Educational Guide: Pre K-4
Topic 1—What does it mean to be a refugee?
Topic 2—What does it mean to be a Vermonter?
Topic 3—What kinds of stories can photographs tell
Topic 1—What does it mean to be a refugee?
PRE-VISIT: FRAMING DISCUSSIONS
Help students understand the impact of losing one's home by highlighting the ways in which they are dependent on, and personally invested in, their own homes (i.e. houses, apartments, etc.).
- What is a home? What types of things make up a home?
- Describe the place where you live? What does your house look like? Who lives there? What things do you have inside your house?
- What do you like about your house? What types of things do you put in your room? What makes your room different from the other rooms in the house?
- How would you feel if you didn't have your own house? Would you be sad if you had to move somewhere new and leave behind all the things in your house?
Available Pre-Visit Materials (see DOWNLOADS page)
- Image: Nedzad's Parents House—Nevzeta holding a photograph of Nedzad's parent's house after the war in Bosnia. All that remains of the house is the concrete foundation and walls.
- Image: Separated from his Sister in 1990—Faustine holding a photograph of his sister who still lives in Burundi and whom he hasn't seen since they were separated in 1990.
- Image: Cléophace with his Workbooks—Cléophace holding his language workbooks, which are some of the only possessions he still has from his life in the Congo.
- Personal History Excerpt: Aziza—Aziza describes how her family was forced to move, leaving their homes and most of their possessions behind.
- Personal History Excerpt: John—John explains the challenges he faced when he first arrived in Vermont.
ON-SITE: EXHIBIT ACTIVITIES
Students should experience the various elements of the exhibit and become familiar with its contents. Younger students will primarily engage the visual elements of the stories.
Activity #1: Give students 5-10 minutes to explore the space and to look for things in the photographs that are associated with home, family, and possessions.
Activity #2: In groups of 2-3, allow students to spend a few minutes choosing a story (i.e. group of three images) that the group finds most interesting. The groups can then take turns introducing the people in the images to the rest of the class (i.e. saying names and countries of origin) and telling what they like most about the photographs.
Activity #3: Finally, teachers can finish the visit by gathering the students around an individual story and telling a simplified version of the personal experiences that accompany the photographs. [See DOWNLOADS page.]
POST-VISIT: CULMINATION ACTIVITY
Students draw or paint pictures depicting the ways they and others could welcome (NOT help) refugees to their new home. Additionally, the teacher could guide the class in writing a card to the refugees that explains how the class collectively feels about the refugees having to leave their homes. The card would also welcome the refugees to their new home in Vermont. This should serve as an opportunity to see whether the students can empathize with what refugees are forced to endure—losing their homes/countries.
Related Vermont Standards
Causes and Effects in Human Societies
6.1— Students examine complex webs of causes and effects in relation to events in order to generalize about the workings of human societies, and they apply their findings to problems.
Movements and Settlements
6.8— Students analyze the factors and implications associated with the historical and contemporary movements and settlements of people and groups in various times in their local community, in Vermont, in the United States, and in various locations world wide.
Nature of Conflict
6.18— Students analyze the nature of conflicts, how they have been or might be resolved, and how some have shaped the divisions in various times of their local community, Vermont, the United States, and the world.
Identity and Interdependence
6.19— Students understand the variety of influences and impacts of the construction, preservation, and change of identity, within families, other social structures, and nations
Topic 2—What does it mean to be a Vermonter?
PRE-VISIT: FRAMING DISCUSSIONS
Students recognize ethnic and cultural diversity in Vermont and the importance of getting to know people through dialogue and personal exchange.
- Are there people living in Vermont who weren't born here? Where did they come from? Why did they come?
- Does everyone in Vermont look the same? Does everyone live in the same kind of house? Do all Vermonters eat the same food?
- Do you remember what it was like meeting a new friend? How did you get to know them? Did you tell them about yourself? Did they tell you things about themselves?
- If someone is new to Vermont, how should we welcome them? What should we tell them about Vermont?
- Can we learn things from people who are new to Vermont? Could they teach us about the other places they lived before? How can we get them to tell us about these places?
Available Pre-Visit Materials (see DOWNLOADS page)
- Image: John, his wife, and their four children—John's family sitting in their living room where they have both the American and Burundian flags hanging on the walls.
- Image: Binh with Loan and her two grandchildren—Binh together with her daughter and her two grandchildren that were born in Vermont.
- Image: Cléophace, Malinga, Bernadette, and King—A Congolese family that now lives in Burlington, VT.
