Social+justice-based



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 Dictionary.com states that “Social Justice is the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within a society.” It is sad to say that young children are learning more about social unjustice at earlier ages. In my school, which is all Kindergarten classes, we, the teachers, are noticing that more of young children are learning more about racism, gender bias, and language discrimination at a younger age. We hear these students say that they do not want to be near a Mexican or want to learn a second language because they have already been taught that, that is “wrong.” If we do not teach our students about how racism and discrimination can destroy lives we are letting the problem continue. We do have a problem that many young people, whether they are children or adults, do not see how wrong discriminating against others is truly impacting our country. We do not ever want to go back to the Civil Rights era, where minority groups experience great difficulties and turmoil. We, as teacher, must try to properly educate our students because they are the future. =====

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 The approach I mostly identify Social Justice-Based is the Total Physical Response Approach, Language Experience Approach, the CALLA Approach, and the SIOP model. =====

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 The first activity that I have selected comes from http://www.tolerance.org/index.jsp. This a fabulous website geared for children, teens, and adults. The children section has an interactive story that is age appropriate. The website has a reader for the story and displays colorful pictures for children to look at. The story that I am planning on doing with my students is the “//Barking Mouse”// by Antonio Sacre. This is a very good story that demonstrates the importance of knowing more than one language. The whole website is very appropriate and focuses on the social justice based movement. I highly recommend this website to all educators and their ESL students. It is reliable because it talks about issues that our country is facing. If we, as educators, can expose our young students to issues they can hopefully be resolved when they become adults. =====

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 The second activity comes form http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=1019. This is a highly recommended website from past professors that I have had from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, St. Xavier’s University at Chicago, and Chicago State University. I decided on this activity because it helps students develop an awareness of their surroundings and themselves. Students are to create a poster to recognize safety problems and attempting to solve the problems that are presented to them. I like this activity because I make this activity appropriate for my Kindergarten students. They can learn through writing and partake in a shared discussion between all the students. I will also get the opportunity to hear what they are thinking about the specific situation that is presented to them. My students will also learn how to communicate for different purposes. =====