1. facinghistory.org

2. Getting Started: Note to Teachers
This PowerPoint presentation accompanies Lesson 3: Why Little Things Are Big from the Standing Up for Democracy scheme of work. It is important to read the lesson plan in order to understand its rationale, historical context, and procedure, and to learn more about specific activities and teaching strategies described in the Notes to Teachers section.
This presentation includes verbal instructions for the activities in the Notes beneath each slide. Accessing hyperlinks in PowerPoint involves extra steps: select View - Notes Page - right click on the hyperlink - and select Open Hyperlink. Alternatively, you can access the hyperlinks from Lesson 3: Why Little Things Are Big or by viewing the presentation in Google Slides.
While you may need to modify this presentation to meet the needs of your students, please note that Facing History and Ourselves is not accountable for any changes that alter the presentation's content or original layout.
Information about Standing Up for Democracy PowerPoint Slides
Each PowerPoint accompanies a corresponding lesson plan that includes more detailed instructions about the activities and should be read in advance of teaching the lesson.
Wherever possible, we have used images in lieu of writing to encourage the verbal delivery of instructions as a means of boosting focus and to promote active listening skills.
The same image is used for each recurring teaching strategy throughout the scheme of work to facilitate recall and promote student independence.

3. Why Little Things Are Big

4. Guiding Questions To what extent do our choices define us?
To what extent does who we are shape the choices available to us and the choices we make?
Why Little Things Are Big: Learning Objective
To examine the relationship between identity, the “single stories” we may hold of others and others of us, and choices, in order to draw conclusions about how labels can lead to false assumptions that, in turn, can impact our decision-making process.  

5. Think about a time you felt labelled, a time when someone had a “single story” of you.
How did you feel?
How did you respond?
What other options did you have?
Explain to students that today they will be thinking about the ways in which the “single stories” we may have for others, and assume they have for us, can impact the choices we make.
Ask students to respond in their journals to the prompt.
As students may not feel comfortable talking about what they wrote, it is important that they are not required to share. You might ask for volunteers or move directly to the next activity.

6. Jesús Colón: Little Things are Big
Make sure you have read Notes to Teachers: Breaking “Little Things Are Big” into Sections before teaching this activity.
Read aloud Little Things Are Big, stopping on page two at “It was a long minute.”
Alternatively, you can watch Little Things Are Big, pausing the video at 02:14 “I hesitated.”

7. Have students work with a partner to create identity charts for Colón and the woman. Then have each pair combine with another pair of students to create a group of four. They should compare their charts, adding new information that arises during the discussion.
Alternatively, have students count off by 2 and then instruct the 1s to create an identity chart for Colón and the 2s to create an identity chart for the woman. Then have students Think, Pair, Share with someone who created a chart for the other character.

8. Colón should help the woman
STRONGLY AGREE
STRONGLY DISAGREE
Lead a Barometer activity.
First, read the following statement out loud: Colón should help the woman.  
Then have your students indicate the extent to which they agree with the statement by standing along the continuum between the “Strongly Agree” and “Strongly Disagree” signs. Remind them that they don’t need to be at one end or another. They can use the whole line.
After students have lined up, have them chat with others around them about why they chose to stand where they did.
Then lead a discussion in which you ask students to explain why they chose to stand where they are standing. Let students know that they can move to a new place on the line if they are swayed by another student’s argument.
You might also ask them to do a verbal “Street Calculus” for Colón and the woman, listing the risk factors and mitigating factors on the board before having students return to their seats to finish reading the text or showing the video.

9. Have students return to their seats.
Divide the class into small groups to discuss the Connection questions from Little Things Are Big (next slide).

10. Connection Questions
What was Jesús Colón’s dilemma on the train? What were the different factors he was weighing in his mind?
What was at stake in Colón’s decision? How did he feel about his choice afterwards?
Why do you think he wrote this story? Why do you think Colón titled his essay “Little Things Are Big”?
Create a different ending to the story. What do you think Colón might have done? How do you think the woman might have responded to the action you have imagined for Colón? Describe the effect of that action on Colón.
How do your concerns about how others might perceive you affect your actions?
Project the connection questions and/or print and pass them out to your students.
You can have groups discuss all five questions or assign one question from 1–3 to each group and have them present their ideas to the class. All of the groups should discuss questions 4–5.
After they have finished discussing the questions, facilitate a brief class discussion where groups share the new endings they created for the story (connection question #4), as well as any other insights or questions about “Little Things Are Big.”

11. How does “Little Things Are Big” help you answer this question?
To what extent does our identity shape the choices available to us and the choices we make?
How does “Little Things Are Big” help you answer this question?
How do “The Bear That Wasn’t” and “The Danger of a ‘Single Story” help you answer this question?
How do your own experiences help you answer this question?
Lead a class discussion to connect “Little Things Are Big” with identity, the texts from Standing Up for Democracy Lessons 1–2, and your students’ own experiences.

12. Identify a time when you misjudged someone else.
Why do you think you misjudged that person?
How did your false impression affect how you acted towards that person?
How did this experience affect how you felt about yourself and the choices you made?
To help students make personal connections between Jesús Colón’s experiences in “Little Things Are Big” and their own lives, they will spend some time reflecting on three questions in their journals.
Ask students to respond to the questions and let them know that they will not be sharing what they write with their peers.

13. @facinghistory | facinghistory.org