Challenging Homophobia : Dad, David, Baba Chris and me by Ed Merchant

     

                                                                                               

Text: Dad, David, Baba Chris and me by Ed Merchant Lesson plan by Andrew Moffat: www.equalitiesprimary.com

Resources: Search for "families UK” on google images and prepare a slide show of about 10 families. Include in the slide show images of families with a Mum and Dad or one Mum or one Dad etc. You want a range of people.

SEAL Outcomes: Say no to bullying: I know some ways to encourage other children who use bullying behaviours to make other choices

LI To understand there are different families in the city where I live

Starter: in partners define adoption and fostering- who can adopt or foster children?

Main : Read Dad, David, Baba Chris and me. Why does Ben want so much for David and Baba Chris to adopt him? What do David and Baba Chris do to show they love Ben? How does Ben feel? What happens when Ben goes to Junior school- what word is he called? What does “gay” mean? (Gay means when two men love each other or when two women love each other – also Lesbian). What did Ben’s teacher Miss Patel say? Why do you think the name calling hasn’t really stopped? What would you do if you heard name calling like that in our school?

Student led activity: whole class: Focus on the name calling in the middle of the story. Have you ever heard the word “Gay” used as a put down in our school? What do we say in our school about people being different? Is everyone welcome at our school? The law in the UK says you can be gay or lesbian and that two men or two women can get married. The Equality Act 2010 also says you cannot be discriminated against because you are gay, or because of the colour of your skin, your gender, disability, religion (check understanding of discrimination) Show the slide show of families. The aim is to demonstrate that there are real families living in the UK today with gay parents and others with one parent or two parents of different gender.

Activity: Display the page that begins, “One day I asked my dads if they thought I would grow up gay like them” with jigsaw pieces and arrows. Children to draw their own version of the image with different grown up options recorded and labelled.

Plenary:  Do we all grow up to be the same as our parents? Show youtube clip of Mikki Willis “How would you feel if your son chose this” showing a Dad’s reaction to his son buying a doll for a birthday. What is the message from Dad here? What kind of Dad is he? How do you think his son feels? What can we learn form this clip?

Suggested AFL questions: Today I have learned…

For 35 lesson plans based on picture books, see "No Outsiders In Our School: Teaching the Equality Act in Primary Schools" by Andrew Moffat.

www.equalitiesprimarycom