Description

Students will learn how transportation can be a challenging factor for some children to go to school in other areas of the world. There are children all over the world who are challenged in going to school because of how far their school is, and/or because of their means of transportation. Some children walk miles to go to school, sometimes alone or through rough terrains. Some children have to hike dangerous mountains and cliffs to go to school. Some children go to school by boat, canoe, or a float of some sort. Some children have to cross dangerous rivers to go to school. Some children's schools are so far away that they don't come home for months! This lesson was taught during social studies content block in English.

Content

Student Engagement/Motivation

The teacher says: "Today we are going to focus on another challenge that children face around the world when trying to go to school or get an education. It's one that we have discussed before when we learned about Sefiyat in Nigeria and also Manju in Nepal." The teacher makes available the Send My friend to School Teacher Chart, created in lesson 1(see attachments for photo example) and points to Sefiyat and Manju on the chart. The teacher says, "Can you guess what it is? How were they challenged in going to school?" Sefiyat had to cross a dangerous river to get to school and Manju had to cross a dangerous bridge to get to school. Their means of getting to school was a challenge for them. The teacher says, "What word is used to define, the way people get from place to place?" The teacher will allow students time to think and discuss with a nearby partner (transportation).

Learning Targets and Criteria for Success

Learning Targets:

• I can be respectful when learning about a different culture and working with diverse groups.
• I can participate in collaborative conversations by listening carefully and speaking one person at a time during discussions.
• I can introduce a topic, state my opinion and provide reasons that support my opinion

Criteria for success:

• I will be respectful when learning about the different modes of transporation children take to go to school around the world.
• I will be respectful when learning about different countries and their culture.
• I will participate in discussions related to transportation challenges and their affect on children around the world while taking turns speaking one at a time and listening carefully.
• I will speak clearly and communicate how my perspective has changed after seeing the videos on transportation. 
• I will write a reflection by stating my opinion and describing my reasons for, What did you learn from these videos? What impacted you the most or what was the most shocking mode of transportation you saw on the videos? How has your perspective changed about going to school after watching these videos?

Supplies/Resources

Supplies:

• Computer
• Smartboard/board
• Chart paper
• Markers
• Pencils
• Copies of "Getting to School Around the World" worksheet (see attachments) for each student
• Notebook paper
• Reflection questions cut apart for eaxh student (see attachments)
• Glue sticks

Resources:

• http://viewpure.com/sGwcqdzw-jo?ref=search
• http://viewpure.com/w_ntMhqNBkk?ref=search
• http://viewpure.com/MxBfqd639BE?ref=search

