Learning to Give, Curriculum Division of The LEAGUE
The LEAGUE
- teachers
- parents
- students
- youth workers
- faith groups
- independent schools
- find lesson plans
- browse resources
Purpose:
Duration:
Two Fifty-Five Minute Class Periods
Objectives:
- The learner will:
- with a cooperative learning group, create a community survey.
- survey five community members and describe the concerns of the community in a newspaper article.
Service Experience:
The learners will go out into the community and interview five people, each using the survey that s/he has created. They will bring back the results, compile them, and share the results with the community and/or school through the school and/or local newspaper.
Materials:
- Computer or word processor
- Copy machine to copy surveys
- Survey Question Possibilities (Attachment One), Teacher Copy only
- "Ball of Confusion" Lyrics (Attachment Two), student copies
Instructional Procedure(s):
- Anticipatory Set:
Distribute "Ball of Confusion" Lyrics (Attachment Two) to the learners. Write the following question on the board:
After reading the lyrics to the song "Ball of Confusion" by the Temptations, how do you think local women and minority groups acted as alternatives to the power structure to overcome these problems, and are they still here as problems that we are grappling with now?
Responses may be written as journal entries.
- Divide the learners into groups of four. Bearing in mind the examples of various women and minority groups who acted to improve the common good, learners should devise a questionnaire to assess what the community thinks is needed to be done at the present time to improve conditions. Let the learners brainstorm for about ten minutes and come up with a list of questions. Compile a questionnaire of 10-15 questions to be used to compile the final questionnaire. Survey Question Possibilities (Attachment One) can provide samples to consider. Allow one week for learners to conduct the interviews and return with five completed surveys.
- Compile the data. Have students put the results of the survey into an article to be given to either the school newspaper or the local newspaper. Each learner should write an essay on why s/he thinks the public selected the problem areas they did, what they see as solutions, and why s/he thinks the public feels as it does. Present the information to the class. As an extension, the learners can write their own opinions as to whether they agree with the public's views.
Assessment:
- The learner will complete a written paragraph concerning a philanthropic journal question.
- Participating in a cooperative learning group, the learner will design a questionnaire about problems that marginalized, disenfranchised and dsiadvantaged groups face, and how they can act as an alternative power structure to face them, and help to improve conditions for the common good.
- The learner will conduct five surveys in the community.
Extension:
After learning about the various nonprofit organizations associated with marginalized, disenfranchised and disadvantaged groups, learners can choose to volunteer their time, talent, and/or treasure to the organization to assist them with their efforts.
Bibliographical References:
"Ball of Confusion" lyrics taken from http://www.temptationslyrics.4t.com/lyrics/ball_of_confusion.htm
Lesson Developed and Piloted by:
Libby BrownJackson Public Schools
Jackson High School
Jackson, MI 49201
Handouts:
Handout 1Print Handout 1
Survey Question Possibilities
Before beginning the survey, have the learners explain to the people they are surveying what the survey is about. They should tell the prospective interviewees that they will be answering questions about women and minorities acting as an alternative power structure in the past to create positive change for the common good. The survey will also attempt to discover what they feel is/are the main problem/s facing marginalized disenfranchised and/or disadvantaged groups and individuals now, and what can be done to overcome these problems.
The learners should explain to the interviewees that they would like to compile data to be published in either the school or local newspaper. Therefore, they would like to obtain their approximate age, race, and gender to assist with the statistical data.
The following are some possible survey questions:
- Do you know of any local women or minority groups that have acted as an alternative power structure to improve conditions for the common good? Name them.
- Can you name specific problems or issues that these groups have focused on throughout the past several years?
- Were these groups successful in achieving positive changes for the common good through their efforts?
- What were some problems that these groups encountered through their efforts?
- Were these problems that the groups encountered an example of society's reaction to the group because they were a women's group or a minority group?
- Were you ever a member of a women's group or a minority group that tried to achieve positive change for the common good?
- Did you have any friends or relatives that were involved in a women's group or a minority group that tried to achieve positive change for the common good?
- If you were in a group or were friends of anyone in one of these groups, were you ever discriminated against, because of your involvement with the group or its members?
- What do you see as problems or issues that need to be addressed by women and/or minority groups in today's world?
- How do you think these specific problems can be solved? What action should be taken by the nonprofit sector?
Handout 2Print Handout 2
"Ball of Confusion" Lyrics
Ball Of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)The Temptations
Written by: Barrett Strong/Norman Whitfield
Album Title: Motown Hitsville, USA, Volume 1, disc 4
People moving out,
People moving in.
Why, because of the color of their skin
Run, run, run but you sho' can't hide.
An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth,
Vote for me and I'll set you free.
Rap on, brother, rap on.
The only person talking about love thy brother is the preacher
And it seems
Nobody's interested in learning
But the teacher.
Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration,
Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation.
Ball of confusion, oh yeah
That's what the world is today, hey.
The sale of pills are at an all time high.
Young folks walking round with their heads in the sky.
The cities ablaze in the summertime, and oh
The beat goes on.
Evolution, revolution, gun control, sound of soul
Shooting rockets to the moon
Kids growing up too soon
Politicians say more taxes, will solve everything.
And the band played on.
So, round and around and around we go
Where the world's headed, nobody knows.
Oh, Great Googamooga, can't you hear me talking to you?
Just a ball of confusion, oh yeah.
That's what the world is today, hey.
Fear in the air, tension everywhere.
Unemployment rising fast, the Beatle's new record's a gas.
And the only safe place to live is on an Indian reservation.
And the band played on.
Eve of destruction, tax deduction
City inspectors, bill collectors
Mod clothes in demand
Population out of hand
Suicide, too many bills
Hippies moving to the hills
People all over the world are shouting end the war.
And the band played on.
Oh, Great Googamooga, can't you hear me talking to you?
Just a ball of confusion.
That's what the world is today, hey.
Unit Contents:
Overview:For Goodness Sake, Why Don't We Give More Power to the People? Summary
Lessons:
- 1.
- Power, Power, Who Holds the Power?
- 2.
- Changing for the Common Good
- 3.
- Power to the People
- 4.
- Surveys and Nonprofits
All rights reserved. Permission is granted to freely use this information for nonprofit (noncommercial), educational purposes only. Copyright must be acknowledged on all copies.