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Lesson Plan Assignment Social Justice
Lesson Plan Assignment Social Justice
Lesson Plan Assignment Social Justice
Curriculum Connections
Curriculum Area: Geography Curriculum Area: Mathematics
B. Global Inequalities: Economic Development and Data Management and Probability
Quality of Life
Overall Expectations: Overall Expectations:
“B1. Application: analyse some interrelationships
among factors that contribute to global inequalities, “Collect and organize categorical, discrete, or
with a focus on inequalities in quality of life, and continuous primary data and secondary data and
assess various responses to these inequalities” display the data using charts and graphs, including
frequency tables with intervals, histograms, and scatter
plots;”
B1.1 analyse some interrelationships among – read, interpret, and draw conclusions from primary
factors that can contribute to quality of life data (e.g., survey results, measurements,
observations) and from secondary data (e.g.,
B1.2 analyse how various factors have affected election data or temperature data from the
the economies of specific developed and newspaper, data from the Internet about lifestyles),
developing countries around the world presented in charts, tables, and graphs (including
frequency tables with intervals, histograms, and
B2.2 gather and organize data and information from a scatter plots);
variety of sources and using various technologies to
investigate issues related to global development and – identify and describe trends, based on the rate of
quality of life from a geographic perspective change of data from tables and graphs, using
informal language (e.g., “The steep line going
upward on this graph represents rapid growth. The
steep line going downward on this other graph
represents rapid decline.”);
Learning Goals:
1. Students will be able to identify what poverty is and the different contributive factors that cause poverty
2. Students will be able to understand the relationship between inequalities and poverty on a global
perspective
3. Students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge through analyzing statistical data and presenting
their knowledge through charts, graphs or maps.
Prior Learning
Accommodations
Groups are provided to accommodate ESL, ELL and IEP
students
Mind maps accommodate for visual learners and requires
short responses as opposed to long responses
Students have the option of working in the library or in
separated room
Alternative Activity
[If felt that students will not be engaged enough with the guiding
questions, teachers could alternatively use this activity as a back
up]
© 2014 Antonino Giambrone, Salima Kassam, Vidya Shah
Adapted from: Differentiated Instruction Teaching/Learning Examples 2009 – Template for Writers. Ontario Ministry of Education, Student Success/Learning to 18 Implementation,
Training and Evaluation Branch
Have students state whether the statements about poverty
are myths or facts – these myths can be found on the link
below
Teacher can take up with the class afterwards and explain
‘The Reality’ or ‘The Myth’ (Gorski, 2008)
If there is time, ask students ‘What Can We Do?’ to
address stereotypes, discrimination and bullying. Also
provide advice to which students can adopt to become
more inclusively accepting to those who struggle with
poverty and inequities at home (Gorski, 2008)
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-
leadership/apr08/vol65/num07/The-Myth-of-the-Culture-of-
Poverty.aspx
Action Assessment
Introduce new learning or extending/reinforcing prior to Opportunities
learning
Provide opportunities for practice and application of
learning (guided/independent)
Teachers (5 min) Classism Assessment as
35-40 Teachers are to extend and add onto student’s knowledge Learning
mins on what their idea of poverty is and expand on an
example of what poverty looks like on a global scale Observation:
(provide pictures as well) Teachers will
(Prepare beforehand) Have visual definitions on the observe students
board or a poster board of what these categories mean: ability to navigate
o Life expectancy, child mortality, income per through the online
person (GDP). resource as well as
the written text for
Students (30-35 mins) the purpose of
Students will pair up into groups of 2-4 and refer to their research and
coloured (developing and developed nations) maps made understanding data
in the class prior through charts and
Students are to use the online resource graphs
http://www.gapminder.org/ or the book The Atlas of
Global Inequalities to compare and contrast the Anecdotal Notes:
inequalities that exist between a developing country and a Teachers are to
developed country/nation. make anecdotal
o Students could do multiple countries/nations if notes of how
they have the time or desire to students are
Students should include factors from categories such as: collaborating
o Inequalities of access (poverty, hunger, water, together, the
energy, transportation) amount of effort or
o Health inequalities (life expectancy, child contributions put in
mortality, access to healthcare, infectious by each group
diseases) member and the
o Educational inequalities (literacy, barriers to group’s way of
education, early childhood care and education) communication.
