Prejudice
Teacher: HA
Year: 10
Curriculum level: 5
Duration: 5-6 weeks
Introduction: Central focus/big idea/important question: What are the reasons for prejudice? What are
the impacts of prejudice on individuals? On society?
Values highlighted in this unit:
 Excellence (aiming high, persevering)
 Innovation, inquiring and curiosity
 Diversity (culture, language, heritage)
 Equity (fairness and social justice)
 Community and participation
 Ecological sustainability
 Integrity (honesty, responsibility)
Key competencies highlighted in this unit:
 Thinking (using creative, critical, and
metacognitive purposes, drawing on personal
knowledge)
 Using language, symbols and texts
(interpreting language and symbols, using
ICT, recognising how language choice affects
understanding)
 Managing self (self-motivation, personal
goals, appropriate behaviour)
 Relating to others (listening actively,
recognising other points of view, negotiate,
share ideas)
 Participating and contributing (balancing
rights, roles and responsibilities, responding
appropriately as a group member)
How students will be encouraged to develop the
selected value(s) during the unit: Excellence:
assessment of speech, research aspect and response
to text essay. Innovation etc: Research aspect will
necessitate students devising questions and
researching answers to them. Diversity: Thinking
about/discussing situations and lives of people other
than themselves. Community: Research questions
posed in form of a survey. Integrity: Students will be
encouraged to challenge their preconceived ideas.
How the students will be encouraged to develop the
selected competencies during the unit: Survey and
research involves managing self and relating to
others. Students need to plan. ICT will be a factor in
the research process. Thinking skills will be an intrinsic
aspect of the unit with constant questioning and
discussion, as well as application to today’s society.
Participating and contributing: this will involve daily
discussions plus group work, with character analysis,
set questions, debating. Using language will involve
speaking, a research task and a response to text essay
Timing
Week
1
Week
2
Content
What will you be covering in class this
week?
1. Introduction – Teacher role
plays a racist – separate kids
according to ethnicity, display
open favouritism. Students
then write a response as to
how they felt as the student
favoured or student who was
prejudice.
Issue reading assignment to be
completed at the end of the
unit and complete title page for
homework.
What is prejudice? What do
you know?/What do you want
to learn?/ How will I find out?
Doing Round Robin.
Students listen to “Still I Rise”
by Maya Angelou. Identify
three language techniques.
Prejudice by whom and to
whom? Define prejudice in
dictionary(disappearing
definition) Students present a
segment of the poem to the
class in groups. For homework
students imagine they are the
persona for Angelou’s poem
and write a diary entry of 150
words imagining “a day in the
life of…”(wearing their black
hat)
2. Read “Noughts and Crosses”
chapter 3 – class discussion
“pre conceived ideas about
racism and prejudice”.
Complete a PMI chart as a class
3. Students view/listen to Martin
Luther King’s speech, while
completing a Thinkboard.
Discuss content and then judge
effectiveness of speech through
techniques. What makes a good
speech? For homework prepare
a 1 minute speech discussing
the topic “Should everyone be
treated equally in society?”
1. Students deliver speech to
class.
2. Research – in groups at library
find current examples of
prejudice in today’s society.
Who/What/When/Where/How
and why? Find common
denominators between
examples. Venn diagram.
Learning processes
What learning strategies
will you use?
 Role play
 KWHL
 Round Robin
 Disappearing
definition
 Six thinking hats
- Black hat
 SQRR
 Think board
 PMI chart



5Ws
Venn diagram
Jigsaw
Learning outcomes
What will the students
learn/develop/explore this week?
 Respond through discussion
to a poem that will expose
preconceived ideas about
racism.
 Define ‘prejudice’
 Present a segment of the
poem to the class.
 Write a diary entry as if you
were the persona of the
poem.
 Read/interpret/analyse a
chapter relating to
prejudice.
 View/listen to/critique a
famous speech (I Have A
Dream).



