Transgender Awareness KS2-3: 10,000 dresses by Marcus Ewert and Rex Ray

Transgender awareness KS2-3                                                                Andrew Moffat

Text: 10,000 dresses by Marcus Ewert and Rex Ray

Resources: I am Leo programmme - CBBC

SEAL Outcomes: Getting on and falling out: I try to recognise when I or other people are pre-judging people and I make an effort to overcome my own assumptions Good to be me: I accept myself for who and what I am

LI To consider what it means to be transgender

Starter: Check understanding of LGBT- in small groups children come up with definitions

Main : Read 10,000 dresses. At the beginning of the story do we think Bailey is a boy or a girl? What makes us think that? Does Bailey feel like a boy? Does Bailey feel like a girl? At no point in the story does Bailey identify as a boy or a girl; does wearing a dress make a child a girl? Bailey’s family keep saying Bailey is wrong to want to wear a dress; how do you think this makes Bailey feel? What changes everything for Bailey? (meeting Laurel) Does Laurel make any comment about Bailey being a boy or a girl? Does Laurel care if Bailey is a boy or a girl? What does transgender mean? (We are all assigned a gender at birth. Some people feel different to the gender they were assigned at birth; they live as the gender they identify with)

Student led activity: whole class: watch the CBBC “My Life” series episode 1 “I am Leo” on youtube . 28 minutes long, very positive and perfect for understanding about life as a transgender child. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x_u2cs8DpI Independent activity: In pairs children discuss and answer the following questions: How does Leo describe what transgender means/ How did Mum feel at first when Lily became Leo? What did she do?/ Why is Leo’s passport so important to him/ What went wrong at primary School and why? / What do you think Primary School should have done differently / How did Steven Whittle change the law?

Plenary: If Bailey, or Leo came to our school what would be the response? Do we accept children for who they are without judgement? Remind children of the No Outsiders school ethos. What would you do if you heard others saying negative remarks to Bailey or Leo?

Suggested AFL questions: Today I have learned…/ Transgender means..... / If someone was Transgender in my class I would…

For more equality and diversity lesson plans see "No Outsiders in our school: Teaching the Equality Act in Primary Schools" by Andrew Moffat www.speechmark.net

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