Susan+Pendleton

Susan Pendleton Unit Plan


 * HOMELESSNESS **

Homelessness is something that plagues the streets of cities all across the Unites States. It prowls looking for its’ next victim. It grows and feeds on people that are considered to be “weak” or “gullible.” Many people notice this disaster in the streets, but don’t know how to beg for a help that will cure its’ condition. It’s hard to know what exactly the condition is, why it happened, and how it could be fixed. That is why it is so important for students to be educated about the very thing that threatens living comfortably, the idea of living in poverty.
 * A little about the unit topic **

Homelessness does not just mean you are poor, but it means that you are so poor that you cannot take care of yourself or your family through your own income. This means that people who are homeless have to find other ways to live. Maybe they will steal, deal drugs, sell their bodies, beg on the streets, or even commit murder in order to put a roof over their heads and eat. Knowing what to do about something as vial as homelessness, is what the government continues to argue about. People wonder if there is such thing as an appropriate intervention.

This unit is designed for a 9th grade class. The unit will provide a corner stone of realization about people who are homeless and the effects of this growing issue in the United States. Students will be introduced to the idea of creating shelters, with volunteer programs to help keep people off the streets. The idea of giving the homeless hope is something we need to fight for. Knowledge will be demonstrated through literature, speakers, videos, and student writing. If more people are aware of the dangers of poverty, then maybe they can create the intervention that is needed so much in all of these desperate cities.


 * __THE GOAL:__** The goal of this unit is to inform students about the increasing problem of homelessness, and create student citizens that can change the world one newly created homeless shelter at a time.

-Students will understand more about poverty and how it affects society. -Students will be able to represent their understanding of ideas discussed in literature, videos, lectures, and visual aids through multiple means of representation. -Students will use what they learned about homeless shelters, to come up with a plan about how to build a homeless shelter. -Students will thoughtfully represent their understanding about homelessness and the change the world project, by writing a final paper that expresses their knowledge gained over the course of the unit.
 * __Unit Objectives__**

-America’s Broken Dreams- [] -The Line- __[]__ -Short video about creating a non-profit homeless shelter. __ [] __
 * __Reading, Research, and Activites for students during unit__**
 * - Videos: **

-“A Roof Over My Head” by Jean Williams -“Kidwatching in Josie’s World” by Neva Medcalf -“Housing The Homeless” by Jon Karl Erickson -“Shelter: One Man’s Journey From Homelessness To Hope” by Bobby Burns
 * -Books: **

-Free writing about poverty. -Multiple worksheets that call for critical analysis of videos and lectures. -poem about poverty. -Reflective paper about building shelter. -Writing interview questions. -Creating a comic and explaining it through discussion. -Narrative about feeling hungry. -Creating skit. -Journal entries. -Final 5 page paper about poverty using different materials explored through the entire unit. -Letter to the mayor.
 * Writing Assignments: **

__** Common Core Standards addressed in this unit: **__ -Analyze a case in which the author’s work takes a position or stance on a social issue or other topic and describe how the author carries out that purpose. -Cite evidence in the text that most strongly supports a specific analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. -Write informative /explanatory text. -Write narratives in which they: a. Engage the reader by establishing a problem, situation, or observation and purposefully organize a progression of events or experiences.


 * Week 1 **


 * Monday: **

-This day is going to be an introduction to the unit, and the teacher will review the class syllabus with the students and discuss expectations.

-Students will begin a free write for the remaining time in class. The topic of the free write will be what students think poverty is and who lives in those circumstances. Free write will need to be at least 200 words in length.

-Teacher also needs to go to the library and order multiple copies of the four books students will need for a writing assignment later in the unit.


 * Tuesday: **

-Students will be broken up into groups of 3 or 4. They will discuss what they think poverty is and the people that live in those situations for 10 minutes.

-Students will then watch a 45 minute video about families that live in poverty. This video will give students a good look at people who live in those conditions and why they have to live in poverty. media type="youtube" key="kV4grZ_Lw5s?rel=0" width="560" height="315"

-Students will need to answer questions on a worksheet handed out during the video. The questions will be explored in the video. See worksheet:


 * Wednesday: **

-Teacher will walk around to make sure students answered the worksheet, and an open discussion of the video will then take place addressing each question that is on the worksheet. Open discussion will last 20 minutes or longer if inspiration dictates.

-Students will be asked to brainstorm about a time in their life when they experienced hunger, like those in the video. The teacher will stress the issue of living conditions and the problem of not having enough money to feed your family as being the reason for hunger. Brainstorming will last 5-10 minutes.