- Personal History Excerpt: Victoria—Victoria explains how she was able to complete high school while working a full-time job.
- Personal History Excerpt: Alex—Alex explains the issues many refugees face in maintaining their cultural identities while adapting to life in Vermont.
ON-SITE: EXHIBIT ACTIVITIES
Students should experience the various elements of the exhibit and become familiar with its contents. Younger students will primarily engage the visual elements of the stories.
Activity #1: Give students 5-10 minutes to explore the space and to look for things in the photographs that look new or foreign.
Activity #2: In groups of 2-3, allow students to spend a few minutes choosing a story (i.e. group of three images) that the group finds most interesting. The groups can then take turns introducing the people in the images to the rest of the class (i.e. saying names and countries of origin) and telling what they like most about the photographs.
Activity #3: Finally, teachers can finish the visit by gathering the students around an individual story and telling a simplified version of the personal experiences that accompany the photographs. [See DOWNLOADS page.]
POST-VISIT: CULMINATION ACTIVITY
Students create their own class exhibit to illustrate the diversity of the Vermont community. Drawing on the format of the exhibit, students draw three pictures: a self-portrait and two additional images that show their lives in Vermont. A writing component can easily be added to this activity as well. When the stories are finished they can be hung alongside reproductions of the exhibit photographs (either printed from available exhibit materials on the DOWNLOADS page or drawn by the students) to create a collective image of Vermonters today.
Related Vermont Standards
Causes and Effects in Human Societies
6.1— Students examine complex webs of causes and effects in relation to events in order to generalize about the workings of human societies, and they apply their findings to problems.
Movements and Settlements
6.8— Students analyze the factors and implications associated with the historical and contemporary movements and settlements of people and groups in various times in their local community, in Vermont, in the United States, and in various locations world wide.
Meaning of Citizenship
6.9— Students examine and debate the meaning of citizenship and act as citizens in a democratic society. (6.9 aa. Examine ways people become citizens of the United States.)
Concepts of Culture
6.13— Students understand the concept of culture, including the cultures of indigenous peoples, in various times in their local community, in the United States, and in various locations worldwide.
Forces of Unity and Disunity
6.14— Students understand the tensions between the forces of unity and those of disunity in various times in their local community, in the United States, and in various locations world-wide.
Interdependence
6.19— Students understand the variety of influences and impacts of the construction, preservation, and change of identity, within families, other social structures, and nations.
Topic 3—What kinds of stories can photographs tell?
PRE-VISIT: FRAMING DISCUSSIONS
Students are exposed to images and learn how visual information can be used to tell a story about a person or a place. [Teachers should use age appropriate magazines and newspaper stories as image resources including events, editorials, and advertisements.]
- Where do you see photographs? What are the photographs used for? Are they supposed to tell you something?
- What types of things can be shown in a photograph? Can feelings be shown in a photograph (i.e. happiness, sadness, excitement, fear, etc.)?
- Can two people look at a photograph and see different things? [Activity: Teacher describes an image while the class tries to draw the picture the teacher is holding out of view from the students. Teacher then highlights the differences in how the students drew different pictures from the same/description.]
Available Pre-Visit Materials (see DOWNLOADS page)
*All images and stories are widely applicable to these discussion questions. Students may view photographs individually to discuss basic visual content, or as triptychs (three-image series) to see how the images tell a story
ON-SITE: EXHIBIT ACTIVITIES
Younger students visiting the exhibit should focus on the visual elements of the stories.
Activity #1: Give students 5 minutes to explore the space and to look at the photographs.
Activity #2: In groups of 2-3, allow students to spend a few minutes choosing a story (i.e. group of three images) that the group finds most interesting. The groups can then take turns introducing the people in the images to the rest of the class (i.e. saying names and countries of origin) and telling what they like most about the photographs.
Activity #3: Finally, teachers can finish the visit by gathering the students around an individual story and telling a simplified version of the personal experiences that accompany the photographs. [See DOWNLOADS page.]
POST-VISIT: CULMINATION ACTIVITY
Students draw or paint images to tell a story about an event that happened in their life. Drawing on the format of the exhibit, students should draw three pictures: a self-portrait and two additional images that help describe that event. When the students are finished drawing the pictures, they can show the rest of the class and then explain in words the event they were trying to draw using pictures.
Responding to Media
5.14— Students interpret and evaluate a variety of types of media, including audio, graphic images, film, television, video, and on-line resources.
