Activity 4: TO KNOW IS TO RESPECT

INTRODUCTION Disabled people are part of nowadays society. It is a reality that o r society is developin! a way of thin"in! #ore accordin! to these people. There are #ore adapted str ct res for the#$ #ore facilities and they$ of co rse$ than" that. % t$ what abo t in school& Do the "ids respect these people& Do they have e#pathy with the#& 'e decided to do an activity in order to #a"e the# feel the sa#e sensations as a disable person has.In order to be able to respect children # st "now and e(perience fea t res and feelin! fro# others. In this activity$ we are !oin! to foc s the attention on disabled people$ to be concrete$ in people who are blind. %lind people$ as they can)t see$ have to develop the other senses. This is an i#portant way to identify people$ thin!s$ places$ food and other #any thin!s$ they se other senses instead of the vision. *or e(a#ple$ they s ally reco!ni+e people for their own s#ell and the sa#e with places ,coffee shop s#ell$ hospital aro#a$ !reen!rocer s#ell$ their school)s s#ell$ -.. * rther#ore$ to identify so#e ob/ects$ they also se the sense of to ch$ which is very developed in their case. It is said they can 0see by their hands ,hands as eyes.. Another i#portant sense for the# is the hearin!$ to be caref l of their environ#ent. *or e(a#ple$ when they are in the street$ they have to listen caref lly the different so nds aro nd the# in order not to crash with other people$ or pay attention to the cars) noises to cross streets. In the class we are !oin! to wor" in there)s a blind child. This child is not well inte!rate in his class$ so with this !y#"hana we want his1her partners to "now how this "id faces everyday to do those thin!s that their class#ates do easily$ s ch as !oin! to school every #ornin!$ havin! dinner$ prepare their ba! and so on. In the !y#"hana$ the "ids will have to p t on their partner)s s"in and they will have to face his1her reality. 'ith this$ we want to #a"e the# see that his disabled partner needs an effort that # st be val ed. It)s a #anner to val e and respect hi#$ beca se there)s not a better way to nderstand so#eone than livin! as hi#1her. To #a"e it in a dyna#ic way we want to #a"e this activity as a !y#"hana$ where st dents will be e(peri#entin! how a blind person has to se the other senses as to ch$ s#ell$ taste and hearin! in #any aspects of their everyday life. 23T4OD5 To start the activity$ first of all$ we will cover the eyes of all the st dents in order to #a"e the# co#pletely blind. Afterwards$ they will start with the first activity$ the s#ell one$ in order to for# !ro ps. Then they will separate into !ro ps and do the other activities.

This !y#"ana will have fo r activities which will be foc sed on a sense. The st dents # st do all the activities feelin! the sa#e as a blind$ with covered eyes$ in order to avoid that they can see what they are doin!. 3very activity will consist in a different e(ercises$ doin! different "ind of thin!s. At the end of each activity$ the teacher will show the# what they were doin!$ as they weren)t able to see it. Never#ind what happens if they are correct or not$ every activity will be as a s rprise for the#$ so they can do all the activities. ACTI6ITI35: SMELL This is the first activity of o r !y#"hana. In this$ we will #i( two ob/ectives: do the !ro ps for the !y#"hana and do the activity related to this sense. *irst$ the teacher will e(plain to the st dents what they are !oin! to do ,!y#"hana. and then$ children will cover their eyes with a piece of blac" cloth. The teacher will scent each child with one s#ell$ accordin! to the distrib tion of the !ro ps he1she has decided. These s#ells can be: chocolate s#ell$ strawberry s#ell$ le#on s#ell- In this way$ every si( "ids will have the sa#e s#ell on their hand or ar#. 5o$ after that$ children will have to se the sense of the s#ell to reco!ni+e their class#ates with the sa#e odo r that they have. *inally$ they will be in 4 !ro ps of 7 people where everyone will have the sa#e s#ell in their body. This will be the !ro p of the !y#"hana$ in order to co#plete the other activities. 'ith this activity$ we want the# to thin" how do blind people reco!ni+e other people by the s#ell$ as they cannot do it physically. TOUCH *or that 0sense activity8 we propose any of the followin! activities and they will have to choose one of the# ,9 options.: 1) The activity is called 0to chin! to identify8. *irst$ "ids will have to cover their eyes with a piece of blac" cloth. Once they don)t see anythin!$ they will have to wal" barefooted ,to feel #ore what they to ch. thro !h a road where they will step on different ele#ents$ s ch as sand$ water$ # d$ alval paper$ etc. *inally$ at the end of the ro te$ they will have to discover what are the #aterials they have been steppin! on. 'ith this activity we pretend to #a"e o r st dents to be aware of how blind people have developed the sense of to ch$ and how i#portant is for the# in order to identify ob/ects$ #aterials$ or other day a day thin!s ,b t also people.. 2) This second activity also consist on identifyin! ob/ects$ b t describin! the# perfectly in order to let others "now what it is. :ids will have to be in pairs$ and each two st dents will have a covered bo( ,to not lettin! the# see what is inside. with different ob/ects. 5o$ in pairs$ one of the "ids has to describe ,with their eyes covered with a piece of blac" cloth. the ob/ect that he1she has ta"en$ and