-Students will write then be asked to write a narrative about a time they felt hungry. They will be asked to explain what happened and how the experience made them feel. They will explain how their body felt and effects they saw from not eating. Their writing will continue for the rest of the class period.


 * Thursday: **

-Students will continue to write their narrative for the whole class period. The will be encouraged to conference with each other and give each other ideas in designated corners of the classroom. Those conferences can only be 5 minutes in length, so other students can conference if they need to.

-Student narrative is due today. Papers will be collected as soon as class begins.
 * Friday: **

-A tea party will be held for literature on poverty. See assignment description here:

-Assignment will be discussed verbally in class. The teacher will explain the books more in depth and tell students to pick one of the four books offered to read for a paper assignment. Students will be responsible for choosing their book on a sign up list by the end of the class. The teacher will get the number of books needed for each student from the library.

-An article will be handed out 10 minutes before the end of class so students have those remaining 10 minutes to ask questions about the assignment being given for the weekend. Students will need to read the short article and answer a few questions on an assignment work sheet. The article and worksheet must be completed for class on Monday. See assignment worksheet here: [|See article here:]


 * Week 2 **


 * Monday: **

-Class will start class with a 6 minute free write about what they learned from the article assigned to be read over the weekend.

-An interesting list of myths and realities about poverty will be read aloud during class. Students will take turns reading the myths and realities popcorn style. This should only take 5- 10 minutes to complete. [|Click here for list of myths:]

-The students will watch a video for the remainder of the class period. The video is called “The Line.” During the video, students will look for the myths we read about being discussed in the video. They will explain which myths they saw and 4 interesting things they heard in the video. media type="youtube" key="zZxjb4gB93A?rel=0" width="560" height="315"

-Homework for Tuesday will be an original poem about poverty. Student ideas for the poem can be from anything we read or saw, or from a personal experience they witnessed.

-Books for students to read will be distributed to students based off of what they signed up to read. Students will be told to start reading their book and if they don’t like it, they must trade it for another book on the list to later than Wednesday.

-Students will be asked to get into a circle so we can take turns sharing our poems in front of the class. Students will raise their hands if they have something nice to say about the author’s poem.
 * Tuesday: **

-For the rest of the class period, students will find somewhere in the class to read after instructions for the reading activity are given. The instructions include behavior expectations and that the students need to take notes during their reading of different times they see poverty in their book. Students will be encouraged to write down page numbers that demonstrate examples of poverty, so they can refer to those pages at a later time.

-Teacher will tell students that their homework is to continue reading their book and elaborate about the notes they took during class. These notes will be created by students throughout the whole book. Students will also be aware that half their book must be read by Friday.


 * Wednesday: **

-Last day to trade in book of choice for a new book of choice.

-The class will have a guest speaker that will talk about the benefits of homeless shelters. The presentation will last the whole class period. The guest speaker’s name is Cheryl. She is from the organization Shelter network. She will explain her struggles going through poverty and how a shelter changed her life. The guest speaker will take any questions from students at the end of her presentation.

-Students will create a one or two picture comic strip showing benefits they heard homeless shelters provide. They will have a lot of ideas about benefits based off of what they heard from the guest speaker on Wednesday.
 * Thursday: **

-Comics will be worked on for 40 minutes and then shared in small groups of 3 or 4.

-Homework for Friday is to finish half of their book about poverty.


 * Friday: **

-Students will create a list of interview questions about how to create a homeless shelter. They will brainstorm the answers to those questions.

-Students will then watch a short 5 minute video about the basics of opening a non-profit homeless shelter. __ [] __

media type="youtube" key="sZ2FwjjOYuk?rel=0" width="560" height="315"

-For the rest of the class period, students will write about what they could do to help create a homeless shelter. Their journal entry will include how to get people in the community involved.

-Homework for Monday is for students to complete their journal entry if they haven’t during class, and they will continue reading their book. Books must be finished by Tuesday.


 * Week 3 **


 * Monday: **

-Students will get into a circle and explain how they can contribute to creating a homeless shelter. Students will be made aware of the fact that their ideas will be put into practice. They will help build a homeless shelter.

-For the rest of the class period students will write about how the book they are reading is helping them think about homeless shelters. What ideas are they getting about where or how to create a homeless shelter based off of the conditions of the homeless people in the book they are reading.


 * Tuesday: **

-Students must be done with their book by today.

-Students will be broken up into different groups based off of the book they chose to read for the class. There will at least be 2 people for each group because at least 2 people read each book. If there was a situation where only one student read a certain book, that student will be asked to join a group so they can participate in the next activity.

