“Shoelace Jump Rope” - Social Health Activity 

A "fly on the wall" look into our classroom. Full social health lesson included!
PRIVILEGE:
A right, advantage, or opportunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.
EQUALITY vs. EQUITY:
Equality suggests that everyone should be treated the same. It seeks to promote fairness, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place and needs the same level of support. Equity, in contrast, aims to give everyone what they need to be successful. It places value on outcomes-- not everyone starts at the same place, and not everyone has the same needs. Equity still might fall short in social health. See below.
INCLUSION:
Inclusion means that all people, regardless of their background, abilities, or needs, have the right to be respected and appreciated as members of their community. Inclusion refers to the extent to which a person feels valued and included. It is about allowing everyone access to services and resources, but not at the expense of others.
LESSON:
This is a first-take at this lesson. The aim was to develop accessible metaphors for social health and social justice. Additional analogies and content will make their way into future attempts at this lesson... several points have promise for elaboration or additional teachable moments.
Notice the gradual increase of classroom energy throughout the activity. The group of students were presented first with the concept of privilege, then with the notions of equality vs. equity, and then the challenge to work on inclusion.
Watch and listen in as the class drew each other in to almost complete engagement by the end. As the teacher, I was able to step back to facilitate and let leaders emerge. The teaming concepts of active participants and active observers was put into use here. Observers are welcome in any team challenge we do. You can see peer pressure in the works as more observers jump in to the final part of the lesson. (Later discussion point: can the influence of peers ever be positive?)
The jump rope activity utilized just a bit of movement to boost brain activity. With the knots, the different colors, and the unity of the shoelaces as analogies, students were pushed to develop a deeper understanding and application of the health skill of analyzing influences on social health.
Subsequent lessons allow students to reflect through journaling, small group discussions, and further large group activities to develop life skills.
FOLLOW-UP:
Follow-up discussion questions focus on our five major influences on health: Environment, Friends, Family, Knowledge/Information, and Choices/Behavior.
- What impacted the group dynamic as the activity carried out?
- Did you notice more and more inclusion as the group found success in jumping the rope?
- Did you feel the influence of peers? Can that ever be positive?
- Was there an increase in energy as more people were involved?
- What information was needed to include the entire class in the activity?
- Were the "rules" bent a little at the very end to include everyone? Was that less exciting? Apply this to real life-- why should inclusion still promote challenge and healthy competition versus over-simplifying for the sake of a desired outcome?
- How can we apply the lesson to real world scenarios?
- How can we use the concepts learned in social relationships at school, in the community, or as society as a whole?
- Take previous concepts of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination and explain how they impact or are impacted by privilege, equity, and inclusion.
Health concepts in this lesson/unit: social health, privilege, equality, equity, inclusion, influence analysis, peer pressure, and social connectedness.
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