Description

This lesson was taught during social studies content block in English. Students will learn about organizations, campaigns and leaders who are making an effort to help children world-wide go to school and get educated. Such leaders include, Michelle Obama with her program, Let Girls Learn and Oprah Winfrey with the opening of her school in 2007, Academy for Girls, in South Africa. The students will watch a video from the "Send My Friend to School" website about an organization called, "Transforming Education for Girls Project," who also help girls get into schools and stay in school so that they can complete their primary education. The video features several girls from Tanzania who want to go to school and not be married at a young age. Students will take a leadership role and begin to plan actions to improve conditions in the country of Guatemala by starting a fundraiser at the school level (see Fundraiser for Guatemala in attachments). The funds collected will be used to fund educational teaching materials and student learning resources. The fundraiser is supported by Teachers 2 Teachers Global, who will use the money collected to fund the classroom in which the teacher is connected with and is planning future interactive Skype lessons. (see Leson 6: Skype Lessons with Another Classroom).

Content

Student Engagement/Motivation

The teacher will write this question on the board:

What do you think people are doing to help children around the world go to school?

Students share their responses with the class.

Learning Targets and Criteria for Success

Learning Targets:

I can write an opinion and support my opinion.

I can be respectful when learning about different cultures.

I can identify contributions made by historical figures.

I can use a map or globe to locate a country.

Criteria for Success:

I will write an opinion and include 2-3 reasons to support my opinion, on why education is important to me.

I will be respectful when watching a video about girls' education in Tanzania and learn about the culture in this country.

I will identify contributions made by historical figures such as, Michelle  Obama and Oprah Winfrey, who are working to improve girls' education in other parts of the world.

I will use a map or globe to locate Tanzania in the continent of Africa.

Supplies/Resources

Supplies:

• Computer
• Smartboard/board
• Global Folders
• Notebook paper/writing journal
• Glue stick
• Pencils
• Prompt questions cut into little strips of paper for students to glue on their notebook paper, Why is Education important to Me?(See attachments), for each student
• Prompt question in Spanish for a dual language class cut into little strips of paper for students to glue on their notebook paper, Por que la educacion es importante para mi? (See attachments), for each dual language student

Resources:

• http://campaignforeducationusa.org/topic/detail/whats-happening-with-girls-education
• http://gifts.care.org/occasions
• https://www.globalgiving.org/dy/v2/content/search.html?vo=true&hl=true&fq=&q=education
• http://www.Oprah.com/spirit/oprah-winfrey-leadership-academy-for-girls-graduation-photos/all
• http://www.owlag.co.za/
• https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/letgirlslearn/
• https://www.sendmyfriend.org/resource/journey-back-to-tanzania-2011/
   

