Fighting Prejudice and Discrimination Against People

With Learning Disabilities: Early Grades

understand the meaning of the term learning disability

consider their own, their schools and societys biases related to learning disabilities

discuss ways in which labels about intelligence are used to inculcate prejudice and lead to
discrimination against people, and develop more constructive, specific vocabulary for
discussing learning needs

consider ways to fight prejudice and discrimination against those with learning disabilities

make a graphic zine about fighting prejudice and discrimination against those with learning
disabilities

Objectives

understand the meaning of the term learning disability

consider their own, their schools and societys biases related to learning
disabilities
discuss ways in which labels about intelligence are used to inculcate prejudice
and lead to discrimination against people, and develop more constructive,
specific vocabulary for discussing learning needs

consider ways to fight prejudice and discrimination against those with learning
disabilities
make a graphic zine about fighting prejudice and discrimination against those
with learning disabilities
Materials
Patricia Polacco, Thank You, Mr. Falker (This book is widely available in libraries,

bookstores or may be purchased through Patricia Polaccos Web site.)

Essential Questions
What is a learning disability?
How can learning disabilities affect students experiences at school? How can
they affect life outside school?
What prejudices have caused schools and society to discriminate against people

with learning disabilities, and how can we fight this discrimination?

How does prejudice and discrimination against people with learning disabilities
connect to other forms of prejudice and discrimination, and what can we do to
fight against these biases?
What are some advantages of living in a world in which people learn in different
ways?

Glossary

discrimination |diskrimn shn|

(noun) Unfair treatment of a person or group on the basis of prejudice or bias
intelligence |intelijns|
(noun) It is important for students to understand that intelligence can be understood in a
variety of ways, and that the types of intelligence most commonly valued by schools are not
the only ways to be intelligent. One definition holds that intelligence is the ability to
comprehend, to understand or profit from experience.
learning disability |lrni ng disbilit|
(noun) The Learning Disability Association of America defines learning disability as a
neurological disorder that affects one or more of the basic psychological processes
involved in understanding or in using spoken or written language.
prejudice |prejds|
(noun) Adverse judgment or opinion, often of a specific group of people, formed without
knowledge of the facts and sometimes leading to hatred or suspicion
English/Language Arts
1. As a class, discuss what you think of when you hear the terms smart, stupid
and learning disability. Your teacher will chart your responses in web
form. (Note: After eliciting student responses to these terms, teachers might
provide formal definitions, particularly for learning disability.)
2. Listen to a passage from Patricia Polaccos book Thank You, Mr. Falker. (Note:
Students can also read it independently or in small groups.) As a class, discuss
the experience of the student in the story and how it relates to the words listed
above.
3. Form small groups and write an imaginary interview with either Patricia Polacco
or another student in Mr. Falkers class. Your interviews should show how you
are trying to understand what school is like for students with learning disabilities.
As you work on these interviews, challenge yourself to talk openly with your
classmates about your own experiences in school in relation to what you heard
in the story. Consider ways in which you have seen discrimination or insults used
against students with learning disabilities. How do peoples prejudices about
intelligence and learning lead to such discriminatory behavior?
4. Perform the interviews you wrote. Then discuss what the story and your small
group taught you. Think about the different experiences students can have
based on their strengths, challenges and needs.
Social Studies
1. In your notebook or journal, describe a time when learning came easily to you.
You may write about something in school, like learning to write a complete
sentence; or something outside of school, like learning to swim; or something
that happened both in and out of school, like learning to make friends. When you
are done describing this learning experience, describe a time when learning has
come with more difficulty. In both examples, use as much detail as you can.

Describe your feelings, how other people reacted to you, and how you feel about
this skill now.
2. Form small groups, and share one or both of your stories. Listen to your
classmates stories carefully. Then, as a group, create a poster with a TChart that shows, on one side, what it feels like and how people respond to you
when learning comes easily and, on the other side, what it feels like and how
people respond to you when learning comes with more difficulty.
3. Hang your posters around the room and spend a few minutes doing a gallery
style share. Walk around reading other groups posters. Consider common
themes or ideas you find.
4. As a class, discuss the idea of prejudice and resulting discrimination against
people because of learning disabilities. Use your own examples and those of
your classmates to think about how this sort of discrimination feels. Recall the
definition of learning disabilities you discussed when you read Thank You, Mr.
Falker. Talk about why our society might be more biased against people who
struggle with some types of learning than others.
5. After this discussion, return to your notebook or journal and reflect on what you
discussed. How do prejudice and discrimination against people with learning
disabilities relate to other forms of prejudice and discrimination you know about?
How are they different? How do you think we can fight against this type of
prejudice and discrimination?
Arts
1. As a class, recall the previous conversations you had about learning disabilities,
prejudice and discrimination. Then discuss examples you have seen of prejudice
or discrimination against people with learning disabilities in particular areas.
2. With a partner, work to create a story strip illustrating a story of discrimination
against someone with a learning disability caused by prejudice about
intelligence. Make sure your story strip uses visuals as well as words to tell the
story. Try to focus the story on how to fight against this type of prejudice and the
discrimination that results. (Note: As students create their visuals, the teacher will
want to circulate and make note of any racial or cultural stereotypes being
represented. For example, are the characters who struggle at sports overweight?
Are they all female? Are the characters who struggle with reading all racial
minorities? The teacher will want to find sensible ways to make these prejudices
explicit and bring them up in later reflections and discussion.)
3. As a class, compile your story strips into a graphic zine about fighting prejudice
and discrimination against people with learning disabilities.
4. In your journal or notebook, reflect on what you came up with in your story strip.
Write about what you will do in the future to fight against prejudice and
discrimination based on learning disabilities.