Building an Inclusive Community
One way we can show good citizenship is by building an inclusive community.
Grade Level: 6-12
Character Skills:
- Citizenship
SEL Skills
- Social-Awareness
- Relationship Skills
Academic Outcomes
- Curiosity and Passion
Definitions
Respect
- Do your share to make your home, school, and community better.
- Cooperate.
- Stay informed. Vote.
- Be a good neighbor.
- Make choices that protect the safety and rights of others.
- Protect the environment.
Social-Awareness
Assess the feelings of others and be sensitive to the feelings and needs of others.
Relationship Skills
Interpersonal and social skills to guide appropriate behavior and create positive relationships and meaningful connections .
Curiosity and Passion
Enthusiastic about understanding more about themselves, others, and the world around them
Share This Activity
Students will discuss why connecting to others is an important part of building an inclusive community.
Instructions
- Explain to students:
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- One way we can show good citizenship is by working together to build a community that is inclusive of different people, ideas, and experiences. To build that type of community, we must learn about the individuals who make up our society.
- Most of our conversations with others happen at a surface level. Surface-level questions (How was your weekend? Have you seen this movie?) are efficient, safe, ice-breakers. But, we really want to understand others, we must engage each at a more substantive level.
- This list of 36 questions was developed by psychologists in order to increase the closeness between two individuals. Give students the list of questions and ask them to take turns asking and answering the questions. You may want to assign partners so that students are connecting with an individual they do not know well. You may also choose to edit the list of questions for time or content as needed.
Student Reflection
Ask students:
- Did you find things in common with the person you interviewed?
- What did you learn about this person that you didn’t know before?
- What are the benefits of knowing this person better – for you and for them?