Learning Tasks and Practice

1.  The teacher will explain to the students that there are many organizations and campaigns around the world who are working together to  help children go to school world wide. The teacher will use the computer and Smartboard/board to demonstrate these websites and explain how each of these organizations and/or historical figures in our country are making contributions to help children go to school world-wide:
   1. http://campaignforeducationusa.org/topic/detail/whats-happening-with-girls-education This is a global U.S. campaign composed of national and community-based organizations, teacher unions, faith-based groups who are dedicated to ensure universal quality education for all children.
   2. http://gifts.care.org/occasions This website is designed for people to donate money for various reasons including helping a child go to school or pay for uniforms or books.
   3.  https://www.globalgiving.org/dy/v2/content/search.html?vo=true&hl=true&fq=&q=education This website has different projects to help donate money to people in need. You can search for education and find lots of Projects to help fund educational needs around the world.
   4. http://www.Oprah.com/spirit/oprah-winfrey-leadership-academy-for-girls-graduation-photos/all This is an article that the teacher can share with the students and skim over the highlights. The article celebrates the first graduating class from Oprah Winfrey's, Leadership Academy for Girls that she opened in 2007 in South Africa.
   5. http://www.owlag.co.za/ This is the website for Oprah Winfrey's school, Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
   6. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/letgirlslearn/ In March of 2015, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama launched this campaign that addresses the  challenges that prevent adolescent girls from attaining a quality education and also empowers girls to reach their full potentials.
2. The teacher will ask the students, "What are a few ways in which organizations or campaigns are helping children go to school?" The students will discuss this question with a nearby peer and then share their responses to the class.
3. The teacher will ask the students, "Which two famous historical women did you recognize from the websites I showed you?" (Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey). "What are they doing to contribute to girls' education?" The students will discuss this question with a nearby peer and then share their responses to the class.
4. The teacher will refer to the branched organizer (see attachments) that has the title, "Challenging Factors Children Face When Trying to go to School."
5. The teacher will add a new branch to the branched organizer that says, gender, and the teacher will define the word gender to the class as, "being a male or female."
6. The teacher will explain to the students that being a female in many parts of the world causes a major challenge for girls around the world to go to school.
7. The teacher will explain to the students that in many parts of the world, the boys are chosen to go to school, and the girls are chosen to stay home to help clean, cook and take care of younger siblings; girls often do not go to school. In addition, girls are often sent away to be married at a very young age and they are denied an education.
8. The teacher will now show the students a short video (5 minutes and 53 seconds long) from the Send My Friend to School website that depicts a group of girls in Tanzania who want to go to school and how their challenges affect them when trying to get an education: https://www.sendmyfriend.org/resource/journey-back-to-tanzania-2011/
9. Following the video, the teacher and students discuss the contents in the video and take turns describing what they saw. The students will share their emotions towards the topic of "girls' education," in Tanzania. The teacher will define, gender inequality, as females who do not receive the same equal rights as males.
10. The teacher will use a map or globe and ask students to locate the continent of Africa on the map. The teacher will guide the students to help locate the country of Tanzania on the map.
11. The students will take out their Global Folders. The teacher will give the students a sheet of notebook paper and a strip of paper that has the question of: Why is education important to me? (See attachments). The students will glue the question to the top of the notebook paper. The teacher will explain to the students that their response should be written in the style of an opinion writing format. It should state why the student feels this way and include 2-3 reasons that support their opinion. If the teacher teaches in a dual language class, this prompt is also available in Spanish, Por que la educacion es importante para mi? (see attachments). Examples of student's opinion writing that were done in Spanish are available in, Photos of Opinion Writing (see attachments).
12. When the students finish writing, the students will add the opinion reflection response to their Global Folder.

Technological Engagement

The teacher will use the computer and Smartboard/board to share a variety of websites of organizations and campaigns that are working together to improve equality of education world wide.

The teacher will also use the computer to project a video from the Send My Friend to School website using the Smartboard/board.

Collecting and Documenting Evidence of Learning

• Completion of the students' opinion writing, using the prompt: Why is education important to me?
• Informal observations of students participating in class discussions.
• Informal observations of student engagement during the videos and websites shown.

Student Self-Reflection and Action Steps

Some examples of the students' writing reflection demonstrated that they valued education and that it was important for them. Some students reported that education was important to them because:

• They wanted to go to a university someday.
• They wanted to have a good future.
• They wanted to have good job.

Extended Learning Opportunities

The teacher divides the class in half so that the students can work on the following:

The teacher will pair up half of the class with a partner. The students will use a laptop to research additional organizations or groups whose main goal is to fund schools for children who don't have a school and/or to help girls go to school. The teacher assists the students in how to research this topic by providing the students with ideas for keywords to type in a search engine like Google to find information. Some examples of key words to type in their search are:

• Funding education in Africa
• Funding education in India
• Girls education fund

The teacher monitors the small group of students who are using the laptops by ensuring that they are on task and using the computers appropriately. The students who are not using the laptops to research can be working on their opinion writing during this time.

After both groups of students have had time on the laptops to do their research with a partner, the teacher will allow for partners to present a group or organization that they found online, by using the laptop connected to the Smartboard/board to show the class what they found.

Teacher Reflection of Learning

Prior to teaching this lesson, the teacher should become familiar with the websites from this lesson. Becoming familiar with the websites prior to teaching this lesson will help the lesson go more smoothly and additional time will not be wasted. The teacher will have a better idea of what specific elements from each website are most important to show the students about these organizations and campaigns that are working towards funding education and helping children around the world go to school.