Disability and Disability Arts - Physical Disability and Accessibility- Coloring Book - “A Day of Questions”
Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade Sharon Pennock Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade Sharon Pennock

Disability and Disability Arts - Physical Disability and Accessibility- Coloring Book - “A Day of Questions”

Disability and Disability Arts - Physical Disability and Accessibility- Coloring Book - “A Day of Questions”

This is a three part lesson to introduce the student to disability and a disabled artist's work. Disability arts is an art form where the context of the art takes on disability as its theme. Disability art is about exploring the various realities of what it's like to be disabled. The theme of disability may be used in a variety of ways in how the artist chooses to represent the theme in their work. This lesson uses a coloring book created by Wendy Elliot Vandivier.

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Disability and Disability Arts Invisible Disabilities/Autism/Poetry/Golden Shovels Poetic Form
9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade Sharon Pennock 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade Sharon Pennock

Disability and Disability Arts Invisible Disabilities/Autism/Poetry/Golden Shovels Poetic Form

Lesson title: Disability and Disability Arts - Disability and Disability Arts Invisible Disabilities/ Autism/Poetry/ Golden Shovels Poetic Form

This is a three part lesson to introduce the student to disability and a disabled artist's work. Disability arts is an art form where the context of the art takes on disability as its theme. Disability art is about exploring the various realities of what it's like to be disabled. The theme of disability may be used in a variety of ways in how the artist chooses to represent the theme in their work. This lesson uses poetry created by Ian Fay.

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Disability and Disability Arts - Invisible Disabilities - “See Me; Invisibility” Paintings Lessons
9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade Sharon Pennock 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade Sharon Pennock

Disability and Disability Arts - Invisible Disabilities - “See Me; Invisibility” Paintings Lessons

Disability and Disability Arts - Invisible Disabilities - “See Me; Invisibility” Paintings Lessons

This is a three part lesson to introduce the student to disability and a disabled artist's work. Disability arts is an art form where the context of the art takes on disability as its theme. Disability art is about exploring the various realities of what it's like to be disabled. The theme of disability may be used in a variety of ways in how the artist chooses to represent the theme in their work. This lesson uses 3 paintings created by Mali Fenning.

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Disability and Disability Arts Vision Loss - Disability Empowerment “Disability Looks Like You and Me”
6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Sharon Pennock 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Sharon Pennock

Disability and Disability Arts Vision Loss - Disability Empowerment “Disability Looks Like You and Me”

Disability and Disability Arts Vision Loss - Disability Empowerment “Disability Looks Like You and Me”

This is a three part lesson to introduce the student to disability and a disabled artist's work. Disability arts is an art form where the context of the art takes on disability as its theme. Disability art is about exploring the various realities of what it's like to be disabled. The theme of disability may be used in a variety of ways in how the artist chooses to represent the theme in their work. This lesson uses art created by Jade Ramos.

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Disability History through Primary Sources

Disability History through Primary Sources

As our friends from Engaging America state, “Primary sources … can provide entry points and deepen exploration into historical events. Primary sources add immediacy, such as the faces in a photograph, the emotional tone of a drawing or song, or the complex look of a handwritten document. Documents from multiple points of view can illuminate conflicting ideas and events. Varied media, including maps, oral histories, published reports, and graphs offer many options for connection and investigation”.

We share these collections or primary sources as tools to continue introducing disability into the conversation from natural perspectives, using disabled people to tell their own stories whenever possible.

Image Description: Article from Dallas Times Herald, Wednesday, January 14, 1986 in section “Community Close-Up” titled “Police on sidewalk wheelchair ramps changed”
Full image description can be found at: https://adaptmuseum.net/gallery/picture.php?/451/category/16

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Disability Justice Lesson Plan - Education Amplifier

Disability Justice Lesson Plan - Education Amplifier

In this lesson plan, you’ll find six modules that you can mix and match, that all teach about different aspects of disability rights and disability justice.

Image Description: Education Amplifier’s illustration of Lydia X.Z. Brown

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Don’t Call Me Special: Reading and Discussion
1st grade Sharon Pennock 1st grade Sharon Pennock

Don’t Call Me Special: Reading and Discussion

This is an introductory lesson on physical disability using the book “Don’t Call Me Special” by Pat Thomas. The educator will read aloud the book and ask questions about the text. Students will learn about making assumptions and what physical disability can look like, as well as how equipment can help students with disabilities access all parts of their life.

Image description: cover art for the book “Don’t Call Me Special”

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Easterseals Short Films Lesson Plan
9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade Sharon Pennock 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade Sharon Pennock

Easterseals Short Films Lesson Plan

Students will review the social model of disability and then apply it to 4 short films created for the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. “The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge gives filmmakers—with and without disabilities—the opportunity to collaborate to tell unique stories that showcase disability in its many forms (disabilityfilmchallenge.com).” Students will watch the 4 winning films, and then break into groups to focus on analyzing one film as a group.

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Equity is Essential: Working to Achieve Access for All Lesson
3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade Sharon Pennock 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade Sharon Pennock

Equity is Essential: Working to Achieve Access for All Lesson

Students will read Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability by Shane Burcaw and consider what it means to have a disability, what inclusion means and how to create a more accessible world.

