Exploring Our Identity

Lead a Kahoot! game about identity and the importance of getting to know people as individuals.
Ages 8-10 / 20
min Activity
Self-Awareness
Perspective Taking
Inclusivity
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Objectives

  • Understand how their identity is made up of different parts, and can be influenced by factors such as their culture, community, and experiences
  • Reflect on ways to learn about others' identity (instead of making assumptions about them) and ways to foster a more inclusive and welcoming classroom environment for everyone

Supporting Research

A culturally responsive pedagogy encourages educators to celebrate students’ cultural differences through opportunities for them to self-reflect and share about their own multidimensional identities, while building an understanding and appreciation for backgrounds and perspectives different from their own. During this activity, educators should guide students to practice self-awareness to reflect on aspects of their own identity, perspective taking as they consider how others might see them (e.g., their “visible” identity), and inclusivity as they demonstrate curiosity and humility in learning about each other’s identities. 

To learn more about these skills, and how they promote students’ healthy growth and the development of empathy, please check out our Empathy Framework.

Materials

Activity Partners

Instructions

  1. Engage students in a discussion about identity. You might explain: "Our identity makes us “us”. Our identity is made up of our personality, hobbies, achievements, ethnic or cultural background, and so much more. What else do you think our identity includes? How would you describe your identity?”
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  2. Play this Kahoot! game to help students reflect on different parts of their identity, and consider ways they can learn about others' identity (instead of making assumptions about them). Students will also engage in short poetry reflections and group discussions during the game.
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  3. Afterwards, guide students through a reflection by asking the following questions:
    • What makes you unique?
    • Can you share something about yourself that you are really proud of?
    • What are some things that you love to do?
    • What do you do when you feel different from your friends or peers?
    • How can you help other people feel accepted and valued for who they are?
    • What are some ways that we can make our classroom a more welcoming and inclusive place for everyone? 

If students in both classes have individual devices (e.g., mobile phone, tablet, laptop, etc.)...

Use a platform such as Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams which allows you to screen-share during a video call. 
One educator should set up the Kahoot! game and share the code with students in both classes by following this tutorial about using Kahoot! in a remote learning environment, and share their screen so everyone can follow along.

If students in either class don’t have individual devices...

Follow the same instructions above, with one educator starting the game and sharing their screen so both classes can follow along.  
Instead of students joining the game to answer the questions, they can hold up their fingers, call out their answer, or use a paper template to indicate their response.

If you prefer not using Kahoot!...

Use this document (Spanish version) to prompt students.