For one of my lessons during my 2 week practicum, I taught the class about multiculturalism and the importance of acceptance.

As a hook activity, I provided each group with a colouring sheet and asked each group to only colour the picture with one colour. The students were puzzled by this and asked me why they could only colour with one colour but I assured that I would tell them when they were finished. Afterwards, I gave the students an identical colouring sheet and had them colour it however they do so please.

At the end of the activity, I asked the students which picture was more enjoyable to colour and everyone responded that the one with more colours looked nicer and they liked it better. I explained to the class that similarly, the world is all the more wonderful with different types of people inside it and if everyone was the same, things would become boring very quickly.

Next, I had the children find partners who had the same theme of interests as them (eg. favorite animal, colour, age, grade, etc). This allowed them to realize that although there are similarities among them, there are differences as well and these can overlap. For example, they may have come from different cities but they were all in the same classroom.

After the similarities and differences activity, I handed out a worksheet with a coat of arms on it and had the children fill in each quadrant according to their personal interests. This allowed them to recognize that they are individuals and develop a sense of independence.