Carolyn C. Smith
What do I do about children Rejecting Others?
It’s hard for children to understand why some children get angry or start fighting. They can’t comprehend the frustration of a child who cannot communicate his feelings or needs, nor the confusion and fear of a child who appears to be completely different from others in the class.
What to do?
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1. Have a group discussion about why people are different. (Talk about size, color, hair, eyes, height, etc.)
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2. Discuss the word friends, honesty, respect, different, alike.
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3. Put students in small groups for various activities in the class and rotatethem about every 3 to 4 days for the purpose of encouraging students to work together on projects to get to know one another.
NOTE: Use the book, Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters to discuss how people are different even within the same family.
Related Activities:
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1. Create a family portrait bulletin board for the purpose of noting likes and differences in people. Change pictures every two weeks.
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2. Invite members of the community to talk about to the students about friendship and honesty.
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3. Play the decision dial game in small group settings.