One of the subtle aspects of role playing using the items you have put into the Prop Box is the teaching of tolerance to cultural diversity. A teacher may want to bring statistics from a legitimate source and discuss, for example, why certain "characters" are included in the choices. "Class, in our community is enriched by people of different backgrounds. We'll want to see that their presence is honored in our role plays."
Teachers can also introduce a lottery into their role playing by having students pick their characters "out of a hat." This may not only let them role play an ethnicity other than their own, but also instills a sense that a person's cultural background is not something they chose. Instructional moments will undoubtedly occur when it is appropriate to discuss stereotyping and prejudice.
Suggested Contents of the Prop Box
Contemporary
Communication Devices, i.e. cell phones, pagers, alkies talkies
Transparencies
of "The Brainstorm" Template (to be discussed later)
Pens for Overhead Projectors
8 x 11 head shots of people of different ages, races, religions
and ethnic backgrounds
Photographs of settings, i.e. offices, classrooms, playgrounds,
classrooms, homes
Digital Camera
Items suggesting a person's identity, i.e. hats, wigs and glasses.
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