© 2014 Antonino Giambrone, Salima Kassam, Vidya Shah
Adapted from: Differentiated Instruction Teaching/Learning Examples 2009 – Template for Writers. Ontario Ministry of Education, Student Success/Learning to 18 Implementation,
Training and Evaluation Branch
o Economic inequalities (income, household
wealth, consumption, work and employment) Assessment for
o Power inequalities (international trade, Learning
government action, freedom & democracy)
o Social inequalities (gender, age, class, race and Game/Researching:
ethnicity, child labor)
Have each group record at least one feature from each Online interactive
category on a table, graph, mind map, or a chart resource
Gapminder and
The Atlas of Global
Accommodations Inequalities gives
Provide the option of referring to other resources to find teachers the
relevant data and information, such as videos, media, opportunity to
audiobooks, other prints understand
Provide students alternative resources that is presented in a student’s ability to
variety of languages for better understanding navigate, apply
Groups are formed to accommodate ELL and ESL students, mathematical
as well as students with IEPs (peer support and knowledge and
collaboration) analyze and
Tables, graphs, mind maps and charts are incorporated for interpret data into
those who are mathematically oriented or work better with conclusions
numbers
Have PowerPoint or visual representation addressing the
instructions of the activity
Give extra time next class for students who struggled with
completing the task
Accommodations
Allow students to write down what they have learned or the
connections they have made between inequalities and
poverty on sticky notes (to put the board)
Open discussion to gain insight into peer’s analytical
thinking and inferences
Have students write in Google docs their answers OR on the
same chart paper they wrote on in the beginning of class
Next Steps
Towards the end of the unit plan, students will also have a guest
speaker who is either from an Indigenous or Immigrant
background. The guest speaker will present his/her experiences
within living in an unequal or unjust society, struggling with the
inequalities mentioned throughout the unit. This will provide a
first hand, authentic and real account story telling experience for
students to learn from and relate to.
Here, parents of students are encouraged to volunteer
Through the use of the online Gapfinder and Towards the end of the unit, and throughout
The Atlas for Global Inequalities, students will upcoming lesson plans, students will be
have the opportunity to explore issues relating introduced ways to make a change both in their
to inequalities regarding to social, health, local community and global community
political, education, economic, power, and (volunteering, donating, raising awareness,
access fundraising, charity, and ultimately creating
their own initiatives)
Students are to also refer to videos and their
families as a resource to their research and With this, students will be planned a field trip
understand social and political issues from to volunteer within the local community to
different standpoint help with those in need and gain a deeper
insight to what first hand experiences of
The field trip planned to a soup kitchen or inequality may look and feel like. This is
homeless shelter will give students a carried through with the idea to plan a field trip
perspective into issues that not only surround at a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter
the community but also within our political
system. Students will be exposed to Students will also be given the opportunity to
storytelling, first-hand experience and diverse fundraise through bake sales and planning
opinions about our social and political system events as a way to donate to non-profit
that will enforce inquiry based thinking. organizations. Collecting canned goods and
clothing is also an initiative students can
Having student understand the social and
© 2014 Antonino Giambrone, Salima Kassam, Vidya Shah
Adapted from: Differentiated Instruction Teaching/Learning Examples 2009 – Template for Writers. Ontario Ministry of Education, Student Success/Learning to 18 Implementation,
Training and Evaluation Branch
political issues globally through their research participate in if attending the field trip is
and ultimately applying their knowledge to the unavailable to them.
local community and Canada’s political and
social system.
Reflection
This assignment has provided me with an opportunity to think inclusively and differently in regards to
social justice and equity, and has encouraged me to integrate this knowledge within my teachable subject area
geography. As a result, I had made this lesson focused primarily on the grade 8 strand, Global Inequalities:
Economic Development and Quality of Life. Throughout this strand, the overall expectations and specific
expectations address social justice and equity by targeting issues of social, economic, health and education
© 2014 Antonino Giambrone, Salima Kassam, Vidya Shah
Adapted from: Differentiated Instruction Teaching/Learning Examples 2009 – Template for Writers. Ontario Ministry of Education, Student Success/Learning to 18 Implementation,
Training and Evaluation Branch
inequities around the world. In order to demonstrate teaching for social justice and equity, I decided to
introduce this topic in a way that engages students and consider students perspectives in regards to global
inequalities, as well as provide resources that are accessible online and within text.
