Dressing Up
Begin by asking students to raise their hands if they wore costumes on the most recent Hallowe’en. If any students don’t raise their hand, ask if they’ve played dress-up at other times – at school or preschool, at a museum or community centre, etc.
Ask students: What is fun about dressing up?
Sentence starter: It’s fun to…
Affirm all the answers the students give, but make sure the following points are raised:
It’s fun to pretend to be someone that I want to be like (e.g. a firefighter who is brave, a clown who is funny).
It’s fun to pretend to be someone that is very different from me (e.g. a monster or an alien).
It’s fun to pretend to be something that I like or know a lot about (e.g. a dog, because I love dogs; a dinosaur, because I know a lot about dinosaurs).
It’s fun to pretend that I’m part of something that I really like (e.g. a character from a TV show, movie, comic, game, etc.).
Have students draw themselves wearing their costume.
When they have finished, ask them to think about ways in which the costume character is like them and the ways in which it is different from them.
Give an example of a costume that you once wore and model the reflection on similarities and differences, helping students to consider both physical characteristics.
Sample think-aloud: “When I dressed as Snow White she was like me because we are both girls, but different because she’s a grown-up and back then I was a little girl. Snow White wasn’t much like me because in the movie she’s always shy and quiet and I liked to be noisy and make people laugh.”
Have students reflect on and (for older students) write down similarities and differences between themselves and their costume character.
Have students form pairs and share their findings; their partners should help them if they have not identified at least two similarities and differences.
Ask students if they have ever done a similar exercise, in class or elsewhere. If so, ask them to reflect on what has changed since the last time they did.