-After students are broken up into groups, they will be asked to create a skit about one scene they saw in their book that shows poverty. Skits will be presented on Thursday in front of the class.


 * Wednesday: **

-Students will work on their skits the whole class period. They will be encouraged to practice and create props.


 * Thursday: **

-Skits will be presented in front of the class. Skits will be randomly selected for the order they present, unless students volunteer to go first.

-Handouts for poverty paper will be given to the class and discussed verbally. Questions will be answered before the class finishes. __See assignment handout here:__


 * Friday: **

-Students will continue to write their poverty paper the whole class period.

-Homework for Monday is to have their poverty paper done.


 * Week 4 **


 * Monday: **

-Poverty paper is due.

-Teacher will discuss field trip expectations when students go to visit a shelter tomorrow.

-Students will be broken up into groups write down different ideas of what they think they will see at the shelter.

-After groups create a list of ideas, the class will discuss together what they wrote on their lists.


 * Tuesday: **

-Field trip to the FESCO family homeless shelter.__ [|See the link here:] __


 * Wednesday: **

-A representative from FESCO family homeless shelter will come into class and answer questions about what we saw on Tuesday at one of their shelter locations. That representative will help us come up with a plan to create a homeless shelter in our own neighborhood.

-Students will be broken up into different groups for this change the world project. One group will go around their community with an adult informing neighbors about the need for a homeless shelter in their neighborhood. They will also accept donations of any kind for our shelter. Another group will work with the representative at FESCO and find a property that we can rent and change into a homeless shelter. They will work with the representative to find people to sponsor the shelter, paying for the rent of the building. One group will collect canned goods from people and create bake sales to raise money for supplies the shelter will need. The last group will create flyers and hand them out to neighbors encouraging them to volunteer to work at the shelter at different times.

-After students are broken in 4 groups, they will brainstorm about what their group will start to do by Friday. Parents will be informed of this project by email and encouraged to tell their friends and become involved with their children. Parent involvement will help show the students that this issue is important.


 * Thursday: **

-Students will work on their projects for the whole class period. They will take what they do in our class and get the community involved after school.


 * Friday: **

-Students will discuss progress they have made so far in their groups and what they plan to do next. The representative from FESCO will tell us our budget for creating the shelter.

-The students will plan to be apart of the construction of the shelter on Saturday morning.


 * Saturday: **

-Students, parents, representatives from FESCO, and the community will all volunteer to paint and move in donated furniture to the rented non-profit homeless shelter. Their hard work will conclude Saturday evening by there being a ready to go homeless shelter.


 * Week 5: **


 * Monday: **

-Students will write for the whole class period a 2 page reflection about their experience with creating the shelter on Saturday. They will explain what their work will help do for homeless people. They will talk about general feelings about being part of the creation process.

-Reflection will be due Tuesday.


 * Tuesday: **

-Reflection paper due.

-Representative from FESCO will show their website including our new shelter location. There will be a short speech given by the representative about all the great work the students have done to create the shelter. Students will continue to spread awareness to their community by writing letters to the mayor, asking for the mayor to support the shelter by creating stories in local newspapers about how the community can continue to support the shelter or volunteer at the shelter.

-Student letters will be due Wednesday and personally delivered by a trusted adult to the office of the mayor.


 * Wednesday: **

-Student letters are due.

-Final assignment will be discussed for this unit. Students will write a 5 page paper about how they used what they learned about poverty to contribute to the creation of the homeless shelter. Students will be asked to give references from their books and other sources used during the unit. Students already have a list of notes and page numbers from their books that they created while reading them, so that will help facilitate their writing of the final paper.

-Students will spend the rest of their time in class brainstorming about the things they will talk about in their paper.


 * Thursday: **

-Students will work on their final paper the whole class period.


 * Friday: **

-Students will work on their final paper the whole class period.

-Homework is for students to finish their paper for Monday when they start a new unit.

-Exit slip: Students must write 1 thing they will do to continue to support the newly created homeless shelter after the unit is finished.

__** The homeless shelter:After the unit **__
 * The homeless shelter will continue to be supported by students, volunteers in the community, the mayor’s resources, and independent sponsors. The neighborhood will be grateful that people will not have to live on the street and that they will have food to eat because of the generosity of the community. In the near future, new classes will brainstorm with representatives from FESCO about different social programs that they can create in the shelter that will allow homeless people to find employment or get an education. That will be an exciting unit for the next class. **