Additionally, teachers should be prepared for students coming across extremely derogatory racial terms in the article that may be upsetting or confusing. Fold a piece of paper in your journal into thirds, creating three columns. At the top of each column, write the name of a group of which you are a member and with which you most identify. After you have identified these groups, list the stereotypes or generalizations that some attribute to members of each group. Then, circle the stereotypes or generalizations that you feel apply to you.
Students then share their lists.
In round-table discussion format, discuss perceptions of race relations in your school and in the United States today. To keep the discussion flowing in an orderly manner, you may want to keep a stack of students names. Students names can be added to list by raising their hands, and names are added to the bottom of the list to maintain the order in which students volunteer to speak. When appropriate, students should reference specific quotations from the article to support their ideas. Explain to students that they will be observing the ways in which students group themselves in their school with respect to race.