ESL Activities: 8.Who Am I ?

Theme: Migration and refugees

Key Learning Area: English - Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE)

Age Group: Secondary Lower (13-14) - Secondary Middle (15-16)

Resource Type: Handouts

Stimulus Name: Who am I ?

Teaching Strategies

1. Read Mem Fox’s 'Whoever You Are.' Discuss what ways people are the same and different in the story.

Questions to prompt discussion might include:

• What things are different about people around the world?

• What things are similar about people around the world?

• What message is the writer trying to tell us by her story?

2. Next, ask students to identify ways in which they are similar to other members of their families.

NOTE: Students might suggest that they are similar to other members of their families in that they share physical characteristics such as hair colour or facial features, live in the same home, speak the same languages, eat the same foods, participate in or enjoy the same activities, share the same relatives and friends.

3. Ask students to identify ways in which they are different to other members of their families.

NOTE: Students might suggest that they are different to other members of their families in that they have different physical attributes such as eye colour or height, enjoy different favourite foods, have different talents, play a range of sports, behave in different ways, enjoy different TV shows.

4. Ask students to draw on the discussions of similarities and differences within families to each complete the statements:

• I am like the rest of my family because I . . .

• I am not like the rest of my family because I . . .

5. Distribute pieces of paper and ask each student to record their statements and to decorate their sheet. Create a class collage of similarities and differences in families.

Example: I am like the rest of my family because I . . .

have the same family name.
live in a house.
have dark hair.
eat spaghetti.
pray every day.

I am not like the rest of my family because I . . .

don’t eat spaghetti.
like to read about sport.
am good at telling jokes.

6. Distribute student handout (Who Am I?) Ask each student to use the worksheet to create a personal mindmap, Who Am I?

7. In pairs, students compare their mindmaps. They can then go on and compare their mindmaps to other students’ in the class.

8. After students have discussed their mindmaps with a few others, conclude the lesson by drawing on discussion of similarities and differences among the students to explain the concept of diversity.

Questions to ask might include:

• What similarities did you find among students?

• What differences did you find between students?

• What things were unique to individual students?

º Are any two people, families or communities exactly alike?

NOTE: In this mindmap, students highlight a diverse range of things that they believe contribute to who they are (their personal identity). For example, place and date of birth, sex, age, friends, talents, hobbies, cultural heritages, languages, sports, family members, favourite food, hair colour, eye colour. See Teacher Answer Sheet for ideas.

Worksheets to download
Who Am I? (PDF)

Related Resources
Mem Fox 'Whoever You Are.'
ESL Activities 1: My Friends and Peers
ESL Activities 2: My Feelings About Myself
ESL Activities 3: Cultural heritage
ESL Activities 4: Different culture
ESL Activities 5: Iceberg
ESL Activities 6: Pride and Prejudice
ESL Activities 7: What is Beauty?
ESL Activities 9: Journeys From Afar
ESL Activities 10: Our Paths to Australia
ESL Activities 11: A Mixed Bag of Apples
ESL Activities 12: Victims of Culture


Copyright Acknowledgement
Activities developed by teachers at Beverly Hills Intensive English Centre, NSW

2005

Beverly Hills Intensive English Centre

©2005 Drift1