Throughout the lesson, students will be able to broaden their perspective with these injustices through
the online program, Gapminder, and written text, The Atlas of Global Inequalities. They will be able to
independently and collaboratively explore nations and countries around the globe that lack opportunities and
resources to live a high quality of life, and see the reasons and consequences behind these inequalities. By
exploring multiple global places, students will be able to not only compare the differences between developing
and developed countries and understand the reason for these differences, but they will also be able to culturally
relate with the research that is being done. Exploring multiple places also considers exploring multiple cultures,
the resources that are available to only some, few and many, and a perspective into our student’s experiences or
family experiences. It exposes students to the reality of the situation and enables students to recognize the
privileges and barriers that exist, which may help remove some unconscious biases present in students. By
implementing a service learning (volunteering at a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter) and a philanthropic event
(fundraising and charity work), students will come to understand the steps that they could take, initiatives they
could run, and activities they can partake in to act against social injustices, and support inequalities that exist
within our own local community. Here, students will not only learn about the inequalities that exist worldwide,
but also apply it to the inequalities that they recognize in their local community. They will learn about the
actions they could take on a local level, and potentially pursue those actions onto a global level. It is in this
opportunity that culturally sustaining pedagogy is being implemented throughout the unit as it pushes students
to think about these issues presently and taking action in the future (Paris, 2010). This multicultural and
multinational exploration alone encourages students to think cross culturally and investigate countries that are
not related to their own identities. As a result, it broadens the cultural perspective of global inequalities in
respect to poverty and access to resources (Paris, 2010).
Reflecting back on the lesson plan, there are a few areas that I would modify and re-do to incorporate
more social justice and equity. For instance, the minds on component could be more engaging to students by
introducing a video that touches on poverty in the world, and asking students to create a mind map based on
their own knowledge and their response to the video. Furthermore, Aboriginal or Indigenous education could be
more integrated within the lesson plan as an example to inequalities and poverty. It is an important issue to
address within our local Canadian community and can serve as an extension of a history lesson for grade 8
classrooms. Moreover, the lesson can also work more to include the narratives of student experiences and their
family cultural experiences to better understand quality of life issues outside the classroom, across diverse
situations. It is an additional resource for students to refer to when understanding the realities of global
inequalities. Overall, by introducing these alternative narratives and cultural consideration, it accommodates for
multicultural education in regards to the dimension of ‘content integration’. (Banks, 2010). More importantly, it
promotes an equitable pedagogy to which student’s culture and experiences are considered as relevant resources
and significant roles to understanding inequalities and poverty across the globe (Banks, 2010).
As important role models and mentors to our students, I do encourage all future educators to first and
foremost understand their student’s culture, experiences, and ethnic background before implementing what one
might believe as ‘good teaching’. Such understanding will be reflected upon the diverse resources used, the use
of inclusive language within the lesson, enforcing culturally sustaining pedagogies, and the execution of
‘learning outside the classroom’. Teachers must be actively engaged within the lesson and build upon student
knowledge during their learning, and after their learning. Furthermore, teachers must educate themselves around
the existing social justice frameworks in order to effectively teach their students. Demonstrating the ability to
understand the social justice frameworks and incorporating it within student learning will help students better
grasp and understand subject areas through the social justice and equity lens. Ultimately, I believe that it is most
important to understand students socially, culturally and emotionally. Teachers can then take this level of
understanding and use it as a base for teaching cross culturally, disrupting stereotypes and assumptions, and
making connections between student and authentic learning.
from http://library.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/toc/ze_2006_372.pdf
Gorski, P. (2008). The myth of the culture of poverty. Educational Leadership, 65(7). Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr08/vol65/num07/The-Myth-of-the-Culture-
of-Poverty.aspx