1. Diversity Door-Decorating Activity: What does diversity mean to us?
Olweus Class Meeting 03/31/2017
Olweus Class Meeting
March 31, 2017

2. Today during your Olweus Class Meeting:
In honor of Diversity Week, each homeroom will be decorating their doors to represent a country of their choosing.
Ask your homeroom teacher which country they chose, or which country was assigned to your homeroom.
Students can break up into groups to complete the task of decorating the door, with the country’s flag, customs, and other items and/or cool facts pertaining to that specific country.
Take a few minutes to research your country, too….
(See sample doors on next slide below:)

3. Examples of Door Decorating Showcasing Different Countries:

4. While some students are decorating, other students can be doing this:
Read this poem entitled “Crayons”….. Author unknown.
We could learn a lot from crayons:
Some are sharp,
Some are pretty,
Some are dull,
Some have weird names,
and are all different colors,
But they all have to live in the same box.

5. “Crayons” Discussion Questions:
Give these questions some thought before you answer….and please share with your homeroom only if you feel comfortable doing so…..
1.) How are people similar to a box of crayons?
2.) Have you met people who have distinct names or talk differently than you do?
3.) How did you react when you first met them? How did they react to you?
4.) Do the ways people look indicate their level of intelligence?
5.) How can people with varying traditions, beliefs, and values learn to live together in the same community? What would you expect to be the positive and negative about that type of situation?
6.) What if everyone in the world was exactly the same? If they all looked the same, talked the same, shared the same views, practices, and traditions, what kind of world would it be?
7.) Do you think this would be a place you’d want to live? Why or why not? Explain.

6. Wrap it up! Wrapping up the “Crayon Diversity Discussion”:
Appreciating diversity is valuing what makes us similar as well as different. This poem talks about learning to live together and appreciating the unique qualities of others. Take a minute to look around your homeroom and take note of all the things that make you and your classmates who they are.
As we begin to celebrate Diversity Week at MMS, take a minute to appreciate the differences in the students in our school. This is what makes MMS such an awesome place!
And besides, how BORING would it be if all of us were exactly the same?
Don’t forget to come to Diversity Night on April 5, 2017 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. Jazz Band and Madeline’s Dance Studio will be performing, and you will have the opportunity to sample unique foods from all over the world. Don’t miss out!