What is Fair?  Rights and Justice for a Kindergarten Classroom

Lesson 2: Band-Aids for All?

Teacher: Jackie Beck

Subject Area: Social Studies, Mathematics

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Time Needed: 15 minutes

Topic: Does Equal Mean Fair?

 

MMSD Standards

-Math Standard: Beginning in grade K, students compare and order collections (of up to 20 objects) to determine relationships such as bigger, smaller, more, and the same as

-Social Studies Standard: Behavioral Science Standard 3: Demonstrates confidence in expressing one’s own beliefs and feelings

 

NCSS Standards

-Time, Continuity, and Change

 

School of Ed Standards

-Standard 1: Incorporates understanding of human learning and development

-Standard 10: Employs varied instructional strategies

 

Objectives

-SWBAT use a simulation to decide whether or not equal always means fair

-SWBAT compare data from the two class polls

-SWBAT offer explanations for why the data may have changed


Materials

-Poster created in previous lesson (with web of definitions and pre-activity poll)

-Marker

-Note cards with various injuries written on them

 

Lesson Context

            This is the second lesson in a unit about the word fair.  The previous lesson ended with an introduction to the following question/synopsis:

“One student has a scratch on their hand and another student breaks their arm.  If the school nurse gives each student a band-aid, is that fair?”

The students were then asked if this is fair or not, and the answer was recorded as a poll with tally marks (the results are hanging in the classroom).

 

Lesson Opening

            Begin by asking a student volunteer to remind you and the rest of the class about the question that you asked them the previous day and they took a class poll on.  Refer back to the poster board with the class poll and share the numbers with the students again.  Then explain that you will be looking even further into this question by doing an activity as a class.

 

Procedure

Have a stack of note cards with one injury written on each note card.  Ask the students to come to you on the carpet and pick a card (they will be face down).  Remind students the class saying – you get what you get!  No one can re-pick their card.  Explain to the students that they are going to see some kind of injury on their card, and for the rest of the lesson they should think as if they have this injury (key word: think, not necessarily act).  The injuries on the cards should vary from things like chicken pox to a paper cut all the way to a broken toe.  Ask the students to read their card and keep their new ailment a secret.  Allow time for students to come and ask you if they cannot read the words on the card or if they do not understand what it means.

            Gather everyone back together on the carpet.  Then hand a band-aid out to each student.  Ask them to think about whether or not the band-aid will solve the problem that is on their note card.  Split the carpet in half and ask the students to go to one side if the band-aid solved their problem and the other side if the band-aid would not have solved their injury.   Ask the students (one half at a time) to share their injury, in order to give all the students an idea of what the band-aid was meant to help. 

            Refer the students back to the original question from yesterday.  If everyone receives the same treatment (a band-aid) for their injury, do they think it is fair?  Ask the students to raise their hand and take a poll again, recording it under yesterday’s poll. 

           

Closure

Now there will be a whole-group discussion about the data collected.  Look back at the two polls – was there a change in the data?  Does one group have more people agreeing with it than it did before?  Ask the students why they might have changed their opinion.  How did this activity affect their conception of equality being fair or not?  How can we determine if something is fair?

 

Special Considerations

            If you are in a classroom where there are students with special physical needs, be sure that none of the ailments on your note cards are related to this (ex: if someone has a cast on their leg, stay away from broken bones for the time being).  This activity should be based as much as possible on factitious injuries so that you do not have a student who feels singled out.

 

Assessment:

(To be recorded under yesterday’s [lesson 1] poll)

Is it fair if everyone receives the same treatment for different problems?

Yes                                                No