Lesson #1: Identity Iceberg

Begin by defining and discussing some important terms to help set the stage for this activity. The following definitions were adapted from Miriam-Webster.com.

1. Identity: Essentially, identity is who you are, the way you think about yourself, the way you are viewed by the world, your beliefs, your values, your cultural and racial characteristics, and all of the other characteristics that make you you.

   • “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual: individuality”

2. Race: We typically think of race as being a mixture of physical, behavioral and cultural attributes.

   • “a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock”

   • “a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics”

   • “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits”

3. Ethnicity:

   • “of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background”

4. Culture: Culture is a system of beliefs, values, and assumptions that guide behavior and are shared by a group of people. This includes customs, language, clothing styles, food and other material items. These are passed down through the generations often subconsiously (not through direct teaching).

   • “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group”

   • “the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as your way of life) shared by people in a place or time”

5. Prejudice: Prejudice is when we form an opinion about a person before we really know anything about them. These are often harmful assumptions that we make based on superficial characteristics before taking the time to see the person as an individual.

6. Discrimination: Discrimination happens when we take our prejudices and harmful thoughts or feelings about a person into action. An example would be not hiring a person for a job because of their skin color.

Next, complete the Identity Iceberg Worksheet Below :

Click on the images to download and print the pdf.

Lesson #2: Potato Activity

*This activity was adapted from PennState Extension. They have several other activities used to promote discussion about diversity. They are fantastic resources and easy-to-implement lessons. You can find the rest of their activities here.

Step 1: gather your materials

All you will need is a paper bag and an assortment of potatoes (at least one for each child and adult completing this activity).

Step 2: Set the stage

Begin by showing the potatoes and saying, “I have always taken potatoes for granted. Have you ever really thought about potatoes that much? They all seem the same when I look at them. I’ve never really thought that hard about them.”

Next, say, “However, potatoes are actually a lot like people. We are going to do an activity with these potatoes that demonstrates this.”

Step 3: Get to know your own potato

Pass out one potato to each person in the room and let the remaining potatoes lay on the table. Each person now needs to take the time to really get to know their potato (silently at first). Here are some things to think about as you complete the activity:

1. Name your potato.

2. Give it a family and describe what it’s like.

3. Think about where it lives.

4. Get to know its bumps, scars, shape, defects, and things that are beautiful about it.

5. Give it some favorite activities (e.g., What does it do for fun? What does it do with it’s family?)

Get to know your potato well enough that you will be able to introduce it to the rest of the group and describe it.

Step 4: Describe your potato to the rest of the group

Each person will then introduce their potato friend to the rest of the group. Share your own story about your potato first to give the kids an idea of what they need to tell and then let each person take their turn.

Step 5: put all of the potatoes together in a bag

Next have everyone place their own potato into a brown paper bag, maybe even along with a bunch of potatoes that weren’t “introduced” to the group.

Ask: “Do you still believe all potatoes are the same?”

step 6: Mix up the potatoes and then pour them all back out onto the table

After mixing up the potatoes and placing them back on the table where everyone can see them. Have everyone come back up to the table to find their potato friend.

Everyone will find that they can identify their own potato pretty easily. Explain that people are a lot like potatoes. If we don’t get to know them and just lump them into a group with everyone else thinking they are the “same,” all we are doing is saying we don’t think it is important to get to know that person as an individual.

Step 7: Discuss

Ask the kids to think about people in groups that we sometimes lump together. If they are having trouble, here are some ideas:

1. People with a certain color of skin.

2. Kids in the band.

3. Kids who live in a certain neighborhood, in the city, or in the country.

4. Kids in a certain reading group.

5. Boys

6. Girls

7. Kids in special education

8. Kids in a certain religion

9. Kids in clubs like chess, soccer, etc.

Ask the following questions:

1. When we lump everyone from a group together, what are we doing? Do you know what this is called? (explain here what stereotyping is).

2. Do you know a lot of kids or people all from the same group? If so, are they all exactly alike? Do they all fit the stereotype?

3. Why is stereotyping harmful?

Lesson #3: Review Privelege Basketball from Kindness Kit #2

Head over to Kindness Kit #2 to review Lesson #1: Privelege Basketball. After you have reviewed or completed the lesson, use it to talk about privelege beyond just economic privelege.

Discussion Questions:

1. The closer you were to the recycling bin, the better your chances of making a basket. This is what privilege looks like. The more advantages you have from the beginning of your life (parents with stable jobs, enough money to buy food and own a home, educated parents, etc.), the easier it is for you to keep getting ahead (to keep making the baskets). Did you notice that you had an advantage over everyone else? Did you notice that the people in the back started with a hardship that you didn’t?

2. We have already discussed how the cycle of poverty looks a lot like this situation. If you start life without the things you need, it is often very very difficult to break out of that position in life without some outside help. In our case it would be someone helping the child move their seat forward. In the real world, people sometimes need help to get an education, get a new job, find stable housing, etc. Without that help people can sometimes remain poor all of their lives.

3. Is economic privelege the only type of privelege? What are some other ways people can start out priveleged in life? Some areas to consider are:

   • Racial privelege. White Privilege is a real thing. When children hear about people like Rosa Parks, MLK, Jr., Brown versus the Board of Education, etc. and think that we’ve “fixed” racism and it no longer exists.  It’s important to help them understand that, although progress has been made and laws have changed, racial and social inequalities still remain.

   • Immigration and refugee status. Talking to kids about immigration and refugees can be challenging. Here are some resources for how to explain immigration. Refugees fleeing terrible and dangerous situations in their native countries are at a disadvantage in multiple ways.

   • Gender privelege. An article on Readers Digest gives an idea of some of the imbalance issues related to gender in the US.

   • What others can you think of?

Supplemental Activities

There are several more wonderful activities from PennState Extension. These fantastic resources and easy-to-implement lessons promote discussion about diversity and kindness. You can find the rest of their activities here and they include lessons on:

• skin color

• learning about people with disabilities

• the difference between facts and opinion

• inclusion/exclusion

• unequal resources

• how our words and actions impact others

Return to Kit #8