Face Puzzles

Every teacher must provide meaningful activities to her/his students in order to enhance their desire of learning. Diversity activities promote the goals and objectives of activity goals by fostering each child’s positive, empathetic interaction with diversity among people. Diversity activities help children explore the concepts of alike and different (York, 205).

 “Face Puzzles” themes are “I’m Me and I’m Special, Bodies, Alike and Different, Friends.

Objectives: Appreciate the physical characteristics of others and yourself

Materials: Camera, film, poster board or foam core, mat knife, rubber cement, pencil, ruler

Description: Teachers can take a close-up photo of each child’s face. The photos should be enlarged to 8 by 10 inches. Glue the photo to the foam core and let it dry. Using a ruler, mark off the photo in fourths, vertically and horizontally. Using a pencil, lightly draw lines for cutting out the pieces.  This should result in sixteen 2-inch squares. Teachers should cut out the pieces with the mat knife ahead of time and put the child’s name or initials on the back of each piece.  During group time, teachers should give the pieces to each child in a plastic bag.  Educators should encourage children to try to put together their face puzzle. As children work on their own puzzle, a conversation about where the eyes, nose, and mouth are located on a person’s face should occur. When children have completed their puzzle, asking them to hold up the piece that shows their mouth should be demonstrated by the teacher. Talk about how each person’s mouth is different. Continue with the other facial features.

For older children (4-8) Teachers can combine three to four puzzles. Have children unscramble them and make the correct faces of other children. Set out the puzzle pieces in a tub and let children freely explore putting the pieces together to create different faces.

Teachers can also extend this activity by having children pick a partner of a different cultural group, let them set up each other’s puzzles, and discuss each other's physical characteristics.

I chose The “Face Puzzles” activity because I believe it promotes children’s view of themselves; children are able to see their beauty in a puzzle, talk about their physical characteristics, explore each other’s differences and similarities, and learn about different people.  I also chose this activity because I believe it helps children appreciate the difference they notice, without making judgments; children gain knowledge about one another, and explore their classmates.  

As we saw earlier in the semester, Jane Elliot had implemented a 2 day activity, in which she had divided her class into two groups: blue eyes and brown eyes. She had given superiority to both groups one at a time and established that children easily adapt to a role of superiority and dominance. This activity is age appropriate because during childhood, racism affects children’s social and emotional development. Children from early age began to be racist which shapes their personal and racial identity (York, 40-41).  Through this activity children learn that their physical characteristics are different, yet they all have attributes such as noses, mouths, lips, tongues, eyes, ears, hair, etc. When choosing my activity, I had three themes that support my activity; fostering positive self-esteem, positive self-concept in children provides children with a positive experience exploring similarities and differences among each other, and it promotes respect towards others (Goals for Anti-Bias Curriculum).  This appropriate activity meets anti-bias goals, for example, it nurtures each child’s construction of knowledgeable, confident self-concept, and group identity.  Teachers are suppose to create the educational conditions, where all children are able to like who they are, without needing to feel superior to anyone else. This activity helps children accomplish it. The activity also helps children recognize and respect difference, while  recognizing and accepting, both mentally and emotionally, the common humanity that all people share.

I have chosen 3 different books for my activity. “What I like about me” written by Allia Zobel Nolan, is about different children who love themselves. Children in the book love their braces, others feel distinguished when they wear their glasses, and other children wouldn’t trade their big feet for a lifetime of free video games. This is a fun-loving book, which features entertaining and proves to children that, in a world where fitting in is the norm, being different is what makes us special. 

 The second book that I have chosen is for ages 3 to 8, and is written by Michael Tyler. The book is called “The Skin You Live In”. The story’s themes are associated with child development and social harmony, such as friendship, acceptance, self-esteem, and diversity are promoted in simple and straightforward prose. 

                                                                                                                       My third book is called “Whoever You Are” and is written by Mem Fox and is about peace and equality.  The book has a great beginning, where the author reminds readers that whoever you are and wherever you are there are people all over the world just like you. 

Children live in a world created by their educators and parents; children are influenced by other children and their educators. It is our job to protect them, teach, respect, and love children. The beauty for a teacher is to create a meaningful learning opportunities for students and see them progress as they learn.  I believe children are fabulous at everything they do; it is educator’s job to notice their effort and encourage them to full progression.

The Lion King

The Lion King (1994) American animated musical-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. The story takes place in a kingdom of lions in Africa. 

