Bein'+With+You+This+Way+Reinforcing+Activity

This book is a great way to simplify the cultural, physical, and developmental changes that can create cooperation and conflict.

The teacher will read aloud the book and is in fact encouraged to perform the rap. Once the book is finished, students are allowed to choose a partner to do the first activity. With their partner, they will create their own rap, looking at their similarities and differences. They can keep the same form, but are encouraged to dwell away from the same comparisons as the book (for example eye color.) Suggest to students to look beyond physical attributes and maybe into their personality attributes and activities, family life, etc. After students have been given sufficient time to come up with at least 4 comparisons, they will be given the chance to share their rap with the class. The hope of this activity is that because students were able to choose their own partner, cooperation will be assumed between the two.

Once sharing is complete, the next activity can be done the same day or the next, depending on time restrictions from the first activity. The next activity will involve the same assignment, except students will be assigned a partner, preferably one that they would not normally work with. They will be asked to make the same comparisons and come up with the same rap. The prediction is that students will be less enthusiastic about sharing here because of the assigned partner, but still encourage them to share. Here, it might be expected that because of the abnormal assignment, students may not agree or work well with one another, and may even create conflict between the two of them. Be sure to keep these conflicts to a minimum as you monitor the class and make sure the conflicts do not disturb others.

Once all sharing is complete, have students return to their seats. After the class is settled, go back to the book. Flip through the book and ask for students to point out comparisons that aren't pointed out in the book. These can range from difference in clothes, difference in race, gender, age, all sorts of characteristics. Make the point known as students are pointing out the differences that the children still get along.

Pulling examples from some of these answers, talk about or ask students to recognize events in time that most likely related back to such differences or similarities. World War II, Chinese immigration camps, American Revolution, The Civil War, Civil Rights Movements all resulted from differences and are known as some of America's largest conflicts. However, it might be interesting to see if students are able to pull out the similarities in the book and the events that might involve cooperation because of these similarities. The fall of the Berlin War, Civil Rights Act, and Women's Suffrage might be some events that students may pull out. In the end, by using the book and these activities together, students should be able to identify similarities and differences of different cultures that often times lead to either cooperation or conflict.