Lesson 1 - Stigma

Drama

B2.1 Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing: construct personal interpretations of drama works, connecting drama issues and themes to social concerns at both the local and global level

Drama

 I can:

• make inferences based on a dramatic text and explore the meaning of the words through a characters perspective

Dance

Dance

I can:

• create a short phrase of movement in response to my statement about emotional balance

Language

1.3 Reading: identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand increasingly complex or difficult texts
 

1.6 Reading: extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other texts and to the world around them
 

1.9 Reading: identify the point of view presented in texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts; give evidence of any biases they may contain; suggest other possible perspectives

Language

I can:

• use pre-reading strategies to better understand what I am reading and to assist me with interpreting the text
• explore my thinking and opinions about depression and happiness by agreeing or disagreeing with the statements in the anticipation guide

BLM #1: Anticipation Guide Statements to post
Journals for students to record learning log entries thoughout the unit
BLM #2: Monologue Stigma 

Whole Group > Anticipation Guide > Personal Responses

Enlarge the Anticipation Guide Questions (BLM #1) and post around the room.  Invite students to walk around the room, learning logs and pencils in hand, taking time to visit and read each statement. 

Ask students to choose two statements that they feel strongly about; one that they strongly AGREE with and another that they strongly DISAGREE with.  Invite them to write these statements in their logs and record a couple of sentences that supports their perspective.

Pair-Share > Sharing Perspectives 

Notes on Anticipation Guide

Variation: students may respond to the questions on a hand-out individually.

Explain to students that the purpose of the activity is NOT a TEST with right or wrong answers. It is an opportunity for them to explore their ideas and opinions.

For Anticipation Guide Explanations and templates, cf. Think Literacy: Cross Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12, 2003.

Whole Group > Read Monologue Aloud

Distribute copies of the Stigma Monologue (see BLM #2).  

Lead the students through the following steps:

1) students read the text silently to themselves 

2) students close their eyes and listen to the text while teacher reads aloud 

3) students follow along while teacher reads aloud 

4) students share the reading with an elbow partner by alternating lines. Ask  students to stand as they read aloud to one another.

Small Groups > Initial Reaction > Critical Analysis of Stigma

Invite each small group to draw a life size silhouette of a person on a large piece of paper and write the word STIGMA in the centre of the figure in large BOLD letters. Invite students to respond to the monologue using questions as a guide for their response.

Key Questions for Discussion

Based on the passage, how might you define stigma? What can you infer about the meaning of stigma? Record your responses in the space around the word Stigma.

The speaker in the text talks about being judged based on her mental health. What are other differences that someone might be judged by? Record these responses on the perimeter of the figure.

Who and what creates stigma? Record these responses on the outside of the figure.

Is there one gender that would be more discriminated against for admitting to depression?  Discuss with your group.

Partner Dance Phrase > Emotional Health and Balance

Revisit the following statement from the anticipation guide, 'BALANCE is happiness.'  Invite students in pairs to create their own Balance is.... statement. (e.g., Balance is peace; Balance is impossible; Balance is always shifting etc.). Ask each pair to create a short burst of movement that interprets their response. Allow them to rehearse several times, deciding when they will say their statement in relation to the movement, i.e., before, during or after.

Whole Group > Moving Collage Circle

Assessment for Learning (AfL)

Use an Anticipation Guide as a diagnostic assessment to determine student readiness, activate prior knowledge

Use the partner dance phrase as a diagnostic for dance. Note to what extent students draw on the elements of dance in creating their phrase.

Assessment as Learning(AaL)

Use a learning log throughout this unit as an assessment as learning tool, encouraging students to make personal connections to the material and to practice their meta-cognitive processing skills. Log entries will include short bursts of free writing and responses to sentence stems, prompts and key questions.
(see Pathways to Understanding by Laura Lipton and Bruce Wellman, 2003 for more of these types of strategies.)

Differentiated Instruction

Use flexible groupings. Give students the choice of where to insert their text.

Structure opportunities for open-ended exploration and response to the big idea of the unit.

Critical Literacy Resource to support comprehension

Luke & Freebody's Four Roles of the Reader is useful for helping students move through the processes of decoding, inferring, analysing, evaluating, using and responding to texts. Cf. E-Workshop:Critical Literacy--The Four Roles of the Reader.
http://eworkshop.on.ca/edu/pdf/Mod08_four_roles.pdf

Individual > Learning Log Response

Questions for Response

What is one new learning you have gained from this exploration?
What new questions about depression or mental illness do you have rolling around in your head?

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