Left-Handers Are All Right

Grade Levels: 6 - 8

Overview

Students use a web resource to explore the perspective of left-handed people coping in a right-handed society. They further explore the topic by interviewing left-handed people.

Objective

• Students will compare and contrast attitudes and experiences in order to better understand perspective and point of view.

Procedures

1. Tell students they are going to use the World Wide Web to learn about life from the perspective of a left-hander. They will then use information they have gathered to interview a left-hander. Review what students have learned about the life experiences of a wide range of people. Encourage any left-handed members of the class to share personal experiences that reflect the challenges or advantages of being left-handed.

2. Go online to the gauche! Left-Handers in Society website and click on "basic problems" for background information to share with students.

3. Next, click on "daily life" to read about some typical problems that face left-handers at home, school, and work, along with tips or possible solutions for dealing with these concerns.

4. Click on "sports" to learn some of the sports-related issues that face left-handers, such as learning from coaches who are right-handed and learning to use equipment constructed for right-handers.

5. Discuss the information students have gathered about the challenges left-handers face and suggest that they use this information to come up with questions to ask their interviewee, who might be a classmate, teacher, a student from another class, or a family member or friend. You will want to discuss good interviewing techniques.

6. Students conduct interviews of left-handed people.

7. After students have completed their interviews, let them share insights with the class.

8. They might send any good tips they have gathered to the website by clicking on "comment form." Suggestions are provided there for formatting comments to make them as useful as possible.

Extension

Students might enjoy going to the Famous Left-Handers website to see lists of famous left-handers in different careers. Students might wish to research additional famous left-handers and then send these names to the website.

Provided by Scott Foresman, an imprint of Pearson, the world's leading elementary educational publisher. Its line of educational resources supports teachers and helps schools and districts meet demands for adequate yearly progress and reporting.