Title: Communities Making a Difference
Grades: K-2
Subject: Social Studies
Secondary Subject: Civics
Specific Topic: Poverty; Governance
Rational:
This lesson plan will introduce students to the issue of global poverty, governance, and civic engagement. The lesson plan is designed to teach students that the size of a problem does not necessarily correlate to the ease with which it is solved. In this manner, the lesson plan will emphasize what can be done to improve the human condition, thereby reducing social injustice, desperation, and hardship. The curriculum will also teach students how easy it is to communicate with their congressional leaders and influence the decision making process of congressional leaders. By communicating with their congressional leaders students will learn how to formulate and express their opinion about a particular issue. By the end of the lesson students will have a greater knowledge of global poverty and civic engagement.
Applicable Standards (Washington State):
Component 1.2 / Understands the purposes, organization, and function of governments, laws, and political systems.Component 1.4 / Understands civic involvement
Component 2.1 / Understands that people have to make choices between wants and needs and evaluate the outcomes of those choices
Component 5.1 / Uses critical reasoning skills to analyze and evaluate positions
Component 5.4 / Creates a product that uses social studies content to support a thesis and presents the product in an appropriate manner to a meaningful audience
Student prerequisites:
Students should know who congressional leaders are and why they are important. Students should also know that people in different parts of the world lead different lives.
Primary objective:
The primary objective of this lesson is for students to understand that they can influence the legislative process.
Performance goals:
- Understand that many people lack basic necessities
- Students should generate questions about the topic
- Students should call their congressional leader and communicate their opinion in a clear and respective manner.
- Students should write a letter or draw a picture. The letter or picture should indicate what the student wants the congressional leader to do about global poverty.
Materials:
Picture book related to poverty
Beatrice’s Goat – Page McBrier and Lori Lohstoeter (2001)
If the World Were a Village – David J. Smith and Shelagh Armstrong (2002)
Galimoto – Karen Lynn Williams and Catherine Stock (1990)
Four Feet, Two Sandals – K.L. Williams (2007)
Selavi, That is Life: a Haitian Story of Hope – Youme (2004)
Armando and the Blue Tarp School – E.H. Fine (2007)
The Roses in My Carpets – R. Khan (1998)
A Handful of Seeds – M. Hughes (1996)
The Caged Birds of Phnom Penh – F. Lipp (2001)
Map of the World
Address and Phone number of congressional leaders
A phone to call the congressional leader
Paper, pencils, pens, markers, crayons, or other writing implements for each student
Optional: A YouTube video or visual clip about what it is like to live in poverty.
Lesson Plan: (1-1.5 hours total length)
Anticipatory Set (20 – 30 minutes)
Before reading a picture book about global poverty, spend a couple of minutes introducing the concept of poverty. After spending some time introducing key concepts, read the children’s book to the class. While you read, the class should be asked to think of 3-5 questions related to the theme of the book. Try and answer these questions to the best of your ability. After reading the book and answering questions, use a map to show the children where the characters in the book live. You can also use the map to show children where most improvised people live. During this time you can also show a short video clip about global poverty. If you do not have access to a video clip, pictures of improvised peoples can be just as effective. When presenting pictures or videos make sure they are age appropriate.
Call to Congressional Leader (20 min)
After finishing the first portion of the lesson plan, ask the children if they can think of anything they can do to help alleviate the condition of poverty. During this time, it may be necessary useful to remind the students that congressional leaders create bills that are then signed into law by the president. Explain that congressional leaders listen to all of their constituents when creating bills and voting on measures. Once the students understand that they can influence their congressional leaders, ask the class if they would like to call their congressional leaders. Write the name of the chosen congressional leader on the board, along a short sentence the children can recite once you have made the call. An example sentence may look something like this: “This is Ms. Borgen’s first grade class, and we want to help people in poverty.” Practice reciting the sentence as a class. Once the class feels comfortable with the passage, call the congressional leader and have the entire class recite the sentence.
Letter to Congressional Leader (30-40 minutes)
Once the congressional call is complete, tell the students they will either write or draw a picture addressing the issue of global poverty. This can be done individually or as a class. The letter or picture should be addressed to a congressional leader of their choosing. If the student chooses to write a letter, make sure the letter has a beginning, middle, and an end. The final portion of the letter should address why the student is writing to their congressional leader, or rather, what the student wants the congressional leader to do about global poverty. When the students have completed their writing their letters or drawing their pictures, have them turn in the material for grading. Once the material has been graded mail the student’s work to the congressional leaders.
Closure (3-5 minutes)
Talk with the class about how they felt during this lesson. Was it hard learning for them to learn about global poverty? How did it make them feel when they listened to stories or saw pictures of people living in poverty? Did they like writing expressing their opinion to congressional leaders? Once the discussion is finished, remind the class that they can write to their congressional leaders about all sorts of issues, even issues that are happening in their neighborhoods or communities. By writing to their congressional leaders they can help to make a difference.
Assessment:
- Did the student pay attention and ask appropriate questions?
- Did the student participate in the class discussions?
- Did the student participate in the phone call activity, contributing ideas and speaking?
- Did the student produce a letter or picture, on topic and of appropriate length?