Getting Free of Homelessness 7th Grade Social Studies Unit: Dane County Teen Homelessness Unit Essential Questions:

How and why does teen homelessness occur? What can we do to help Madison area homeless teens? What makes music political, and how can it help spread awareness? Matthew Belz 50 Minutes April 16th, 2012

Materials: o Music video for Get Free by Major Lazer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI3shBXlqsw o Projector o CNN Student News o Paper and pen o Short Response Worksheets o Cornell Note Sheets o Distribution of Wealth Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM Prep: o Set up projector o Find Major Lazer video o Find CNN Student News o Create and print out short response worksheet o Write unit essential questions and lesson guiding questions on side chalkboard MMSD Curriculum Standards: o Behavior Sciences Identify common problems, needs and behaviors of people from similar and different environments and cultures. (S) Identify major events and trends that have influenced culture. (P) NCSS Standards: o Power, Authority, and Governance have learners explain conditions, actions, and motivations that contribute to conflict and cooperation within and among nations provide opportunities for learners to examine issues involving the rights, roles, and status of individuals in relation to the general welfare Elementary Education Standards o Standard 2: Understands the Social Context of Schooling Being a government employee as a teacher, one specific function of teaching is to teach students about democracy and citizenship. Students in this lesson will be learning about other citizens lives, specifically people their own age who are homeless. There is a small population of students in Cherokee Middle School who are homeless or are in transition at this time, so this lesson is relevant to their lives and the classroom community. o Standard 11: Uses Technologies

This lesson will incorporate a YouTube video of Phillip Phillips song Home with lyrics. In addition we will begin by watching CNN Student News, a program we watch every day to bring in national and worldwide news to the classroom. Lessons Guiding Questions: o What are some factors that can lead to homelessness in our community? o What are some reasons people end up staying homeless in our community? o How can music be political? Lesson Context: o There is a small population of teens who are homeless or in the process of transition in Cherokee Middle School, so this video is particularly relevant to my students lives and community. I specifically chose the song Get Free by Major Lazer because a large percentage of my students really enjoy electronic music. In addition this song was recently released on Major Lazers new album on the 15th of April, so this is a new song that is from a very popular artist that my students will be familiar with. Lesson Opening: o I will begin the lesson by having one of the students hand out each students work folders. The students will then be asked to pull out their short response worksheets they should have finished for homework. I will then put on CNN Student News. This is a program which we watch each day in an attempt to bring national and world news into the classroom. During the video students will take at least three separate notes about things they noticed or learned during the program. This is also something we do each day. During the video I will stamp students homework if they completed it. After the video I will ask students what were some things that they took notes on. This should be a short discussion. Procedural Steps: After CNN Student News I will have one of the students in the class read off the lesson guiding questions for the lesson, as well as our unit essential questions. After the student has read this aloud I will ask the students what the word political means. I anticipate that students will bring up the word government. I will then ask the students that if the word political is related to government, then what does it mean for music to be political. I will then jump into a quick lecture about the ways in which music can be political. I will tell the students that music can be political because of the words and messages it conveys in the song, as well as the images it uses in their music videos or album covers. This can be the artists way of supporting government or a social iss ue, or it can be going against the issue or the government in general. For instance we sing the national anthem to help bring us all together as a nation, and is used as propaganda. I will then ask the students if they know what the word propaganda means. I will then tell my students that propaganda is a way of communicating information to promote or influence peoples thinking, much like advertising does. I will then show the students the music video of Get Free by Major Lazer. I will then discuss with the students what they think this song is saying, reminding the students what we had discussed in the earlier lessons on tone, rhythm, and genre. I will then go through the lyrics and discuss the metaphor the artist is using of the water, and how this can be related to homelessness. The song deals with poverty, depression and the belief in self helplessness. I will then discuss common factors that can lead to homelessness, reminding the students of the risk factors that the person from Make Room For Youth had shared with us. I will then discuss poverty, drugs, natural disasters, family problems, government decisions, and other issues that can lead to teen homelessness. I will then discuss how many of the feelings that this artist is singing about are probably much like those felt by someone dealing with homelessness. I will continue to deconstruct the metaphor of the water, as well as the metaphor of a battery hen, teaching the students about learned helplessness, addiction and the inability to obtain work that can occur through a multitude of reasons. This lesson provides the opportunity to teach students about the distribution of wealth in the United States. I will show the students a short video clip that dives into the

distribution of wealth in the United States. In addition we will discuss the data and information portrayed in this video and what we believe the motive behind the video is. Lesson Closure: o After the conclusion of the students sharing the definition their group came up with I will wrap up the lesson by handing out a short response worksheet to the students. I will read through all three of the questions that the students are expected to answer, and describe that I would like 2-5 complete sentences for each response, reminding them what is entailed in a complete sentence. The students will have the remainder of the hour to complete the worksheet. Filling out the worksheet will be homework if they do not finish in class, and is will be used to help the students debrief and synthesize what they learned from the lesson. The three questions are: What are some factors that can lead to teen homelessness in our community? What are some reasons teens may end up staying homeless in our community? How can music be political? Timing: o CNN Student News, with discussion, will take roughly 5-7 minutes o Teaching and discussing how music can be political 5-20 minutes o Listen and discuss the Get Free by Major Lazer 10-25 minutes o Working on their short response worksheets 3-10 minutes Assessment Strategies: o Students will be assessed during CNN Student News by making sure each student wrote down three things they noticed or learned on their note sheets. o Students will be formally assessed on their short response worksheets, as they will be handing them in the following day. The worksheet is constructed in a way to gauge student learning over the lesson on the two objectives: What are some factors that can lead to teen homelessness in our community? What are some reasons teens end up staying homeless in our community? How can music be political?