Children might be observing and influenced by the dark lion in the film Scar. Children might be associating dark skin color with “bad” and apply it in real life by thinking dark skinned people are bad. Critics discuss the facial difference between Mufasa and Scar. “Don’t know if I’m overreacting but it seems like to me, Scar has Saracen like facial features and Mufasa has a more Frankish looking face/mane.” I can somehow relate to this. I believe that the facial difference between the two lions is extremely noticeable. I believe that children can associate the dark color of Scar with evil and that can be represented as racist stereotyping. I believe that can be extreme issue for children watching this movie, because once again they will be focused on the bad lion, with dark skin and black beard. The good lion is light skin, expected to represent white race and is associated with good behavior, he is the keeper, and he is the one all other animals cherish. This can be a potential danger to children; since they might believe it is okay for dark skinned people to be bad.

In the scene where Simba and Nala lie to their parents about going to the waterfall, they get in danger with the hyenas; which are represented as the evil in the film. This may be absorbed that lying to parents always leads to bad situations and never turns out positive. Mufasa shares with Simba: “Simba, being brave does not mean get into trouble.”

When the King is killed by his own brother, children might assume that family is not always there to protect, instead it might harm. 

I remember crying on this movie, asking why the King had to die. I remember thinking that when something bad happens, something good turns up. In the movie Simba finds two friends, which make him feel better. I also remember thinking that friends always come together sooner or later. I remember Simba being scared to go back home because he was afraid everyone will hate him. Simba’s friends help him gain his kingdom back, because they believed its fair for him to go back home. 

I think my child would be able to learn how bad behavior can ruin nature and its beauty. The impact of bad decisions can harm others, and lying does not bring anything positive; it brings mistrust and hate. I think my child would be able to appreciate the struggle Simba fought against his uncle, in order to gain his life and family back; as well as bring the Kingdom back to its life and beauty. I believe the lesson my child can learn is bad behavior should always be punished. Accepting responsibilities and taking important steps in order to learn from mistakes.   

Critics share their view: “The characters are animals, but their voices show racist stereotypes. Even though The Lion King takes place in Africa, two white American actors are used for the voice of Simba, the hero. However, the hyenas who are bad characters in the film, speak non-standard English.” I do not agree with this statement because I do not think the fact that the movie takes place in Africa matters as much, and also the voices are simply voices that do not show racism.

When talking about stereotyping existing in the film Lion King, a viewer shared: “I was dismayed at the use of ethically identifiable voices to characterize the hyenas, clearly the undesirables in the film. The Spanish-accented voices clearly marked the hyenas racially.” Again, this comment shows how important voices are in the movie, I believe they are simply chosen; they do not discriminate against or use stereotyping. Yes the hyenas did represent Spanish-accented voices, but it is not what makes them bad; it is the animal type that writers are trying to put a face on, not the language used. Hyenas are extremely dangerous animals that are known for their bad characteristics.

Research

http://www.newint.org/easier-english/Disney/diswomen.html

http://www.quora.com/The-Lion-King-1994-movie/Is-The-Lion-King-racist

http://www.intervarsitylafe.org/barrioprophets/blog/?p=49

Picture Book Analysis

“We Are One”-Author: Jenifer Black, Illustrator: Jenifer Black, Year of Publication: October 2010

“We Are One” is a rhythmic tale in which illustrations represent and speak to children, as well as adults. It is a gentle written book witch shows children, that no matter we make different sounds and see things individually, or what our nationality, gender, faith, species, shape, size, color is, we are all the same. The book shows children in a very easy, simple way that life on the planet is different, it also shows children how all the people and animals on the planet share one sun, and they all live on planet Earth. The story in the book is very well written, it provides an easy language to follow, and understand its main point. In this book, children have the power in the story, the nature of children’s power is to understand how different the world they live in is, how every living organism is different, and yet the same. The children have the power to judge based on what they hear and see in the book, and they have the power to understand how the world is created. The author represents animals in the book as part of life, she describes those animals as “fluffy, tall, small, and some animals have feathers”. The behavior as being different is rewarded because the author wishes to show children that every person is different by size. The author also states: “We all have different feelings, we all make different sounds. We all see things individually, like what makes the world go around”. Jenifer is proving to children that although we sometimes speak different language, or feel different, or have different opinion, that is okay, because "we are all one, but different, different but the same”. The author had put together animals, people, flowers, boys and girls, in her illustrations, because she wants to show children that it is okay to be different, it is okay to see those differences, but it is also okay to live together, to understand each other, and to respect our differences. The pictures in the book present different race, by explaining that some people live where it is cold and those others live where it is hot. With her illustrations, there is a chocolate skin boy, as well as pink skin girl. Author presents her story well, with the help of those pictures. The story line in the book is presented by the issue that children and people tend to see each other differently, and treat each other unequally. The problem is solved by the author’s brining in animals, insects, trees and people and comparing them, showing children that whether a person or an animal, we still all are different, different but the same. Jenifer Black has taken under consideration race, culture, gender and age, and has created a lovely book that clearly presents the different world, and in a gentle way, the author has brought the world closer to one another. I loved the way the book was written as well as illustrated. I would definitely recommend that every preschool has this book in their library. I would suggest schools have this book because it teaches children about race, culture and being one in this big universe. The pictures combined with the clear word choice of the author, shows children how happy everyone needs to be, by holding hands, loving each other, loving our nature, being kind to one another, and most importantly, see that we are different, but all still the same. The message that the author shows is more than a perfect explanation for preschoolers about race, difference and culture. 

