3.17.08: Why social issues?

Title: Why social issues?

Author: M. Hill

Subject: ELA

Grade: 6

Week: 3.17.08

Unit/Lesson Plan #: Media/1

Unit theme:

Media and Persuasion in the Present

Textbook references:

Learning objectives:

- Summarize information in your own words

- Read nonfiction texts to learn information

- Examine the importance of current events

- Think critically about how media influences thinking

Key Questions, Concepts, or Themes:

1. 1. What are social issues? What is social action? Why are these things important or worth considering?

1. 1. What are important social issues in the world today? How do social issues influence the world at large?

Stage 1: After a discussion of social issues/social action (and the creation of a working definition of these terms as a class), students' homework assignment asks them to find an article related to a social issue, and write a one-paragraph summary of the article (to reinforce summarizing skills from the end of unit 3).

Stage 2: In class, students will share their article summaries with a peer. Their goal is to think about what effects the social issue has on the community, people in other communities, and the world at large, as well as to consider the effectiveness of a summary when responding to non-fiction information.

Stage 3: Students will participate in a whole-class brainstorm of the effects of social issues, and the ways in which they force communities to change.

Homework: N/A

Assessments: (attach/link copies)

_x_ Group assessment

__ Observation of process/student work

_x_ Self-assessment by student

__ Teacher generated assignment

__ Written project

__ Test/Quiz

__ Other: ____________________________________