Image description: Cover for the book “Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability”

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‘Emmanuel’s Dream’ Lesson Plan
3rd grade Sharon Pennock 3rd grade Sharon Pennock

‘Emmanuel’s Dream’ Lesson Plan

Students will read ‘Emmanuel’s Dream’ by Laurie Ann Thompson, the true story of Emmanuel, a boy from Ghana who could only use one leg. Students will then complete a worksheet with a blank tshirt on it where they will write a word or phrase about how they are different but they are proud of that difference.

Image description: Cover image for “Emmanuel’s Dream”

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FDR Hiding his Disability Lesson

FDR Hiding his Disability Lesson

Students will engage in discussion about the Stigma associated with disability. They will then learn about FDR and how illness made him lose the ability to fully walk. They will then learn about how FDR, the people around him, and the press worked to keep his disability as secret as possible. This will lead to a discussion about the impact of his decision to hide his disability, and how taking a prideful approach to his disability could have changed how people perceived him and others with disabilities.

Image description: photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Hispanic Heritage: Frida Kahlo (Intersectionality of Ableism, Creativity and Feminism) Lesson
6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Sharon Pennock 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Sharon Pennock

Hispanic Heritage: Frida Kahlo (Intersectionality of Ableism, Creativity and Feminism) Lesson

Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954) was a Mexican artist who was influenced by the Mexican Revolution. She experienced a disability at two times in her life.  Her determinism helped her cope with the pain of overcoming polio, a difficult marriage and bus-trolley accident.  Frida Kahlo’s curiosity and love for nature were often the subjects of her paintings.  Known as the “mother of the selfie,” Frida also created more than 200 paintings of herself. This unit of lessons is to recognize the creativity and imagination of Frida Kahlo.

Image description: Photograph of Frida Kahlo against a green floral background

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How to be a Kind Helper Lesson
Kindergarten, 1st grade Sharon Pennock Kindergarten, 1st grade Sharon Pennock

How to be a Kind Helper Lesson

This lesson teaches students the qualities of being a Kind helper and how to put them into practice. Students will listen to a person with a disability and their personal assistant about what it means to be a Kind helper. After the talk, students will have a chance to ask questions about helping. Students will learn that open communication is key to a Kind helper relationship. Students will learn that a person with a disability can live full productive lives with the help of their personal attendant.

Image description: 9 raised hands with the words “How to be a Kind Helper”

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Maya Angelou Lesson
Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, Preschool Sharon Pennock Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, Preschool Sharon Pennock

Maya Angelou Lesson

In this read-aloud of a picture book version of Maya Angelou’s “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me”, students will learn about and discuss fear, what it means to be brave, and how to cope when feeling scared. Students will learn about Maya Angelou and selective mutism, which is an anxiety disorder that Maya Angelou experienced for 5 years during adolescence. 

Image description: Sketch of Maya Angelou

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My Travelin’ Eye Lesson Plan
1st grade, 2nd grade Sharon Pennock 1st grade, 2nd grade Sharon Pennock

My Travelin’ Eye Lesson Plan

In this lesson the teacher will read aloud My Travelin’ Eye. This book shows from the character’s perspective what it is like to be on the receiving end of bullying and how she had to cope. As a way of coping Jenny’s mom made her special fashion eye patches. The takeaway message for students is that people who look different and have disabilities are still people in the world just like them.

Image description: Cover art for the book “My Travelin’ Eye”

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One Out of Five - Intro to Disability
6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Sharon Pennock 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Sharon Pennock

One Out of Five - Intro to Disability

The purpose of this lesson is to humanize the experience of disability by focusing on student-voice videos, recognize diversity within the disability community, and discuss ways to promote accessibility. This is the first in a series of 5 lessons by Washington State’s One Out of Five Disability History and Pride Project.

Image Description: Groups of students sit and stand, talking in clusters. The profiles of the students of different ages, races, and abilities is on a colorful background of yellow, orange, and green. The dominant image is the silhouette of a male student in dark blue reading a book. The title is: One Out of Five: Disability History and Pride Project. “One” and “five” are spelled out in American Sign Language. At the bottom, Braille reads: “pride” and “history.”]

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One Out of Five - Intersectionality
6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Sharon Pennock 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Sharon Pennock

One Out of Five - Intersectionality

The purpose of this lesson is to shift stereotypes and limited ways of thinking about people with disabilities to consider the full range of disability experiences from an intersectional perspective. This is the second in a series of 5 lessons by Washington State’s One Out of Five Disability History and Pride Project.

Image Description: Groups of students sit and stand, talking in clusters. The profiles of the students of different ages, races, and abilities is on a colorful background of yellow, orange, and green. The dominant image is the silhouette of a male student in dark blue reading a book. The title is: One Out of Five: Disability History and Pride Project. “One” and “five” are spelled out in American Sign Language. At the bottom, Braille reads: “pride” and “history.”]

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One Out of Five - Allyship and Solidarity
6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Sharon Pennock 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Sharon Pennock

One Out of Five - Allyship and Solidarity

The purpose of this lesson is to teach students how to recognize ableism and its harmful effects, be allies in solidarity with people with disabilities, and actively and intentionally build inclusive communities. This is the fifth in a series of 5 lessons by Washington State’s One Out of Five Disability History and Pride Project.

Image Description: Groups of students sit and stand, talking in clusters. The profiles of the students of different ages, races, and abilities is on a colorful background of yellow, orange, and green. The dominant image is the silhouette of a male student in dark blue reading a book. The title is: One Out of Five: Disability History and Pride Project. “One” and “five” are spelled out in American Sign Language. At the bottom, Braille reads: “pride” and “history.”]

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