Lesson Three: School Lunch and Advocacy

Printed worksheets for warm-up activity:  Appendix A

Video link for listening activity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD9mk0Y_pyo

Print-out worksheets for listening activity: Appendix B

Minimal pair sets: Appendix C

Trashcan or some type of hoop for basketball activity

Print-out topics for speaking activity: Appendix D

Print-out for final project activity: Appendix E

Examples for final poster project: Appendix F Appendix G Appendix H

Purpose:  Get students thinking about educational inequality through the lens of school lunch

Time:  35 minutes

Learning Objectives Targeted:  2

Steps & Teacher Directions:  

Warm-up discussion:

•  For the warm-up, the goal is to activate student's vocabulary and get them thinking about school lunch. Writing the foods on the board as students come up with them will help students commit this information to memory. 

• Let students have fun with their imaginative school lunch meal that they generate at their table groups, but try to emphasize that its purpose is to fuel their bodies and brains at school so that they can learn the best they can. 

Listening Activity (While Listening)

•  Make sure that students can follow along with the video, because the standard speed may be too fast. You should start with 0.75 video speed, which can be changed by hitting the settings button on the video overlay. 

• Students will be listing foods they see as the video goes on. Depending on the student's listening abilities, the worksheet can be given during the first listen, but you may want to have them listen first without it, and then replay the video after handing out the worksheet. 

Listening Activity (Post Listening)

• You may not need the full ten minutes, but give students time to draw and collaborate on their ideal plate. This can include foods they came up with during the warm-up, but encourage them to get inspired by what they saw in the video. Remind students that they should emphasize nutritious foods. 

• If you are limited on time, both activities can be shortened depending on engagement. If students are losing focus as the video goes on, you don't need to get to every country, especially if it is their second viewing of the video. 

Purpose: Get students thinking about advocacy and creating change to fix inequalities

Time:  20 minutes

Learning Objectives Targeted:  1 and 4

Steps & Teacher Directions:  

Reflect and Discuss 

• This transition may not be the easiest after the basketball activity, but try to refocus the class with a few questions like, "Let’s think about something important. What are some things you would like to improve at your school, like better lunches, more technology, or something else?"

•  Write down the specific changes students come up with on the board, but make sure the students are thinking critically by asking follow-up questions such as, 

"Why is that important to have at a school?" Or, "How would you use ______ to improve your educational experience?"

Defining Advocacy

• Write the word on the board and see if anyone in the class can define it. Make sure students understand that to advocate for something is to speak up for something important to you or others and trying to create change.

• ask table groups to come up with answers to these critical thinking questions; "Who has the power to make changes in educational inequality?" "How can you advocate?"

NOTE - you may need to define certain terms such as politicians, school principal, and department of education which students likely will not be familiar with

Purpose: Prepare students to wrap up unit with a final poster project

Time: 10 minutes

Learning Objectives Targeted: 1, 2, 4, 5

Steps & Teacher Directions:  

In this lesson, students have learned what it means to advocate by coming up with their own who, how and why in the previous activity (the "what" was given to them). Now, students are prompted to think of their own changes they would like to advocate for. 

• Introduce students to the project structure 

The Issue: What problem are you addressing?

The Solution: What are you proposing to improve the issue?

Advocacy Plan: Who will you advocate to? How will you advocate (e.g., speech, letter, poster, art, etc.)? Why is this important?

It is a good idea to come prepared with an example, which will be included in the teacher toolkit. Some ideas that you can give the class are a written speech, a letter/email draft, or poster or visual campaign outline.

Caveat: This lesson plan includes the three lessons preparing students to generate their own advocacy plans. However, the project itself will require a fourth lesson to be completed.