Spatial Requirements: Classroom with moderate space required
Activity Type: Movement/group
Grades: 5-12
Group Size: 8 or more
Time: 20 minutes

Introduction: Street Resilience isn’t just about channeling your own disrespect and discrimination toward a cause – it also means being able to take a stand against the unfair treatment of others. This activity will help students think of positive ways to address situations where they may be witnesses to discrimination and disrespect of other people.

Materials:

• Classroom Skit Examples (See PDF) – You may also want to create your own skits that are relevant to your students.

Activity:

Divide students into small groups and give each group a “discrimination skit” from the Classroom Skit Examples PDF provided.  Give each group five minutes to come up with a plan for acting out the skit, and also an “alternative scenario” in which a member of the group steps in and speaks out against the discrimination, or does something following the experience that addresses the problem.

When the five minute allotted time is up, allow each group to present their skit before the class. After each skit, pause and discuss with the class what just happened, then allow the group to present their “alternative scenario.” Following this, discuss with the class what some additional positive responses might be to this experience, whether you were the one being discriminated against or just an observer.

Processing the Experience:

• In this activity, the processing is built in to the discussions you have following each skit.