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Social Justice & Civic Engagement (MSOE)

By dlyoung12
Grade Level
K-2 3-5 6-8
private
LEARNING PLAN
Essential Question
  • What groups do I belong to?
  • What are my identities?
  • How do I see myself? Is it the same way others see me?
  • What identities do I share with my family? What identities do I have that are different from my family?
  • How do people show that they are proud of themselves?
  • Does my identity mean I get to do things other kids can’t, or keep me from doing something?
  • What rights do I have?
  • Do all people have the same rights?
  • How am I the same as other people? How am I different from other people?
  • Are people all the same?
  • What are the differences between how I live and how others live?
  • How can I learn more about other people?
  • How can I show people I like them?
  • Can people who share my identity still be different from me?
  • Do different people feel the same way?
  • Does everyone have the same rights?
  • Does everyone belong to the same groups?
  • What does it mean to be unfair? In class? In school? At home? In my community? In the world?
  • How do I know when people are being treated unfairly?
  • How does unfairness make me feel?
  • How have people been treated unfairly in the past?
  • How have people stopped unfairness in the past?
  • Does the way a person looks make it okay for others to be mean?
  • When something is unfair does it affect everyone the same way?
  • If a person is in charge, does that mean they can do anything?
  • Who decides what is fair?
  • How can I be kind to all people?
  • What can I do to make things fair?
  • How do I speak up when I see people treated unfairly?
  • Why is it scary to speak up sometimes?
  • How can many people speak up together when people are treated unfairly?
  • How can I make the world, my class, my street, a better place?
  • What steps can we take to make something better?
  • When will I stand up for others?
  • What are group identities and how do they describe me? Others?
  • What has happened throughout history to people like me?
  • How do I get to know others and allow others to get to know all of me?
  • What does it mean to feel good about myself and how can I express that I like who I am?
  • How can I be proud of who I am and celebrate others?
  • How do I benefit from my identities?
  • How do I change because I’m part of different groups?
  • What privileges do I have that others don’t?
  • Do all people have the same rights?
  • How can I describe and compare my group identities with those of other people?
  • How can I describe ways people are different from me?
  • Can words about identity hurt people?
  • How can I ask people about their lives and experiences in a respectful, kind and understanding way?
  • How can I live, work and play with others when we have differences?
  • Why is history important? Does it affect how people live today?
  • What does it mean to be human?
  • Is it better to do a project with people who are different from each other or with people who are more alike?
  • What privileges are available for certain groups of people but not for others?
  • How are we members of groups but also individuals?
  • What clues help me know when and how people are being treated unfairly?
  • What advantages or disadvantages do I notice because of identity groups?
  • How is my life easier or more difficult based on who I am and where I was born?
  • What contributions have people made to justice and fairness historically?
  • When is a person’s humanity denied?
  • How do people judge my group?
Texts
Informational

Always Running

In this excerpt from his memoir, Rodriguez provides a stirring recollection from his adolescence: the first time he experienced racism as a result of being an immigrant in America. As he says, the experience "stays with [him] like a foul odor."
by
Luis J. Rodriguez
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
Topic
Class Immigration
Social Justice Domain
Identity Justice
July 2, 2014
Literature

Rose Blanche

During World War II, a young German girl, Rose Blanche, inadvertently discovers a concentration camp not far from her town. She travels there frequently, taking food to the children on the other side of the barbed wire and meets a haunted fate the day she discovers the camp is gone.
by
Roberto Innocenti and Christophe Gallaz
Grade Level
3-5
Subject
Civics
History
Geography
Topic
Religion
Social Justice Domain
Justice Action
July 2, 2014
Literature

The Skin I'm In (Chapter 3)

Maleeka gets made fun of at school about her clothes, her grades, even the color of her skin. In this chapter, she talks about getting teased on a school trip and how even her friend Char was ashamed to be seen with her because of her clothes.
by
Sharon Flake
Grade Level
3-5 6-8
Social Justice Domain
Justice
July 3, 2014
Literature

The Skin I'm In (Chapter 4)

Maleeka gets made fun of at school about her clothes, her grades, even the color of her skin. In this chapter, one of her teachers, with white blotches on her face, shows how she's been able to accept the skin she's in.
by
Sharon Flake
Grade Level
6-8
Social Justice Domain
Identity Justice
July 3, 2014
Informational

Danger on my Doorstep

Linda Schubert recounts the fear that consumed her Jewish family living in Nazi-Germany in the late 1930s. Each family member endured individual stress and anxiety, but each also contributed to the family's greater good of the family.
by
Linda Schubert
Grade Level
6-8
Subject
History
Geography
Topic
Religion
Social Justice Domain
Identity Justice
July 7, 2014
Literature

