The Cromwell Center is a Classroom Disabilities Awareness and Sensitivity Program for grades 1-6. We invite the Cromwell Center to our school each year for second, fourth, and both multi-level classrooms. Their classroom sessions build sensitivity and understanding, reduce bullying, and help create more inclusive schools and communities. Through hands on activities, group problem solving, and lively discussion, the interactive sessions allow children to:
*Understand that disabilities are an aspect of human diversity and do not define a person
*Break down stereotypes about differences and similarities
*Explore the power of unkind words, exclusion, and bias
*Identify and role-play solutions to disability-related mistreatment and bullying
*Practice empathy and inclusion
Program Descriptions
Grade 2 - It’s OK to be Different, 45 minutes
Activity: Building and understanding the word “disability”
Book read-aloud and discussion - It’s Okay to be Different
Activity: The Same and Different
Activity: Understanding Learning Differences
Gift of book, activity sheets, stickers and poster to class
Grade 4 - How Would YOU Feel? Hidden challenges, inclusion, and sensitivity, 90 minutes
Word web: Exploring the word “disability”
Activity: Hidden Disabilities
Activity: Learning Differences
Exclusion activity - Students have colored dot stickers placed on their foreheads. Students can't see what color their own dot is. We give half the kids one color, half a second color, and one student gets a third color (with input from the classroom teacher on who we should choose for that.). They are then told simply to sort themselves (with no further explanation) and that they can only use gestures, not words. We then lead a discussion about what it felt like to the person with the third color, how we can exclude each other without saying a word, why they decided to sort by dot color (not by something else), etc.
Gift of book, bookmarks and poster to class