1. THE SNEETCHES Submitted by: Maria de los Angeles Machado SPED 620 Diversity in Education April 2005

2. SYPNOSIS OF THE STORY Sneetchland is populated by two types of Sneetches: The Star Belly Sneetches, born with a yellow star on their stomachs, and the Plain Belly Sneetches, born with no stars. The Star Belly Sneetches flaunt their belly stars as a proof of their superiority and refuse to mix with the “inferior Plain Belly Sneetches”.

3. SYPNOSIS OF THE STORY They snub them at every ocassion and prohibit their Star Belly children from playing with the Plain Belly kids. Everything changes when the clever man named Mr. Macbean arrives with his Star On-Off machine. The Plain Belly Sneetches eagerly pay him to put stars on their bellies. This way they can join the ranks of the “superior” Star Bellies.

4. SYPNOSIS OF THE STORY This infuriates the Star Bellies, they get together and pay Mr. Macbean to take their stars off, their is no way they want to be the same as the other Sneetches. This creates a crazy on-again, off-again race as all the Sneetches run through the machine. At the end all the Sneetches abandon their silly status and decide to treat each other as friends and equals.

5. GRADE LEVEL  First grade to Fourth grade  Theme: Prejudice, stereotyping and snobbery. The story allows for a variety of activites:

6. ACTIVITIES  Reflection  Reading  Discussion  Listening  Writing

7. REFLECTION  As students enter the classroom, give half of them a star and tell them to keep it for later. Before reading the story, give each student with a star a piece of candy.  Observe the reactions from those that did not receive a candy and discuss these reactions afterwards.

8. REFLECTION  Brainstorm/web how it feels to get or not to get a piece of candy.  Ask why they think some got a candy and others didn´t. How do they feel ? Discuss if this situation is fair. After the reflection give the rest of the class a candy and proceed to read the book.

9. READING  Read the book to the class and stop to ask for predictions.  Validate all predictions and continue reading to find to what extention are their predictions accurate.

10. READING  Before reading the last page ask the children what they think will happen and list these predictions on the board.  Read the conclusion and compare the author´s conclusion with their predictions.

11. DISCUSSION  Lead a discussion on how the Star Belly Sneetches felt about the Plain Belly Sneetches and how they showed their feelings. Tell children that this type of attitude is called prejudice.

12. DISCUSSION  Have children talk about how they think the Plain Belly Sneetches felt about the Star Bellies’ attitude and behavior, and how the prejudiced attitudes and stereotyping affected the life of the two groups and the Sneetch community as a whole.

13. LISTENING  Children will want ot hear the story again, so prepare a variety of listening opportunities:  Older students could rehearse the story for a presentation to the class.  Give children color-coded vocabulary cards from the story and ask them to show the card every time they hear their word.  Make little books and tape the story to use in a listening center.

14. WRITING  Have students work in pairs and discuss certain issues from the story based on different questions to write in a journal.  Imagine you are Plain Belly Sneetch (or a Star Belly Sneetch) write about your feelings and thoughts.

15. WRITING  Write and present to the class a dialogue between a Star Belly and a Plain Belly who would like to be friends.  Write a different ending for the story.

16. GOALS  MAKE STUDENTS AWARE OF THE NEED TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT OF TOLERANCE.

17. OBJECTIVES  By the time this lesson is completed students will be able to:  Reflect on a variety of situations.  Understand the concept of prejudice.  Discuss each others feelings.  Write about these feelings and share with others their thoughts.

18. CONCLUSION YOU CAN TEACH A SNEETCH PEACE!

19. Make the wisdom of this book help teachers and parents double their efforts for a world of tolerance and peace.