Raised By Women

In her poem, Kelly Norman Ellis brings to life a vivid picture of the kind of women she was surrounded and brought up by during her childhood in Mississippi. The poem's speaker takes you down south and makes you feel like a guest at the kitchen table by way of her descriptions.
by
Kelly Norman Ellis
Grade Level
6-8
Topic
Gender & Sexual Identity
Social Justice Domain
Identity
January 5, 2015
Literature

The Fog Machine

This excerpt focuses on the lives of African American students during Freedom Summer. After reading Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech in class in 1963, students in main character C.J.'s school are asked to share their dreams at an assembly.
by
Susan Follett
Grade Level
6-8
Subject
Civics
History
Topic
Civil Rights Movement
Social Justice Domain
Identity Diversity Justice Action
June 9, 2015
Literature

Becoming Joey

This poem, told by a third-person omniscient narrator, paints a picture of José, an immigrant student who carries the burden of being from the “borderlands.”
by
Paul C. Gorski
Grade Level
6-8
Topic
Class
Social Justice Domain
Diversity Justice
October 29, 2015
Literature

A Place Where Sunflowers Grow

Mari and her family have been sent to an internment camp in Utah. She does not understand what they have done to deserve their internment and longs for her backyard in California where she used to grow sunflowers.
by
Amy Lee-Tai and Felicia Hoshino (illustrator)
Grade Level
3-5
Subject
History
Social Justice Domain
Identity Diversity Justice Action
April 7, 2016
Literature

A Slave Auction

Solomon Northup was kidnapped and sold into slavery for 12 years before he was freed. This excerpt from his memoir of those years, Twelve Years A Slave, details a New Orleans slave auction.
by
Solomon Northup
Grade Level
6-8
Subject
History
Economics
Social Justice Domain
Justice
April 27, 2016
Informational

Street Justice

The distrust between the Jewish community and African-American community in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in the 1990s reached an all-time high when a runaway car struck two children.
by
Jim Carnes
Grade Level
6-8
Subject
History
Topic
Religion Immigration
Social Justice Domain
Identity Action
May 22, 2017
Informational

The Power of Language

In this essay, the author identifies vague terminology used by the United States government during World War II to describe their actions toward Japanese Americans and outlines terms that would more appropriately describe the government's actions.
by
Learning for Justice Staff
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
Subject
Civics
History
Social Justice Domain
Diversity Justice
April 28, 2016
Informational

Si Se Puede

“In response to legislation that would have criminalized immigrants, thousands of high school students from across the country walked out of their classrooms and into history.”
by
Learning for Justice Staff
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
Subject
Civics
History
Topic
Class
Social Justice Domain
Identity Diversity Justice Action
August 9, 2017
Informational

This Land is Ours

“The Ponca’s challenge of the U.S. government marked a turning point on the long path of Indian resistance. Increasingly, after Standing Bear v. Cook, the fight for Native rights would shift from the battlefields to the courtrooms of the growing nation.”
by
Learning for Justice Staff
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
Subject
History
Geography
Social Justice Domain
Identity Diversity Justice Action
August 9, 2017
Teaching Strategies
Exploring Texts Through Read Alouds

Anchor Charts

An anchor chart is an artifact of classroom learning. Like an anchor, it holds students' and teachers' thoughts, ideas and processes in place. Anchor charts can be displayed as reminders of prior learning and built upon over multiple lessons.
Grade Level
K-2
CCSS
R.K-2.4, L.K-2.4, L.K-2.5
July 13, 2014
Exploring Texts Through Read Alouds

Creating Questions to Engage Critically with Texts

This strategy provides tools to create questions that help students engage critically with Perspectives central texts and examine them for issues of power and social inequity. The activities suggested here also encourage readers to bring their knowledge and experiences to the reading of a text.
Grade Level
K-2
CCSS
RL.K-2.1, RL.K-2.2, RL.K-2.3, RL.K-2.6, RI.K-2.1, RI.K-2.2, RI.K-2.3, RI.K-2.6
July 16, 2014
Exploring Texts Through Read Alouds

Realia

Realia are real-life objects that enable children to make connections to their own lives as they try to make sense of new concepts and ideas. This strategy brings the Perspectives central text to life for students by using everyday objects during the read aloud.
Grade Level
K-2
CCSS
RL.K-2.1, RL.K-2.2, RL.K-2.3, RI.K-2.1, RI.K-2.2, RI.K-2.3
July 13, 2014
Exploring Texts Through Read Alouds

Student Journals

Student journals are a collection of students’ written and illustrated predictions, reactions, understandings and questions based on Perspectives central text read alouds.
Grade Level
K-2
CCSS
RL.K-2.1, RL.K-2.2, RL.K-2.3, RL.K-2.6, RL.K-2.7, RI.K-2.1, RI.K-2.2, RI.K-2.3, RI.K-2.6, RI.K-2.7, W.K-2.2
July 13, 2014
Exploring Texts Through Read Alouds

Who's Telling It?

