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Standards:
Evidence of Mastery:
While completing the m&m activity students will be asked what their m&ms are representing
and how that connects to poverty to make sure that they have a clear understanding of the
material and how the activity connects to that material.
Students will complete an exit ticket in which they answer multiple choice questions based on
the book that they will have read in class and one open ended question about the activity they
completed in class.
Sub-objectives, SWBAT:
Students will understand what poverty is.
Students will use their understanding of poverty to discuss what they think will happen if you do
not have enough food or water to survive.
Students will journal their initial thoughts.
Students will complete activity showing the idea of having too little resources.
Students will connect activity to their understanding of poverty.
The students will first be discussing and writing about what they think poverty is. They will then be
doing the same with the topic of how they thing poverty affects the world around them. Next, they will
be doing an activity involving m&ms that shows them what it is like to not have enough resources in the
world while others have more than they need. They will be reflecting back on this discrepancy in
resources to discuss how people in our world do not have equal access. They will then connect this lack
of equal access to the environment and sustainability. The connections the students will be making
justifies this lesson as teaching poverty as a sustainability topic.
Background Knowledge:
Students will need to know a basic definition of poverty. This has been defined and elaborated on in
both days one and day two of this unit. They will also have the definition written in their journal to refer
back on. They will need to understand that poverty and the environment are connected and in order to
help the environment and become more sustainable we need to address the issue of poverty in our
world.
Misconception:
Students may believe that poverty is the fault of the person and not the world around them. When
discussing values thinking some students may believe that their values and what they believe is
superior to the thoughts and beliefs of others.
Process Skills:
One skill that is being introduced is the ability to think using your values. Students will be learning how
to approach a topic by thinking of their own values and the values of others. This is reinforcing what
they already know about being respectful towards others but expanding upon it and giving values
thinking a name.
Values thinking is incredibly important for students to learn. It should be regularly implanted in the
classroom. We are trying to create students that will be good and productive citizens one day and
values thinking is a big part in being able to look at the world from an inclusive prospective. By
discussing poverty in the classroom we are addressing a topic that may be more sensitive for others.
Students are coming in with their own believes and preconceived notions about the poor and they will
all value their responsibility to help the world differently. What needs to be instilled in students in this
lesson is while they may believe one thing, other students may not but we still have to be mindful and
respectful of those students. Once we have established the need for respect of everyones values, we
will discuss how we can incorporate our values into the way we address things and how it may drive
students to get involved and help with this very pressing issue.
Safety:
There are no immediate safety concerns as students will not be working with any dangerous or
hazardous materials.
Inquiry Questions:
1. How would it feel to not have enough access to basic necessities to live comfortably?
2.
How does the inadequate distribution of resources found in the activity relate to sustainability?
Key vocabulary:
1. Poverty: The state of not having what is
necessary to live a comfortable life
2. Values Thinking: Approaching a question or
topic by taking in to account your own values
and the values of others that may differ from
your own
3. Basic Need: What people need to survive
Materials:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Engage:
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
homelessness.
Tell them that homelessness is a very real
problem that we can see all around us and
has a different affect on everyone.
Tell students that talking about topics such as
homelessness can be sensitive for some
students and this is where we need to use our
values thinking.
Ask students if they know what values
thinking is
Allow them to answer and take note of their
responses.
Ask them what a value is.
Allow students to answer.
Define value as a belief someone has that
they hold important to them.
Tell students that just because you value
something does not mean that others will
value the same thing.
Use the example of baseball teams, for
example just because I am a Giants fan does
not mean that everyone is and I can not just
assume that people agree with me
Ask students if they have any other examples
of different values people may have.
Inform students that this kind of thinking is
true for all of lifes situations and they must
be respectful to the beliefs of others and keep
in mind that not everyone will always think
the same way that they do.
Just because people dont believe in your
values do not mean that yours are wrong or
theirs are right. Values can be different and
they influence our behavior every day.
Give the example, I value volunteering and
taking care of the environment so I often go
pick up trash in my local park
Ask them to give other examples of how
values can affect behavior.
Tell them to keep thinking about this and
remember to be respectful as we read our
story.
Introduce the book A Shelter in Our Car by
Monica Gunning.
This book talks about a girl that immigrated
to the United States with her family from
Jamaica but due to family struggles and not
having enough money had to live in their car.
Read the book to students.
Pause between every few pages to make sure
students are following along and read the
room to see if any students seem as if they
have questions.
Ask questions if students have them.
Finish reading the story.
Ask students how reading this story made
them feel. Allow them to discuss.
Ask them how they think they would feel if
they were in Zetties shoes. Allow students to
discuss.
Ask students what kinds of things they have
in their life that Zettie did not have. Ask if
they thought Zettie and her family had all the
basic needs in life.
Define basic needs for your students as the
essential things a human needs to survive in
life today.
Allow them to discuss what they think is a
basic need and what is not. Connect this to
what Zetties family had and did not have.
Have students keep in mind the idea of not
having enough of a basic need for the next
activity.
Tell students to return to seats from the rug.
Explore:
Teacher Will:
Tell students that the goal of this activity is to
Students Will:
Understand the goal of the activity is to
Explain:
Teacher Will:
Pass out blank sheet of paper to students.
Students Will:
Understand that they will be writing a
reflection paragraph.
Understand that they must include how
the activity made them feel and connect
that to how that relates to poverty.
Ask any questions they have about what
they have to write.
Write clear paragraph.
Share what they wrote with students at
their table.
Share out with the whole class.
Ask any remaining questions about the
connection between poverty and the
candy activity.
Elaborate:
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
Evaluate:
Teacher Will:
Students Will:
Closure:
Encourage students to share out what they have learned today. Ask them to make connections to their
own lives and what they think they can do to help with the issue of poverty in their own communities as
this is leading into the next two days of the unit. Tell them to get excited about the next two days
because they will be talking about what they can do to help. Remind them that we want to be using
values thinking when addressing these topics in class this week. What we may believe might not be
what someone else believes so we must be mindful as to not offend anyone.