Excerpt from Red: A Crayon’s Story, by Michael Hall, used in the Gender and Labels lesson plan for Kindergarten and Grades 1 to 4:
4. Moving from emotional to physical
a. Red crayon was blue inside. Their inside did not match the outside.
i. How do you think Red felt when everyone else told them to change?
ii. How would you feel if someone kept telling you to change?
b. Are there times that you don’t feel the way you look?
i. What if you felt different inside?
ii. What if you felt like an owl inside but everyone else kept telling you that you were a person? How would that make you feel?
iii. What if I felt like a boy / girl inside but person kept telling me that I am a girl / boy because of the way I look? Would that be ok?
iv. What if I looked like a boy but wanted to wear a dress?
v. What if a boy wanted to join a dance class or play with barbies?
vi. What if a girl wanted to join hockey or play with trucks?
5. Drawing activity
a. Allow the students to draw a time that they felt different inside from what they showed outside (emotions, attitudes, physicality)
i. Allow students to keep the image private between you and them to keep the activity safe. If they would like to share with the class, they can, but is not a requirement.
ii. They can follow up with journaling to explain the picture, if desired (see #6)
OR
6. Journaling Activity (this can be an extension or substitute for #5, depending on your students)
a. As an extension: Students can write about what they drew, and why they drew it. They can explain the situation that they drew and what happened just before and after.
b. As a substitute: Students can write about a time that they felt different inside from what they showed on the outside.
i. What made them feel different?
ii. How did they show themselves differently?
iii. How did it feel at that time?
The complete 3-page lesson plan can be seen here.