Students explore the same Perspectives central text from various viewpoints and identify author, speaker point-of-view, publication date, intended audience and characters.
Grade Level
K-2
CCSS
RL.K-2.1, RL.K-2.3, RL.K-2.6, RL.K-2.7, RI.K-2.1, RI.K-2.3, RI.K-2.7
July 13, 2014
Student Tasks
Do Something

Be the Change...

Students identify and investigate a community problem and propose a solution. They then plan and implement action directed at solving the problem.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Buddy Share

Students choose a mode of expression—e.g., writing, art or storytelling—to share theme-related ideas and feelings with a “buddy” from outside the classroom.
Grade Level
K-2
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Collage of Concerns

Students create visual artwork combining various images to convey diversity or social justice issues, concerns or themes related to the central text.
Grade Level
K-2
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Community Bulletin Board

Students showcase artwork and nonfiction writing that addresses issues they found in the text. The result is a visual, collaborative and creative representation of student learning and ideas. An alternative to the bulletin board is a community newsletter.
Grade Level
K-2
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Community Mural / Poster Campaign

Students create a large-scale artistic depiction in a community space. As an alternative to the community mural, students can create a set of informational posters that reflect a diversity topic or social justice theme.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Community Newsletter

Students compile and publish a showcase of artwork and nonfiction writing addressing issues found in the central text. The result is a creative representation of student learning, opinions and ideas.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Community Puzzle Mural

Students create a community puzzle mural, a large-scale artistic depiction, usually displayed in a community space. Puzzle pieces covered in student’s artwork relating to diversity, anti-bias or social justice themes from the central text comprise the mural.
Grade Level
K-2
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Fairness Fair

Students work in groups to role-play or tell stories about real life situations related to fairness, community, diversity or social justice themes. Students then perform their skits or stories for others as part of a class-wide “fairness fair.”
Grade Level
K-2
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Identity Portraits

Students interview one another, then draw or paint portraits containing symbols that represent the subject’s identity, beliefs, values or areas of interest.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Identity Self-Portraits

Students create visual self-portraits that contain symbols representing the student’s identity, beliefs, values or areas of interest related to diversity, anti-bias or social justice.
Grade Level
K-2
July 13, 2014
Do Something

My Voice, My Voter’s Guide

Estimated time Two to three weeks Why? One of the ways young students become invested in the democratic process is by become empowered advocates for civic participation in their local communities. When younger students
Grade Level
3-5 6-8 9-12
Subject
Civics
August 30, 2018
Do Something

Oral History Project

Students conduct interviews and record personal experiences focused on a specific theme from the central text. They then synthesize and present the information as a an article, pamphlet, poster or other medium of their choice.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Oral Interviews

Students conduct interviews and record personal experiences focused on a specific theme. They synthesize and present the information as a drawing, poster, paragraph or bulletin board.
Grade Level
K-2
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Persuasive Letters

Students write to a business, school or community leader to call for action in response to a social justice issue from the central text. Alternatively, students can write open, persuasive letters to their peers or family members.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Photo Essay Exhibit

Students put together and collectively display sets of photographs that convey stories, feelings or messages related to themes in the central text.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Picture Books

Students work in small groups to write and illustrate an original children's picture book to teach others about a social justice or diversity topic present in the central text.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Puppet Show

Students design, create and perform a puppet show to teach others about a diversity, anti-bias or social justice theme from the central text.
Grade Level
3-5
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Spotlight on Change Agents

Students investigate, interview and profile a person working for equity and social change. The person can work on the local, national or international level, with an organization or as an individual. The compiled profiles will form a resource for other students in the future.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
July 13, 2014
Do Something

Tweeting for Change

Students organize and facilitate a live Twitter chat to raise awareness of an anti-bias theme or social justice issue and to encourage change related to this issue.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
February 25, 2016
Do Something

Voting in Your Town

Students use online resources to analyze current voter registration and turnout rates in their state and local community. They also explore potential roadblocks to the voting process (e.g., felon disenfranchisement and voter fraud).
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
October 3, 2016
Plan Built By
dlyoung12

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