Who Am I?

Hello! My given name is Radostina. It actually means "Happy" My first language is Bulgarian. I was born in Bulgaria, I grew up there. When I was 13 years old, I came to USA. I didn’t understand or spoke any English so, I learned Russian.

I am white. My nationality is Bulgarian. My culture is rich in nature, as well as its many traditions. It is important for all those tradition to be kept, we for example celebration called a "Name Day" It’s one specific day that everyone has heard of and it is celebrated with people who care about you, but guests cannot be invited. They have to come, only if they wish to show their love towards you. 

My family is what matters to me, since my husband, my mom and I left Bulgaria, all of our family is back there and we are here with no one but ourselves, and I have come to truly appreciate how important my family is to me. I believe teachers need to provide lessons to children but in a childish way. Teachers should always use examples that are related to children's life for their better understanding. In my experience, teachers should speak children’s language when it comes to explanation.  Hands movement, gestures and a slow simple explanation is the best way to teach a child.

I am very outgoing person who only wants to help people. I have always wanted to be the one who people can rely on. I used to be extremely shy, but I learned that I cannot make friends that way. I define myself as "Christina to the rescue"! I come from a small family, I lost my father as a baby and I never knew him. I grew up with my mom and my grandparents in Bulgaria. When I was 13 I moved in USA with my mom and left all my friends and family in Bulgaria. I often go back and visit because I truly miss them. I never expected to come to USA. To me it was a big difference, I didn't want to leave all my family and come to a place where I knew nothing about. There was of course the issue of me not speaking English. In time, I realized that all I was afraid of was not a big deal. If I only knew not to worry as much, my life would have been easier. I hate living my life with phrases such as: "I should have done this or that" so I do not think about the past, I look forward to what life has to offer and I am using every opportunity life gives me. I have no children on my own now. I recently got married, and I hope children would come to us later on. My mom's parents are well and live in Bulgaria with my mom's brother. My father's parents are also in Bulgaria and live alone. I often visit them because they have no other kids but me. I have no brothers or sisters and neither does my husband. I have to admit I always disliked being alone in my life. My mom, I and my husband recently bought a house and we are enjoying living there, we were painting and fixing the new house the entire summer. 

I work with children at After School Program as a Para Educator. I work with kindergarteners through 2nd grade and I also work with 2nd through 6th grade. I truly enjoy both age groups and am happy I get to work with them. My job requires me to help children with their school work, create activities for them such as: Basketball club, Crafting club, Community Service club (which was my idea) as well as Drama club. Supervision is always enforced, as well as educating children about their safety, group discussions, and behaving themselves. Learning about Culture and Diversity could be useful for me in the future because I plan on working with children and since everyone is so different, I think it's important for me to be able to understand different cultures and diversity. In my free time I enjoy looking up different projects for children, since my job requires me to be creative; I always enjoy looking up helpful links and advices. I also enjoy writing poems but I do not do that as often as I would like to. I always create something new in the kitchen. I like creating my own recipe and looking up recipe online. I like surprising my family with new dishes; therefore this is my favorite thing to do. I do not get out much, I like staying home, but when I do go out in the nature, I enjoy walking. My husband and I  like going to a Coffee House, with our lap tops and do homework, every once in a while we share something to one another and continue on with homework or projects we work on. Most of my life is simple. It’s always school and work and when possible visiting new towns, exploring nature more and enjoying time with my husband.