he1she is to chin!. In this description the one who)s to chin! the ob/ect will have to say its shape$ its te(t re$ its si+e$ if it has so#ethin! re#ar"able$ and other physical feat res the "id finds i#portant to say in order to let his1her partner "now which ob/ect it is ,based in the description.. Then$ when the activity is finished$ they have to chan!e roles. Altho !h it see#s a si#ple and easy activity it isn)t. 'e want st dents to reali+e how diffic lt it is to identify and finally "now what ob/ect it is / st to chin! it$ and also to describe it. 5 rely the blind st dent in the class will be the one to identify ob/ects ; ic"ly ,as he1she has #ore e(perience$ and #aybe has the sense of to ch #ore developed..

TASTE: To wor" with this sense #a"in! st dents feel ,#ini#ally. how blind people do while they have to identify what they are eatin! or what a food is$ we have tho !ht abo t an activity where they will ! ess so#e tastes. *irstly$ "ids will have to cover their eyes with a blac" han"y ,to si# late they)re 0blind8.. Once they aren)t able to see anythin!$ one of the# will start the !a#e. 4e1she will have to taste different tastes in order to find o t which flavo r it is. If he1she has diffic lties in doin! it$ the other partners ,of his1her !ro p. will help hi#1her with so#e cl es. Then$ when the first st dent has finish ! essin! 4 tastes$ will be the t rn of another. To #a"e it a bit #ore diffic lt ,and not lettin! the# "now for the shape of what they eat.$ we will chan!e the flavo r and the te(t re$ for e(a#ple instead of p ttin! a piece of onion we will p t a so p of onion$ fro+en vine!ar$ #elted ice crea#-

HEAR In order to wor" with that sense$ in a dyna#ic way$ we propose a !a#e we)ve called: 0<isten caref lly or yo )re eli#inated 8. *irst$ the !ro p will sit on the floor #a"in! a circle. One of the# will have to sit on the center of the circle and cover her1his eyes with a blac" han"y ,not seein! anythin!.. Teachers will p t so#e ob/ects aro nd the one in the center s ch as plastic bottles$ wrin"led pieces of newspaper$ and #aybe so#e #arbles ,little balls.. Then$ the !a#e consist on to chin! the one on the center witho t bein! noticed by hi#1her$ beca se if the one of the center feels or hears so#e little noise he1she will point at the one who has try to to ch hi#1her. 5o$ the ai# is to to ch the one on the center in a silent way$ and tryin! not to #a"e noise with the ob/ects aro nd hi#1her. The one who can)t see anythin! ,sits in the center. has to ! ess who is tryin! to to ch hi#1her. If he1she is to ched$ then she1he will leave the center and sit in the circles with his1her #ates$ and another of the !ro p will sit in the center. 'ith this activity we want to wor" the sense of hearin!$ b t what)s #ore$ the vulnerability of blind people. 'e want to #a"e st dents aware of the attention that blind people have to pay at all the noises aro nd the#$ and how caref lly they have to be to ta"e care of the#selves all ti#e.

