Promoting Diversity in Middle School Classrooms
Teasing and tormenting start to heat up in the middle school years, so it is imperative that diversity activities be integrated into the middle school classroom.
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- Teach a lesson on the different aspects of culture, and then have students work in groups to create cultures of their own, addressing facets of culture such as family, cuisine, religion and symbols of cultural pride.
- Assign students to research their own ethnic backgrounds. Display a map and have students point to their family's country of origin. Divide the students into pairs. Ensure each pair has two different backgrounds. Assign students to interview each other and collaborate on presentations for the class. Expand the interview process by using the internet to find and communicate with classrooms in other countries or with students of other nationalities.
- Have students present values, traditions, quotations that were down through their family, and have them compare and contrast responses.