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Global Hunger

Grades: 
9, 10, 11, 12
Subjects: 
Language Arts
Social Studies
Keywords & Concepts: 
Author's Style/Purpose
Choices/Consequences
December
Economics
Fiction Literature
Global Community
Hunger
Journaling
May
November
Personal Response
Trade
Universal Themes

Depictions of hunger in excerpts from Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist provide concrete images of hunger as learners determine its causes and decide whether to support a change in U.S. public policy related to the issue.

Duration 
PrintOne 50-Minute Session
Objectives 

The learner will:

  • compare authors’ treatment of hunger in world literature.
  • take a position on U.S. public policy toward world hunger.
Materials 

copies of handouts (below):

  • Excerpt from Jane Eyre 
  • Excerpt from Oliver Twist 
  • Facts on Global Hunger 
  • Reasons for Global Hunger 
  • Homework Assignment 
Bibliography 
  • Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Dover Publications, 2003. ISBN: 0486424499 
  • Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. New York: Dover Publications, 2002. ISBN: 0486424537
  • USDA Nutrition Resources for Children https://www.nutrition.gov/audience/children
  • "Hunger Basics: International Facts on Hunger and Poverty," Bread for the World Institute
  • Save the Children https://www.savethechildren.org/
Related Resources 

Instructions

Print

  1. Anticipatory Set:

    Distribute the handouts so half the group reads Excerpt from Jane Eyre and the other half reads Excerpt from Oliver Twist. Compare and discuss the images the authors evoked to describe hunger. 

  2. Introduce Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. [https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/] Ask youth to name some facts about and reasons for world hunger and malnutrition. Make a list of these facts on the board.

  3. Ask the youth to imagine a world withont hunger and tell them to illustrate the idea with symbols, words, and images -- what the community or world would look like if in ten years the issue of hunger and poverty did not exist. 

  4. Discuss what students illustrated and ask them to share their thoughts and questions. Explore ideas that come up, such as market policies, justice, and inequities that influence hunger and poverty in the world. Encourage them to share what they have "heard."

    Guide youth to take on an issue that sparks their interest and conduct an investigation. Their investigation should identify if what they heard is accurate and what they learned in the investigation (give them tips on media literacy). For example, one person may conduct research on the idea that raising cows for food is bad for health and the environment. Another youth may research the impact of educating women on reducing poverty. Or someone may challenge the idea that the high cost of importing foods reduces the amount of food available to feed the population adequately. 

    What role does the government play, as a member of international organizations, in feeding the hungry in the world? What changes in public policy might be necessary if it were to increase its role in ending hunger?

  5. Introduce the homework assignment handout with a brief discussion of the reasons for and against U.S. involvement in reducing world hunger. 

Philanthropy Framework

  1. Strand PHIL.II Philanthropy and Civil Society
    1. Standard PCS 05. Philanthropy and Government
      1. Benchmark HS.7 Examine the role of a country as a member of various international communities.

Discussion

Submitted by betsy on November 2, 2015 - 08:03

We will get these handouts uploaded this week. Thanks for your interest.