BUILDING THE WORD RESPECT Apart fro# that$ every ti#e that the "ids finish one of the !y#"hana activities they will have so#e letters of the word 0R35=3CT8$ so when the !y#"hana is finished they will have to b ild the word 0R35=3CT8 all to!ether. The ai# of this part is that st dents$ with the eyes covered$ p t to!ether and in order ,that co ld be the #ost diffic lt. the letters of the word 0R35=3CT8. They will have to a!ree in which letter !oes first and their class#ates) ones$ and with that we hope they wo ld reali+e how diffic lt it is to arran!e and do thin!s to!ether witho t seein! ,how i#portant is the vision$ and its absence$ and the se of the other senses.. That co ld be the startin! of a debate or a reflection of what they have been doin!. FINAL DISCUSSION 0How did you feel in each activity? In this final disc ssion we will foc s the attention on this ; estion. 'e will #a"e a whole !ro p circle and the teacher will as" the# to thin" d rin! >? #in tes how did they feel d rin! the !y#"hana in silence. If they want$ also$ they co ld write it on a piece of paper. After the refle(ion ti#e$ the e#otional disc ssion will start. The blind "id will as" their partners how did they feel and they will e(press their e#otions. After e(pressin! all their feelin!s and disc ssin! to!ether abo t the e(perience ,the ti#e it ta"es$ it doesn)t #atter.$ the disc ssion will end$ and the activity will concl de with a final clap by all the class. O%@3CTI635: The ob/ectives that we wo ld achieve are: To learn to respect the others. To learn how to live in diversity. To learn abilities to approach respect s ch as e#pathy. 2AT3RIA<5 N33D3D: To perfor# this activity we will need so#e #aterials and ob/ects. 'e will do five activities and the final disc ssion so$ we need different #aterials for each activity. Ay#"hana: A piece of blac" cloth for each st dent in order to #a"e the# co#pletely blind. They will be as a blind person d rin! all the !y#"hana. To ch: Activity >:*or this activity we will need ele#ents s ch as sand$ water$ # d$ alval paper$ etc. 'e

have to thin" abo t ele#ents that yo #i!ht step on and with different te(t res and sensations. Activity 9: 'e will need only 7 different ob/ects per !ro p ,two ob/ects for each pair.. Any ob/ect can be sed to perfor# this activity. 5o$ we can se daily ele#ents s ch as toothbr sh or #obile phone. If yo want to #a"e the activity #ore interestin! yo can se less co##on ob/ects. Taste: To perfor# this part of o r !y#"hana we will need several tastes and types of food ,#ini# # fo r.. If yo p t on the table #ore flavo rs$ the activity will be better. These food will be special$ so$ we will e(chan!e the flavo r and the te(t re of different foods. *or e(a#ple: onion so p$ #elted ice crea#$ fro+en vine!ar$ /elly yo! rt5#ell: 'e will need 4 different s#ells. *or e(a#ple: chocolate$ strawberry$ le#on and #int s#ell. 4ear: 'e will need only ob/ects or ele#ents that #a"e noise$ s ch as$ plastic bottles$ wrin"led pieces of newspaper$ so#e #arbles... C<A55 DI5TRI%UTION: *or this activity we will distrib te the class in 4 !ro ps of 7 children. 3ach !ro p will !o to!ether d rin! all the activity. *or the final disc ssion all children will be to!ether. TI23 AND 5=AC3: The d ration of this activity will be of one #ornin!. 'e will se two different spaces in order to do the !y#"hana: the classroo# and the play!ro nd. In the classroo# we will do activities s ch as s#ell or taste activities and in the play!ro nd we will do the hearin! activity.