Daily Lesson Plan

A. Deelstra

Subject
Grade
Social Studies / Language
6
Lesson Topic
Date
What is Poverty? Investigating and
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Comparing Poverty Around the
World.
Curriculum Expectations
B2.1 formulate questions to guide investigations into global issues of political,
social, economic, and/or environmental importance
B2.2 gather and organize information on global issues of political, social,
economic, and/or environmental importance, including their impact and
responses to them, using a variety of resources and various technologies
B2.6 communicate the results of their inquiries, using appropriate vocabulary
B3.3 describe several groups or organizations through which Canada and
Canadians are involved in global issues
Learning Goals
By the end of the lesson students will...
Have a better understanding of what poverty is
Recognize the different manifestations of poverty around the world
Have an increased awareness of the poverty that does exist in first-world
countries
Begin to develop a comprehensive definition of poverty
Success Criteria
I can write a definition of what poverty is.
I recognize that there is poverty and inequality around the world, including
Canada.
I can begin to understand what life might look like for someone in poverty.
I can empathize with young people who live in poverty.
I ask questions about why there is poverty and what can be done to fix these
problems.
Teaching Materials:
Blank paper legal sized (1 per group of students)
Jigsaw groupings (on SmartBoard)
Jigsaw readings
Reading response questions
Presentation Steps:
Time
a) Intro. (Motivation, Recall)
1 min
Handout a legal sized piece of paper with poverty written in
the middle. Give them 1 minute to do a quick-write and write
down whatever comes to mind when they think of poverty
they can look at each others thoughts and build off them, but
should remain silent
2 min
Show video stir their thoughts a bit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
2 min
time_continue=140&v=KklQTjXW-l8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21v6b43j87E\ - back-up

video in case words too small

1 min
Ask students to add anything new to their papers after watching 3 min
the video. Share and discuss some of the things that came to
mind.
Ask the students to try to come up with a definition of poverty.
1 min
(it will be difficult and unclear at this point) be sure to write
that definition down
Show students the assorted pictures on the SmartBoard
notebook. Ask: what do you see in this picture? What country do 20 min
you think this is? Would you consider this poverty? Why or why
not?
Explain to the students the definition of poverty in many places
is rooted in inequality. There is also poverty (and inequality) in
Canada, though we might typically think of 3 rd world countries
15 min
first.
b) Sequence of presentation/Activities
1. Jigsaw Groupings Expert Groups (Lettered groups)
In pre-determined lettered groups, students will receive a
short personal account of a young person living in poverty
5 min
somewhere in the world.
In the lettered groups, students will read the account, and
answer the following questions on the provided paper.
2. Jigsaw Groupings Sharing/Teaching Groups (Numbered groups)
Students will divide into the pre-determined numbered groups
in which they will share the information about the child in their
story with the others
In the sharing/teaching groups, the students will discuss the
similarities and differences in their stories and how poverty
manifests itself in the lives of these children
3. Consolidation and discussion
Can we build on our original definition of poverty? How can
poverty look different around the world? What does poverty look
like in Canada?
Exit card: What is poverty? What could it look like or include?
o Each student will receive an exit ticket on which they will
be required to write a definition of what poverty is.
Assessment
a) Assessment-for-Learning
o Quick-write: at the beginning of the lesson students will brainstorm
about poverty. This will serve as a good assessment of what their
current thinking is concerning poverty.
o Anecdotal notes: while students are working in their expert and sharing
groups circulate the room and observe their interactions with each
other.
b) Assessment-of-Learning
o Exit ticket: Each student will receive an exit ticket on which they will
be required to write a definition of what poverty is.
Assignments:


Extra

Students will complete a number of questions concerning their readings from

the expert groups.
Time:
Possible extension if time: Show students the photo journal about poverty in
America: http://billmoyers.com/2015/01/30/witnesses-hunger-photoslideshow/
o Have the students chose one or more of the photos and excerpts from
the website and so some creative writing in the form of a diary,
recount or letter from the perspective of one of the youths pictured in
these situations
Use a consequences wheel to support critical thinking about the potential
consequences of some of the previously-identified inequality issues on the
lives of the featured young people, for example not being able to go to
school.
As a class discuss some potential reasons for inequality and answers to the
question of why poverty?

Accommodations:

The jigsaw groupings have been arranged so as to accommodate the

students with exceptionalities. The groups have been made according to
readiness and student ability.
The three girls on IEPs reading at a grade 3 level, will receive the stories with
colour coded connections to the answers on the summary sheet to help them
follow along and know where to find answers and information.

Reflection on Standards of Practice

Abigail Deelstra
Artefact: Grade 6 Social Studies Lesson Plan: What is Poverty? Investigating and
Comparing Poverty Around the World. *see email attachment*
Commitment to Students and Student Learning
One of the five Standards of Practice of the OCT is Commitment to Students
and Student Learning. This is listed as the first standard and it is perhaps the
fundamental, cornerstone one on which all the others build on and depend upon.
Teaching is, after all, all about the students. Having a commitment to students and
student learning goes beyond simply caring for your students and treating them
fairly. The OCT describes that this standard also includes a responsibility of the
teacher to facilitate the development of students as contributing citizens of
Canadian society. In light of that, I believe that this standard is intentionally futureoriented. For me in my professional practice, I want to encourage students to be the
best they can be, learning for today. However, I also want them to be learning for
the future and recognizing how their knowledge and skills will translate to other
areas of life including active citizenship.

Teaching social studies at my placement in a grade six class, I have an

awesome opportunity to teach students about active citizenship and care and
compassion for others. In the Canada and the World stream, a few key learning
goals of the curriculum include having students formulate questions about
important social and world issues, propose answers and solutions to these
problems, and recognize the important contributions of Canadian individuals and
organizations on the world stage. No doubt, the overarching big understanding for
students in this unit, is that they can in fact make a difference and be positive
contributors to change. That is something that I really have been trying to drive
home in my social studies unit, which is distinctly inquiry based in nature, and
largely shaped and guided in direction by student interest and questions.
Intentionally, from the beginning of developing my social studies unit, I knew I didnt
just want to teach the students about global issues and inequality, but I hoped they
would respond with deep concern and action. In shaping both this lesson and the
unit, I also kept in mind the fact that commitment to students and student learning
means providing materials, instruction, and learning strategies that are sensitive to
student differences and meet students needs.
The artefact I have attached is a lesson that I developed as part of the
poverty and inequality strand of my grade six social studies unit. The lesson
embodies commitment to students and student learning as it encourages students
not simply to learn about poverty around the world, but also to develop empathy,
concern, and ask questions of why? and what can be done?
This artefact and the lesson that came out of it, also embodied this standard
of practice at a different level. The lesson was intentionally differentiated by student
readiness and reading ability and additional accommodations were provided for the
three students who are on IEPs. Commitment to students and student learning also
includes being sensitive to student diversity including in learning styles and ability.
Creating affective instruction that meets all students where they are, is also another
fundamental aspect of this standard of practice, and one that I am dedicated to
providing for my students going ahead in my professional career as an educator.