Name: Amanda Berg
Title: Raising Our Voices
Time Needed: Several 30 min class periods
Subject Area/Topic: Social Studies-Food Justice
Grade Level: 3rd
Essential Questions of Unit:
Guiding Questions of Lesson:
Materials:
-chart paper
-markers
-a copy of the United States Bill of Rights
MMSD Curriculum Standards Connections:
Grade 3 Content Focus: Madison & Communities Around the World
Political Science & Citizenship
1.Define the roles, duties, and responsibilities of school/local community government.
4.Recognize and interpret how the “common good” can be strengthened through various forms of citizen action
Economics
1.Describe the ways people participate in the community in order to provide goods and services whether through paid or volunteer activities
2.Recognize systems that are developed to meet specific community needs: government, transportation, education, communications.
Behavioral Science
3.Demonstrate respect and responsibility for self, others, and property
9.Recognize the commonalities of global cultures
NCSS Standards Connections:
NCSS Standard 1: People, Places, and Environment
NCSS Standard 6: Power, Authority, and Governance
NCSS Standard 7: Production, Distribution, and Consumption
NCSS Standard 10: Civic Ideals and Practices
Elementary Education Standards Connections:
Standard 6: Connects school and community
Standard 8: Employs varied assessment processes
Lesson Objectives:
Lesson Context:
Lesson Opening:
Procedural Steps:
Lesson Closure:
Assessment Strategies:
Lesson Assessment:
Unit Summative Assessment:
Title: Raising Our Voices
Time Needed: Several 30 min class periods
Subject Area/Topic: Social Studies-Food Justice
Grade Level: 3rd
Essential Questions of Unit:
- What is the relationship between privilege, poverty, and consumption?
- What are the implications of access to nutritious food for a community?
- How do we as students become involved in the food justice movement?
Guiding Questions of Lesson:
- What do we believe are equitable food practices?
- Where do we fit in with this movement?
Materials:
-chart paper
-markers
-a copy of the United States Bill of Rights
MMSD Curriculum Standards Connections:
Grade 3 Content Focus: Madison & Communities Around the World
Political Science & Citizenship
1.Define the roles, duties, and responsibilities of school/local community government.
4.Recognize and interpret how the “common good” can be strengthened through various forms of citizen action
Economics
1.Describe the ways people participate in the community in order to provide goods and services whether through paid or volunteer activities
2.Recognize systems that are developed to meet specific community needs: government, transportation, education, communications.
Behavioral Science
3.Demonstrate respect and responsibility for self, others, and property
9.Recognize the commonalities of global cultures
NCSS Standards Connections:
NCSS Standard 1: People, Places, and Environment
NCSS Standard 6: Power, Authority, and Governance
NCSS Standard 7: Production, Distribution, and Consumption
NCSS Standard 10: Civic Ideals and Practices
Elementary Education Standards Connections:
Standard 6: Connects school and community
Standard 8: Employs varied assessment processes
Lesson Objectives:
- Students will be able to verbalize that a bill of rights is a statement of rights that all people are guaranteed.
- Students will be able to reflect upon what they have learned in our unit
- Students will be able to craft statements of beliefs they have about food justice as a result of this unit
- Students will be able to, with a group of students, develop a plan of action to participate in the food justice movement for our class and propose it to their peers
Lesson Context:
- This is the culminating lesson in our unit exploring food justice. Students will have already examined where food comes from, the distance food travels from the farm to the table, calculated food miles, and recognized where food can be obtained. Students will then have examined the relationship between privilege and consumption through looking at how both income and location can influence an individual’s access to nutritious food. Students will also have done research projects on organizations both local and nation-wide that have taken on the issue of food justice and are working to make our food systems more equitable. Students will have been able to ask questions of our guest from the REAP program and will hopefully have begun to formulate their own believes about food equity.
Lesson Opening:
- To begin the lesson, I will ask students if they have heard of a bill of rights. I anticipate many students will mention the United States Bill of Rights, in which case I will read a few amendments and then ask my students if they know the purpose of a bill of rights. I will pause for responses.
Procedural Steps:
- The students and I will already have explored the meaning of a bill of rights. We will then engage in conversation reflecting upon what we have learned so far and how our beliefs about equity and justice and their relationship to food and access have either been strengthened or changed.
- We will then work together as a class to come up with a list of what we believe about the production, distribution, and consumption of food and how that relates to communities, access, and nutrition.
- Students will then work in pairs to construct one statement of belief that they will add to our class Food Justice Bill of Rights.
- As students are deciding on and sharing their statements of belief, I will be writing each pairs statement on a piece of chart paper that will later be hung in our room.
- Students will then be split into groups of three. I will pose the question- now that we have become advocates of food justice, what is our next step to become social activists and get ourselves involved in this movement?
- In their groups, students will be expected to devise a way that our class can become actively involved in the food justice movement. Each group will come up with an idea based on resources we have learned about and connections we have made, and they will run their idea and what they think the class’s role would be by me before sharing.
- After each group has their plan, groups will propose their idea to the whole group. Groups will share what their idea is, how long the proposal would take, and the role of our class. After each group has presented, we will make a list on the board of the pros and cons of each proposal. We will first try to come to a consensus about which proposal would be the most feasible and appealing for us. The class will vote on which proposal is the most appealing, and then as a class we will plan and delegate how to become involved! We will keep a journal throughout our involvement and determine a way to present our project to others.
Lesson Closure:
- I will end the lesson by showing students their original journal entries from the beginning of the unit when I first asked them what food justice was and what they thoughts were regarding food and who has access to good, nutritious food. Students will write an additional journal entry reflecting on how their thinking has changed since that first entry.
Assessment Strategies:
Lesson Assessment:
- The assessment for this lesson will come from the statements students construct that they add to our class food bill of rights. I will be assessing these statements to see if they reflect the level of thought, reflection, and learning that has occurred over the course of the unit. I will also be assessing students’ second journal at the end of the unit in conjunction with their first journal to determine the depth of reflection students are capable of.
Unit Summative Assessment:
- The summative assessment for the unit will authentically come out of the work done throughout the unit and culminating in this lesson, where we developed our own food justice bill of rights. In order to demonstrate what they have learned about the factors that contribute to food justice and the relationship between and equity and access, students in groups will be developing their own social action project which would help our class become involved in the food justice movement. Students will be crafting proposals and presenting these proposals to their peers. In an effort to create a democratic climate in our classroom, we will first weigh the pros and cons of each proposal and try and come to a consensus as to which project our class will take on. Ultimately, if we cannot come to a consensus, we will take a vote and perhaps attempt some of the other projects at a later date. Students will maintain journals throughout the course of our project and craft a way of presenting to other people what we did and why.