Introduction

Do you always get along with everyone? Do you sometimes make fun of other people because of the way they look or dress?

Recently, in Wisconsin, 6 Sikhs were killed while praying. This act was a hate crime by a gunman with ties to a white supremacist group. This webquest provides a way to start to understand and appreciate the Sikh people living in our communities around the United States. For example, according to the Sikh Warrior web site, a Sikh's purpose is to serve the people of the earth by protecting the weak and innocent. So, when you stand up for someone who is being bullied, you are just like a Sikh!

In a class,I taught in Kent, WA students made fun of an Indian student because of his clothing. The students told him that his headdress looked like a diaper. Afterwards, he cried and felt hurt. He also felt so angry that he wanted to hurt the other children in his class. His clothing is a traditional style worn in his country by Sikh Indians. It also protects his hair which is not supposed to be cut. In his own country, everyone would look like him and understand why he dresses this way but here his style is unique.

When someone dresses differently from you, it does not mean that person is a bad person that should be punished and humiliated. Fashion styles are sometimes based on religious traditions such as in the case of the Sikh boy.

Our class is going to give a Peace Prize to the students who develop the best plan for helping this boy and teaching the other students to be more respectful of students from other countries.

You will learn to be tolerant of others who are different from you by gaining insight into the Sikh people and their religion. You will also examine your own biases against Sikhs and how you can work to overcome them.You will research the Sikh religion online. You will interview a Sikh person.You will create a scrapbook and a journal. Finally, you will share your findings with the other students focusing on how you can become a positive role model for promoting tolerance and speaking up against hate.

• First you will be assigned to a group of 4 students.
• Each student will research an aspect of Indian culture - value of hair, warriors, Sikh religion, history. Then, the group will put together create a 20 page scrapbook. Begin your research at yahooligans doing a search for the words Sikh and youth. Other sources are Sikh Warriors and Sikh postcards, and the Sikh Museum. You can learn about the challenges Sikh youth experience at the Sikh Youth Question and Answer area. Read Sikh children's stories.
• Interview a Sikh person either via email or in person. You can find a person at Sikh Search . List 10 facts you learn about them.
• Keep a daily reflection journal to describe your feelings, impressions, questions,and comments as you research your culture. On the first page, write down all your ideas about India before you begin this project .On the last page, write how doing this has changed your understanding of the Sikh people as well as how you will now look at people who wear traditional clothing.
• Your group will present to the class what they learned from your research, what suggestions you have for preventing other students from making fun of this boy because of the way he dresses and what would be your best advice for this boy? View a sample of a pledge for becoming a peace maker at Tolerance.org's web site.
• Finally, the students will vote on the group that has the best solutions for promoting peace in our classroom. This group will get a peace prize.

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Evaluation

Students will receive a group grade for their scrapbook. They will receive an individual grade for their journals. The class will vote on the group that changed their perceptions the most about India from this activity.This group will get the Peace Prize.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Scrapbook of pictures of India	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting the highest level of performance.
Journal	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting the highest level of performance.

"Since peace begins in the minds of men,women and children, it is in the minds of men, women and children that the defences of peace must be constructed." United Nations

Elana Lindquist is an English as a Second Language teacher as well as an artist and writer. She worked at the United Nations as a multilingual tour guide where she learned that peace begins inside of herself. Each person is responsible for the world he or she is living in. Only by educating our children about peace and teaching our children about peace and conflict resolution, can we build a world where we are all safe.This site is sponsored by Simply Beautiful Art.

To contact Elana