. Secondly I hope that the children are able to reflect on the impact
their words have. I hope to change the childrens attitude towards each other, by having the
children think twice before making fun of their peers or make comments about each other.
Through this activity the children will be able to come to the realization that they unintentionally
upset their friends by saying comments about their way of speaking. The goal is to encourage the
children to build each other up instead of bringing them down.

The demographics of the group of children served are children who have working parents
or parents that are going to school. The majority of the population served is of low income and
single parent households. Most of the families in our program live with extended family to make
ends meet. Out of the 28 children four of the parents speak fluent English, while the rest speak
little to no English. This activity will is designed to create conversation among the children. I
hope to inspire the children to talk about it at school. Through language I hope the children share
what they are doing with their friends and teachers at school. I hope to use the children as
teachers and encourage them to share what they are doing with friends and families. I plan to use
the school as my allies in this activity. I have an appointment with the school principal next week
and plan to share what the children are working on. I hope to gain her support and ask her to
come to the afterschool program and talk to the children about bullying. Other allies are my
coworkers and supervisor. My supervisor has been to many conferences regarding bullies and
she will be an important asset to the success of my activity. My coworkers are also great
resources because everyone has experiences in similar situations and through networking we can
build useful resources and outcomes.
To begin I have decided to introduce the book to the children. I placed to reading book
Janine in the reading area so the children can choose to read it. I left it out for a week. This gives
all the children an opportunity to read it on their own. Then on Monday I choose this book as out
group read of the day. I then told the children that I was going to be reading it to them. I read the
book to the group and they listened attentively. That same day we discussed the book and the
characters of the book. I then introduced the activity to the children. I told them what they were
doing and how long we were going to work on it. I gave the children a timeline of one week. The
children then took a picture with their hearts. I then let the activity take its course. On

Wednesday I asked the children their heart looked. On Friday the children sat at group and
discussed their heart. The activity itself was a weeklong project but I plan to take revisit this
activity though out the rest of the school year. Next month I plan to reread the book to the
children and have them create their own book. I plan on binding them an placing them in the
book area for the other children to read.
This activity is going to focus on the Anti Bias goal number three. This goal discusses the
childs ability to identify and resist hurtful messages and stereotypes. I plan on introducing other
books that address hurtful words and also have the children develop plans on their own to help
resist hurtful words and build their sense of self. This activity will integrate into writing and art
activities by having them create posters and books on their own. Lastly, I plan on evaluating this
activity through observation of the children by focusing on the language used among each other,
and how the children treat each other during informal moments of the day like during free play
or outside time. I will also be taking pictures and displaying them with their whole heart on
Monday and with what is left of it on Friday.
Overall I feel that this activity has shown positive conversation among the children.
During informal times of the day they are talking about it and talking about feelings and
emotions. The children are aware of what others are saying and one child even told another
dont say that, that might make him tear a piece of his heart off I dont know if it will have the
long term effect Im looking for yet but it is definitely a starting point. I have received positive
comments from some parents and my supervisor, but I am eager to see how it will affect the
children in my classroom. That is where the difference needs to take place.

References
Cocca-Leffler, M. (2015). Janine. Chicago, Illinois: Albert Whitman and Company.
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education: For young children and
ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Pelo, A. (2008). Rethinking early childhood education. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.