ALIKE AND DIFFERENT
by Megan Matthys

The unit I have planned is on physical disabilities. During this unit I am planning on trying to bring the real world into the classroom by having my students do things such as, interviewing people from the community with disabilities, taking a field trip to PACE (People Accepting Challenging Environments), learning from a sign language expert, inviting Kids on the Block to come in to give a puppet show concerning kids with disabilities, and much more. The students will also do a lot of activities which will help them learn what it might be like to have a disability. They will go on a blind walk, experience spending time in a wheel chair, spend an afternoon without talking and only using gestures to communicate, as well as try to do certain activities without the use of their hands.

I have chosen this topic of physical disabilities for some very important reasons. I feel as though society has many unjustified prejudices against people who have disabilities, or appear different in some way. I believe that many of these prejudiced beliefs are there because of the ignorance most people have about people with disabilities. People assume that since people look very different, or are unable to do certain things, they also think and feel differently. I hope to show my kindergartners that this is not true at all. I hope to have them learn a lot more about people with physical disabilities so that they can become more accepting and comfortable around people who are different from themselves. Another reason I have chosen this topic is because I believe it is even more important today with all of the full inclusion that is happening in regular classrooms. I see this unit as a way to help myself learn more about disabilities, and therefore prepare myself to be a better teacher in a classroom with a fully included student.

I have three major goals for this unit. First I hope to make my students more aware of people with disabilities so that when they meet somebody with a disability they won't feel uncomfortable. Second, I hope to help my kindergartners see that people with disabilities often enjoy doing many of the same things they enjoy, and have many of the same feelings they have. I want to bring out the many similarities between my students and people with disabilities rather than focusing on the differences. Thirdly, I hope to help my kindergartners understand what it might be like to have a disability themselves. I also have many more specific goals for my students that fall under these three general goals which are to: 1)learn the alphabet and a short song in sign language, 2)learn about the importance of all of our senses and how to use them to discover things, 3)learn interviewing skills, and 4)practice role playing to further understanding.

The kindergarten class in which I will be teaching this unit is made up of sixteen students. There are four African American students and twelve Caucasian students. Within this group there is a large range of ability levels. One student is a fluent reader, a few others are at the very beginning stages, while most students are still concentrating on letter sounds. Classroom lessons are taught through center activities and an afternoon whole class lesson. The students are also allowed a lot of time for free play where they can further their discovery about the unit topic informally.

One way I hope to accommodate for the different levels of abilities in my class is to have a large range of types of activities. There will be many hands on activities which will help those students who have special needs begin to gain an understanding about what it might be like to have a disability, as well as many visual activities, such as role playing, which will help those same students learn how to act appropriately around people with disabilities. For the one fluent reader in the class, I am planning on finding additional reading material that I know will interest him such as a biography on Jim Abbot, a famous baseball pitcher with a disability. This particular student is also very interested with working on the computer, therefore I plan to set him up with a web site from Yahooligans, which has many interesting links about physical disabilities. The students who fall in between the gifted and special need category, will also benefit greatly from the hands on and visual activities, as well as be challenged through many critical thinking activities about the ways in which people with disabilities are very similar to themselves. I believe that this unit will provide an excellent introduction on becoming accepting of, and comfortable around people with disabilities for all of the students regardless of their ability level.

(Parent information letter)

For the next three to four weeks we will be studying about the many similarities and differences amongst people. The study will focus on comparing and contrasting ourselves with people who have a variety of disabilities. Kindergarten is a very appropriate time to approach a topic like this one, because the young students are still very open minded and are just beginning to form their own beliefs about certain issues. I feel as though society has many unjustified prejudices against people who have disabilities or appear different in some way. I believe that many of these prejudiced beliefs are there because of the ignorance most people have about people with physical disabilities. People assume that since people look very different, or are unable to do certain things, they also think and feel differently. I hope to show the kindergartners that this is not true at all. I hope to have them learn a lot more about people with disabilities so that they can become more accepting and comfortable around people who are different from themselves.

As you can imagine, this topic lends itself very well to many social studies activities. A blind woman with a guide dog will be visiting our classroom which will provide the students with an excellent opportunity to learn about interviewing skills. Also, the students will be taking a field trip to PACE (Persons Accepting Challenging Environments). This social inquiry will help the students find out how much they can learn from interacting with people in their community. The students will also learn about how deaf people communicate by using sign language. They will have the opportunity to learn a song in sign language from sign language expert.

This unit topic also relates very well to many science activities about the five senses. When studying about what it might be like to be blind, the students will investigate how they can use their senses of touch, smell, and hearing to help them do many activities without needing to use their sense of sight. Some of these activities include identifying objects in mystery boxes by only using their sense of touch, identifying things in shaker cups by using their sense of hearing, and identifying many different objects outside while going on a blind walk with a partner.

The students will also be involved in many language arts activities throughout the unit. One of the language arts skills they will learn will be how to write a thank you note. The need will arise for this after we have guest speakers in our room. The students will also be creating a classroom book which will help others learn about the exciting things they discovered on their field trip.

The students will also be exposed to different art activities throughout this unit. They will be creating a textured piece of artwork that they can enjoy looking at, and a blind person can enjoy feeling. The students will create a class mural which they will have to paint without using their hands. They will also be involved in many role playing activities which will help them understand how to act in certain situations involving people with disabilities, and they will have the opportunity to watch a puppet show put on by the Urbana Park District which will teach them many things about how to act around people with disabilities and how people with disabilities feel in certain situations.

One of the goals of this unit will be to help the students understand what it might be like to have a disability themselves. In order to accomplish this, the students will go on a blind walk, all of the students will have the chance to experience sitting in a wheelchair for part of one day, they will spend one of their free times with their arm in a sling, they will try to refrain from speaking for a full 20 minutes and only use gestures and writing for communication, and they will try to perform certain tasks with out the use of their thumb or fingers. Hopefully, after experiencing these different activities, the students will gain a better understanding about the difficulties people with disabilities face.

Of course, there are many wonderful books which will help to further the students' knowledge about people with disabilities. The students will have a large selection of both fiction and non-fiction books to choose from. The books the students will be exposed to will reflect that people with disabilities have the same feelings as they do, and appreciate being treated like everyone else. The books will also help the students see how many interesting things people with disabilities are capable of doing.