Melissa Riggio Shares Her Thoughts

 

Here is an excerpt from an article from the National Geographic Kids website. Melissa Riggio is sharing her thoughts about what it is like to have Down syndrome. She is very honest and mature in the way that she describes what her life is like and what her dreams are. She says,

"I can’t change that I have Down syndrome, but one thing I would change is how people think of me. I’d tell them: Judge me as a whole person, not just the person you see. Treat me with respect, and accept me for who I am. Most important, just be my friend.

After all, I would do the same for you."

Please read the the rest of the article here.

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Lesson:

This article could be incorporated into a lesson in so many ways. I will leave it to you to decide how you will use this. It could be as simple as...

1. Reading the article independently and doing a journal reflection

2. The teacher could read the article and have a class discussion

3. Could be used in center work or even as guided reading material

I am sure you all will come up with more innovative ideas than that but I thought I would put it out there. And as always....

Please feel free to share how you used this resource in your classrooms and/or homes and also tell us how your students reacted to Melissa's story.