Talk about how when we only focus on the negative aspects of a person that is all we see, we can't see the good things about them. This is why it is dangerous to talk negatively about a person to others. This might form a wrongful negative opinion of that person in the minds of others. Also you could talk about not judging others before you know all the facts about them is a danger.
Tell your students that you want them to pretend they are the owner of a company in the local community. Tell them that you are the person in charge of hiring new employees and that through credible sources you have found some information about 8 people who have turned in applications to be hired. The students must decide whether or not they would hire the person based on your description of the person. They cannot ask you any questions they purely must go off of what things you tell them.
Read the following descriptions (but DO NOT reveal to your students the true identity of the person being described):
1. This person could not speak until the age of three. This person has Aspergers syndrome, a type of autism. This person did not learn to read until they were nine. His teachers report that he is “mentally slow, unsociable, and a dreamer.” He found school work, especially math difficult. He was unable to express himself in written language. This person failed their college entrance exam.
THIS person is : Albert Einstein
Theory of Relativity and the atomic bomb.
2. This person is extremely shy. This person didn’t talk until they were four years old. This person was unable to read until twelve years old. This person has a very difficult time writing. He is also terrible at mathematics, unable to focus, and had difficulty with words and speech.His teachers in school have described this person as being “dumb and hyperactive”. As a result, their mother decided homeschool was a good option. As a young adult this person is totally deaf in his left ear, and approximately 80% deaf in his right ear.
At the turn-of-the-century, Edison invented the first practical dictaphone, mimeograph, and storage battery. After creating the "kinetiscope" and the first silent film in 1904, he went on to introduce The Great Train Robbery in 1903, which was a ten minute clip that was his first attempt to blend audio with silent moving images to produce "talking pictures."
When World War I began, he was asked by the U. S. Government to focus his genius upon creating defensive devices for submarines and ships. During this time, he also perfected a number of important inventions relating to the enhanced use of rubber, concrete, and ethanol. By the age of 83 he had 1,093 patents on inventions.
This person is :Thomas Edison
3. This person is a terrible speller. Their grammar usage is terrible as well. This person can barely write. According to this persons brother, this person should pursue a career surveying in the backwoods.
This person is: George Washington: First U.S. President
4. This person is unable to read because of severe dyslexia. Because of these reading difficulties this person never graduated from high school.
Famous Actor. Has an amazing memory. Memorizes all his lines by listening to them on tape.
This person is: Tom Cruise
5. This person scored in the bottom 3% on their national math tests. On the SAT this person scored 159 out of 800 in math. He has Attention Deficit Disorder.
Played the roll of Fonzie in TV Show “Happy Days”. Is the producer and Director of many TV shows and movie. Executive-producer of MacGyver.
This person is : Henry Winkler (director, actor, The Fonzz)
6. This person talks with a stutter, they also have epilepsy.
This person is : Isaac Newton:Discovered the law of gravity
7. This person was slow in school work and did not have a successful school experiences. Later this person started a business called Laugh-o-grams but obviously this person was not good at business because their company went bankrupt.
This person is :Walt Disney: Creator of Walt Disney Studios, Mickey mouse, Etc.
8. This person had such a severe stutter that, for eight years, he refused to talk and was functionally mute.
This person is : James Earl Jones: The Voice of Darth Vader, The lion king,
Now ask your class to reveal if they would hire the first person. After they answer yes or no let the students know the true identity of the person. You can go through each person 1-8.