Learning Tasks and Practice

1.  The teacher will say, "We are going to add another "branch" to our "branched graphic organizer," (see attachments for photo example) titled: Challenging Factors Children Face When Trying to Receive an Education. The new branch or factor we are going to add is:Transportation." The teacher will draw a line going down on the "branched graphic organizer and write, Transportation.
2. The teacher will get a new piece of chart paper and put it on the board with magnets or tape. The teacher will write the word, Ttransportation in the center of the paper and draw a circle around the word. Then the teacher will draw another larger circle around the smaller circle with the word, Transportation (see Transportation graphic organizers in attachments, for a photo example). The teacher will ask the students, "What are different modes of transportation? How do people travel from place to place?" The teacher will write the students' ideas in the "Transportation graphic organizer."
3. Next, the teacher will ask the students, "How do you get to school?  How do you get home from school?" The teacher will draw a graph on the board (or on chart paper) depicting the different ways the students get to school and go home. Next the teacher will ask, 'How long do you think it takes you to get to school? About how many minutes does it take for you to get to school?" The teacher listens for students' responses. The teacher records the students' responses on the board next to the graph.
4. Then the teacher will ask, "Have you ever had a challenge in trying to get to school? For example some sort of car trouble, bus trouble or other?" The teacher will allow the students to turn and share with a nearby partner to tell if they have ever had a challenge in trying to get to school.
5. The teacher will draw another map on chart paper or on the board with the words: Our Students' Challenges in Getting to School (See Transportation Maps, in attachments, for photo example). The teacher will ask the students to think about a challenge they might have had one morning on the way to school or in the afternoon on the way home from school. The teacher will listen for students' responses.The teacher will record the students' responses on the chart paper.
6. Next, the teacher will begin by describing how some children in other areas of the world have some different types of challenges, which make going to school a little difficult and sometimes a little dangerous. The teacher will say, "Some children have some very different modes of transportation for traveling to school than we have here in the United States of America. We are going to watch a few videos that will show you the different modes of transportation that some children take, to and from school."  Before watching the following videos, the teacher will explain to the students, to watch carefully because after the video they will be working in small groups to describe all the different modes of transportation that children use to get to school. These are the videos to be shared with the class:
   1. http://viewpure.com/sGwcqdzw-jo?ref=search
   2. http://viewpure.com/w_ntMhqNBkk?ref=search
   3. http://viewpure.com/MxBfqd639BE?ref=search
7. After watching the videos, the teacher will put the students into small groups of 3-5 students and hand out the, "Getting to school around the world worksheet" (see attachments). The teacher will read the directions to the class.  The teacher will explain to the students that they will work together, in their small groups. Students will be encouraged to recall as many different modes of transportation that children used to get to school, as seen in the videos. The students will be asked to take a leadership attitude while working like a team. Students will take turns talking and listening to one another while they share ideas.
8. The students will go to a designated area, selected by the teacher, to work with their small groups on the "Getting to school around the world worksheet." The teacher will allot about 15 minutes to work on this.
9. After 15 minutes, the teacher will gather the groups of students together again and allow members of each group to share some modes of transportation that children use to get to school in other parts of the world. The students are reminded to be respectful when another student is speaking by looking at the speaker and listening carefully.
10. Next, the teacher will ask the students to reflect on the videos and respond in writing to the following questions on a notebook paper: "What did you learn from these videos? What impacted you the most or what was the most shocking mode of transportation you saw on the videos? How has your perspective changed about going to school after watching these videos?" The students will get this writing prompt on a little strip of paper, already typed up from the handout: "Reflection after seeing transportation challenges in videos" (See attachments for handout). The students will glue the writing prompt to the top of their notebook paper with a glue stick and prepare to write their opinion. The teacher will allows about 15-20 minutes to write.
11. After the students write their reflections, the teacher will gather the students and allow for volunteers to share their written opinion with the class. The teacher will ask the students to share how their perspective has changed, in terms of challenges or how they view their school/education, after seeing those videos.
12. The written reflection and the "Getting to school around the world worksheet," are added to the students' Global Folders.

Technological Engagement

The teacher uses the computer and Smartboard/board to show various videos to the students about transportation challenges the children face when trying to go to school. The video websites are available in Resources and in the lesson narrative.

Collecting and Documenting Evidence of Learning

• Completion of, "Getting to school around the world worksheet"
• Completion of a written opinion, reflection writing, using a prompt
• Informal observations of students being respectful to one another and using appropriate speaking and listening skills when working in small groups and discussions

Student Self-Reflection and Action Steps

Many of my students were shocked to see how some students get to school in other parts of the world. I overheard some students mention how lucky they were to be able to come to school by bus and get to school in 5-10 minutes. Students really internalized the transportation challenges some children faced and were grateful to know that they could get to school safely every day without having to travel long distances by foot, over water, or on dangerous bridges to get to school.

Extended Learning Opportunities

1. This lesson can be enhanced by asking students to pay attention to their morning/afternoon commute, and note how long it takes them to get to/from school using a watch or stopwatch. Students who do not have watches can count in their head to see how many seconds it takes to get from their house to school.
2. Students who live in the neighborhood can walk or ride their bike to and from school (with a parent) to get a sense of what it feels like for some children who walk for miles to get to and from school.
3.  Students can create a poll or questionnaire to learn more about how students from their school get to and from school.
4. Students can conduct an investigation by  asking their parents, grandparents, and/or other family members to describe how they got to, and from school when they were children. The students report their findings to the class from the investigation.

Teacher Reflection of Learning

This was one of my favorite lessons in this unit to teach because I enjoyed watching the students' emotions and listening to their comments during and after watching the videos in this lesson. In addition, I was approached by some parents/guardians later on to tell me that these videos and lesson impacted their child's perspective on how lucky he/she was to have a school nearby; it helped their child value and appreciate their school more. One parent thanked me for teaching this type of global awareness to their child. This was exactly the type of impact I wanted my unit and lessons to have on my students, especially because many of my students come from low-economic family structures and also have their own challenges that also affect their education. Students were able to relate but at the same time were able to feel a sense of gratitude for what they had at their own school.