Lesson Overview

Approximate Time Required: 5 minutes

Steps & Teacher Directions: 

1. Tell students that this week, they will be learning about stigma. 

2. Ask students to raise their hands if they have heard of “stigma” or want to guess what it is.

3. Tell students that today they will be learning about what stigma is and examples of stigma in everyday life. Then, they will be able to share if they have experienced stigma. By the end of the week, they will be able to talk about a certain group of people experiencing stigma and give an argument to “break the stigma”. 

4. Point out the key questions on the board. 

Approximate Time Required: 15 minutes

Steps & Teacher Directions:

1. Tell students that there will be six vocabulary terms used with this lesson. 

2. Introduce each word with its definition and clarify any questions.

   1. Write each word on the board and have students repeat the words after you. Share sentence or examples for each word alongside their definition. 

   2. Look out for confusion, especially when introducing “prejudice” and “bias”, as they are similar.  

3. Have students work in pairs. Each pair will get a set of vocabulary cards. Students will have 1-2 minutes to match the definitions to the words. The teacher can support during this task. 

4. After each group has successfully matched the cards, the teacher will have students get into six different groups (reliant on class size).

5. The teacher will assign each group a vocabulary word and the group will come up with their own visualization of the word using paper and writing materials.

   1. The visualization can be a drawing or a skit. The visualization can be a picture or the creation of a skit- it is open to the students to illustrate/write their ideas about the word 

   2. You may want to share examples of ways you can visualize words

6. All groups will share their visualizations with the class and the teacher can clear up any misconceptions (ex: difference between prejudice and bias

Approximate Time Required: 5-10 minutes

Steps & Teacher Directions:

1. Play the video once for students just to listen to. 

2. The teacher will pass out the bingo cards to each student. 

   1. If you want to reuse the bingo cards, you will also need to pass out manipulatives to cover spots. If not, students can use a dry-erase marker on a laminated sheet, or pencil/pen on regular paper copies. 

3. The teacher will play the video again, but this time have students mark their bingo boards as they find words in the video. 

4. Those that get bingo first win.

Approximate Time Required: 10 minutes

Steps & Teacher Directions:

1. Students will get into groups of four. 

2. The teacher will have a few questions posed on the board for students to discuss with each other. 

Guiding questions:

1. What is your understanding of stigma after watching the video?

2. Why do people face stigma? Think about the examples in the video.

3.  Can you think of other possible groups that often face stigma?

Stigma often prevents people from getting help. What can YOU do to reduce stigma and help the people around you?

Approximate Time Required: 30 minutes

Steps & Teacher Directions:

1. The teacher will bridge the discussion between what is stigma and lead into the activity 

   1. “We just talked about stigmas and why people are stigmatized in the world. So, we are now gonna go explore some stigmas that exist in our world.”

2. The teacher will pass out the recording worksheet

3. Once all students have a worksheet, the teacher will explain the instruction 

   1. Technology involved classroom:

      1. The students will walk around the classroom to the posters that are on the walls and scan the qr code. The qr code will take you to what the stigma is and some ideas around that specific stigma. Once you get to the document, via the QR code, you will write the stigma down and one or two extra things that you learned

   2. Non-technology involved classroom

      1. The students will walk around the classroom to the posters that are on the walls and then flip the poster up to read the stigma and the extra information. The students will record the stigma and one or two extra things they learned. To extend the lesson, you can have them travel in groups of 2-3 and work together at each poster for 2 minutes.

4. Once the students fill out the sheet, create a discussion

   1. Ask students about a stigma they learned about, something that surprised them

   2. Make sure to give students 6 seconds between asking the question and having them answer before trying to start the discussion. 

     Approximate Time Required: 15 minutes

Steps & Teacher Directions: 

1. The teacher will tell students that we are going to reflect on some of the content learned today and think: What is my connection to stigma? 

2. The teacher will allow five  minutes for students to reflect by taking notes on their computer, writing, doodling,  or just mentally reflecting. Encourage students to use vocabulary words from earlier. 

   1. The teacher can also pose additional probing questions, such as “Have I been stigmatized? Has someone I know been stigmatized? Why was I/were they stigmatized? Why was this stigma harmful? How did being stigmatized make me feel? Have I ever taken action against stigma? Etc 

1. The teacher will have students get into groups of four and share their thoughts and experiences- students do not have to share though, based on the personal nature of this subject. 

     Approximate Time Required: 10 minutes

      Steps & Teacher Directions:

The teacher will have the groups of four then discuss, “What are some ways to ‘break the stigma’?” The class can then make a running list on the board of ideas. The teacher will be able to see if students can use the new vocabulary while speaking about their ideas. 

The teacher will end by telling students that tomorrow, they will learn how stigma affects a certain population in the United States and they will be working towards creating an argument that can help ‘break the stigma’.