Devise a speech using some
of MLK techniques.
Research prejudice in its
wider contexts – e.g
misogyny/patriarchy;
religious; sexuality.
Present in groups findings
of research to the class.
3.
Week
3
1.
2.
3.
Week
4
1.
2.
3.
Week
5
1.
2.
3.
Week
6
1.
2.
3.
Report back findings to class.
Formal writing teaching – copy
format and read examples.
Students choose 3 examples
today of prejudice after
research in library and write a
formal essay on the topic after
planning as a class using a
fishbone chart. Prejudice still
exists in society today.
Pre-viewing activities – History
of civil rights movement –
students divided into 6 groups
and given one element of
history to read and present
back to class in any format they
wishperformance/diagram/song/po
em etc…
As a class complete a concept
map/web summarising
historical material
Group presentations and begin
viewing of “Remember the
Titans”, answering questions
from the booklet.
Continue viewing film as a class
Finish viewing film as a class
and go over answers to
questions.
Analyse – key scene with
character #1+2
Analyse – key scene with theme
#1
Analyse – key scene with theme
#2
Analyse turning point and
climax
Analyse and compare beginning
and ending.
Visual text essay teaching –
copy format and read examples
Write and plan film essay in
class – complete for homework.





Fishbone chart
Role play/
freeze frame
Jigsaw
Concept
map/web
PCQ







Think board
3:2:1 RIQ after
key scene
analysis

3:2:1 RIQ after
each key scene
analysis





Venn diagram
Fishbone chart


Complete formal writing
essay on research material.
Read/interpret/analyse a
chapter relating to the civil
rights movement.
Present in groups material
to the class in a dramatic
performance.
View visual text Remember
the Titans
View visual text Remember
the Titans
Discuss and analyse
character material from
film relating to prejudice.
Discuss and analyse
thematic material from film
relating to prejudice.
Discuss and analyse 2 key
scenes from film relating to
prejudice.
Discuss and compare two
key scenes from the film
relating to prejudice.
Complete response to text
essay on theme from the
film
Resources (including ICT): DVD Remember the Titans. Booklet to accompany.
Speech (YouTube): I Have a Dream (Martin Luther King Jr).
Noughts and Crosses by Marjorie Blackman, Chapter One.
Notes of History of Civil Rights Movement
Key vocabulary: colonialisation, prejudice, racism, bigotry, feminism, persecution, patriarchy, exclusivity,
supremacy, preconceived ideas.
Assessment
Diagnostic
Formative (feedback / feedforward)
Summative
What do they know?
What can they do?
• Initial discussion and
findings from trigger lesson
(Noughts and Crosses).
• Vocabulary exercise: define
words and add.
• History of the Civil Rights
Movement and Integration
Acts (USA); Colonialisation
(NZ); Feminist and other
movements (Global).
What are they learning?
What do they need to learn?
• Report back from class
discussions: record results
and collect charts. Try to
draw conclusions and pose
further questions for
research.
• What are the "pitfalls"
resulting - usually from the
class dynamics? What care
needs to be taken to be
sensitive to backgrounds?
What have they learned?
Can they explain how they learned it?
• Response to text essay from
film (Remember the Titans)
related to theme and
incorporating techniques
and director's intentions, as
well as relating to modern
and/or NZ society.
• Research and speech
showing history and issues
related to a form of
prejudice. Peer-evaluated
(theme).
Extension/enrichment activities: Reading assignment to be completed at the end of the unit.
Further support if needed:
Evaluation
Teacher reflection: What impact did my teaching have on student learning? What evidence do I have?
I felt the work we did on their formal writing really helped improve the formal tone of their essays. Also the
research we did prior to the writing of the essay meant they had concrete examples to use in their essays.
Consequently most students improved their grade from the initial diagnostic essay in the introductory unit.
What do the students still need to do/learn/practise/understand?
Further work is needed on the accuracy of their writing. This should improve with work in their Grammar 2
Go books. Unfortunately due to it being a short term and various extra curricular activities affecting my
contact time with the students, I only covered half the content. So I will continue on into Term 2 for 2
weeks as I want to ensure the students have fully understood the film Remember the Titans.
What feedback do the students have on this unit? How can I use this feedback to improve my teaching in
the future?
Some students have said this unit feels like a social studies unit. However I feel this is the direction the new
curriculum is taking English so for me those comments were confirmation that I was directing my teaching
in the right way.