LEARNING OBJECTIVE

To understand the importance of diversity in media and identify the power of social media as a tool for advocacy

HEALTH ED STANDARD

Demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health (NHES 8)

KEY VOCAB

 altruistic, endeavor, diverse

Lesson Plan: Where’s My Story?

Seventh grader Marley Dias wasn’t happy with the lack of diversity on her school’s reading list, so she turned to social media to take action.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

Why is it important for everyone to have equal representation in the media?

 CLOSE-READING QUESTIONS

  1. What prompted Marley to start her campaign? She complained to her mother about the lack of diversity in her school books, and her mom asked, “What are you going to do about it?” 
  2. How did Marley initally get people to donate books to her campaign? She posted a picture of herself reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry on social media and tagged it with #1000blackgirlbooks. 
  3. How many books has Marley collected now, and what countries has she donated to? So far, she has gathered more than 7,000 books and donated them to the U.S., Jamaica, and Haiti. 4 What percentage of children’s books released in 2015 featured main characters of color? Fourteen percent featured characters of color.

 CRITICAL-THINKING QUESTIONS

  1. Why do you think there is such a lack of diversity among characters in children’s books? Possible answer: Because there aren’t many diverse authors, there aren’t enough people creating characters that reflect those experiences. 
  2. Marley said that she wants to inspire other teens to make changes in their communities. What is a topic that you feel passionately about and could advocate for? Answers will vary. 
  3. Why is it important to also read stories or watch movies with characters that are different from you? Possible answer: It allows you to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and lets you consider the world from a different perspective.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

ADVOCACY IN ACTION 

NHES 8, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8

What other ways are people using social media to help them advocate for causes or issues they feel passionately about? Using our #ADVOCACY handout, students will explore their favorite internet advocacy campaigns and present their findings to the class. If there’s time after, brainstorm ways they could get involved (or start their own campaigns!).

DIGGING DEEPER

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.6

Marley found that she relates best to books with other black girls in them. Using the guide on the WHERE’S MY STORY? handout, students will go to the library and search individually for a book that has a character they can relate to, then answer a few questions about why they were drawn to the book. (You may want to make the worksheet anonymous so they feel free to be honest!)

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