Introduction
As I reflected on the unit that I was going to teach, I thought to myself, how will I make this relatable to my students? The unit that I will create and develop will be based on downward mobility, upward mobility, their causes, effect and the results thereof. The unit will focus on how downward and upward mobility affects social and economic statuses locally as well as around the world. This unit will be used with intermediate and middle school students that reside on the south side of Chicago. Many of these students come from families that experienced both sides of mobility, primarily downward mobility. Students will learn that no matter what happens in life or where they come from, we must continue to persevere, thrive and go forth strongly with the policies that we believe in, even if it means starting over in a place or position that is unfamiliar to us.
In the beginning of the unit, we will read a novel that will serve as one of our anchor texts. Before we begin to read our novel, we will take a look at what upward and downward mobility means, what it looks like and how it can affect us. My students will take a look at both past and present events that have contributed to downward and upward mobility during the time that the story takes place. My students will take a deep look at how downward mobility has evolved overtime in our country, other countries as well as in their own communities. Making this type of connection with them will be key to get them to understand the concepts before we fully dive into our book. They will understand how downward and upward mobility are real movements that can change abruptly due to the workforce, crime, recessions, lack of achievement and poor underachieving schools.
Students will read the novel entitled “Esperanza Rising” by Pam Munoz Ryan. Esperanza is a young girl from Mexico whose family migrates to the United States and experiences both downward and upward mobility. Esperanza’s family has to start over and they are forced to work for lower wages. Esperanza suffered from the loss of her father. As a result of this, the family migrated to the United States. The family did not have the same socio-economic status in the United States that they had back in Mexico. Esperanza could not attend school, yet in Mexico she attended a private school. Esperanza’s mother became ill. She could no longer work on the farm to support her family. The family went from one direction to another. In the unit, we will take a look at how these situations affected their upward mobility.
In an effort to engage my students in student to student discourse throughout the unit, students will dissect the who, what, where, when and why downward mobility was so prevalent during this time. Students will also take a closer look at the effects of downward mobility. They will research and investigate this. We will take a deep dive into why this is happening more often than not. As a result of our investigation, students will learn empathy.
In this unit, students will be challenged to look at the opposite side of downward mobility, which is upward mobility. It is important that they are exposed to both concepts. In the unit students will learn that after the Mexican Revolutionary War, the United States offered Mexican immigrants the possibility of upward social mobility. Many Mexicans migrated here, never looked back and saw endless possibilities of wealth and so much more. We will take a deeper dive at what that looked like and how coming to the United States contributed to their upward social mobility.
Students will use a wide variety of resources throughout the curriculum units including but not limited to videos, articles, blogs, books and journals. They will also engage and participate in close reads, interactive conversations, student to student discourse, independent activities, and cooperative learning activities and use protocols while engaging in learning activities.
At the end of the unit, as a part of their culminating project, they will have the opportunity to compare at least two different groups of people and explain how downward or upward mobility has affected their lives, families and cultures. They will have to participate in a hands-on project to fully grasp the concept of upward and downward mobility. The hands-on activities in our unit will promote their understanding of both concepts. Because they are developing into young critical thinkers, it will be equally important for them to think about how their family is directly affected by downward and upward mobility. Students will have to provide concrete examples to show that they truly understand.
We will be taking a look at history as it has presented itself in the past. They will understand why what happened yesterday, truly affects us today. It is equally important for them to understand this concept. If students are educated about the policies that have stifled the progress of our country in the past, we will have a way to turn things around immediately. We have to look at the past in order to understand the present and our future. This in return helps us to understand where we are going in life. This unit will give them a new perspective on how they will view themselves, their families and people that they interact with on a daily basis. There are things that directly connect to the downward or upward mobility of different communities. We will look closely at that and how it has affected us on the Southside of Chicago. I think the findings will be eye opening for our students. If we can get them to see what pushes us toward downward mobility, we can teach them the steps to be proactive against it and move in the direction of upward mobility. They need to know how to take the necessary steps needed to move more towards upward mobility status.
As we look at real life situations throughout the unit, investigating various periods of time, such as wartimes that have contributed to the overall mobility of our country, students will continue to develop a greater understanding of downward and upward mobility. After engaging with this unit, students will know that they have a choice. They will learn that they have a choice to change policies that affect them. They will learn that they have a choice about how they want to live their lives. It will be a choice to move forward or backwards. They will be more informed to make better decisions for their life and future.
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