This integrated unit is a five-day series of lessons to integrate the novel Of Mice and Men, centered during the Great Depression, with math activities centered around poverty, minimum wage, and unemployment.
Central Focus: Our integrated unit focuses around The Great Depression. By combining elements from both math and English, our plan is to facilitate student learning by introducing them to various aspects of the The Great Depression. This will be done by analyzing John Steinbeck's classic novel, Of Mice and Men, as well also taking a mathematical approach to understanding the economic statistics that coincided with The Great Depression.
Enduring Understanding: Students will understand the complex effects of The Great Depression. Students will also understand how John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men displays hardships encountered during The Great Depression. Students will also have an enduring understanding of how mathematical processes can illuminate the statistics that coincided with The Great Depression.
Essential Questions: What is poverty? What is minimum wage? How are poverty and unemployment connected? How are poverty and discrimination connected? What groups are most likely to experience unemployment and poverty in the United States and why? How does literature relate to historical events? What can learn from reading literature that relates to historical events, even if the literature is a piece of fiction?
Service Learning: Students will be able to find organizations working towards helping those in poverty and will create a poster for their school campus with facts about poverty and encouraging other students to volunteer within these organizations. Please Click Here for complete Instructions regarding this activity.
**Note: The math components on Day 3 and Day 4, along with its resources, are adapted from Teaching Tolerance and can be found online. Here is the APA reference is: Poverty and Unemployment: Exploring the Connections. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2016, from http://www.tolerance.org/lesson/poverty-and-unemployment-exploring-connections
Central Focus: Our integrated unit focuses around The Great Depression. By combining elements from both math and English, our plan is to facilitate student learning by introducing them to various aspects of the The Great Depression. This will be done by analyzing John Steinbeck's classic novel, Of Mice and Men, as well also taking a mathematical approach to understanding the economic statistics that coincided with The Great Depression.
Enduring Understanding: Students will understand the complex effects of The Great Depression. Students will also understand how John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men displays hardships encountered during The Great Depression. Students will also have an enduring understanding of how mathematical processes can illuminate the statistics that coincided with The Great Depression.
Essential Questions: What is poverty? What is minimum wage? How are poverty and unemployment connected? How are poverty and discrimination connected? What groups are most likely to experience unemployment and poverty in the United States and why? How does literature relate to historical events? What can learn from reading literature that relates to historical events, even if the literature is a piece of fiction?
Service Learning: Students will be able to find organizations working towards helping those in poverty and will create a poster for their school campus with facts about poverty and encouraging other students to volunteer within these organizations. Please Click Here for complete Instructions regarding this activity.
**Note: The math components on Day 3 and Day 4, along with its resources, are adapted from Teaching Tolerance and can be found online. Here is the APA reference is: Poverty and Unemployment: Exploring the Connections. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2016, from http://www.tolerance.org/lesson/poverty-and-unemployment-exploring-connections
Resources:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 1
- Click HERE to see the Cooperative Learning Activity (Math)
- Click HERE to see the "What is Poverty?" Powerpoint Presentation (Math)
Day 2
- Click HERE to see the Semantic map/graphic organizer (English)
- Click HERE to see the Minimum Wage Table (Math)
Day 3
- Click HERE to see the post-Musical Chairs Class Discussion Questions (Math)
- Click HERE to see the Handout "Performance Task: A Few Facts about Jobs" (Math)
Day 4
- Click HERE to see the Handout "Unemployment and Poverty by Race and Ethnicity" (Math)
- Click HERE to see the directions for the Local Organization Team Poster (Math, Community Service)
Rubrics:
The rubrics are used to assess the level to which a student reached the objective for the day. As needed, EL students will be assessed at the i + 1 level (Krashen). The i is indicated by a student's individual CELDT level. SN students will be assessed on appropriate levels according to individual accommodations and modifications as per the student's IEP.
Day 1
- Click HERE to see the rubric for the AXES style paragraph (English) - Differentiation for EL and SN students: if these students are in between categories on the rubric, they will be bumped up to the next category
- Click HERE to see the rubric for What is Poverty? (Math)
Day 2
- Click HERE to see the rubric for the Scatter Plot (Math)
- Click HERE to see the rubric for the 4 Square (English)
- Click HERE to see the rubric for the A Few Facts About Jobs (Math)
Day 4
- Click HERE to see the rubric for the Day Four Graphing Activity (Math)
Day 5
- Click HERE to see the rubric for the Local Organization Team Poster (Math, Community Service)