Democracy and Inequality: Challenges and Possible Solutions

Teaching Strategies

Vocabulary Word Webs for the following words:

1. Democracy
2. Equity
3. Inequity
4. Nutrition
5. Farmer’s Market
6. Organic Produce
7. Social Justice/Injustice
8. Food Desert

Vocabulary word webs will help to support student understanding by comparing and contrasting the words mentioned above. They will use those words in context when engaging in classroom discussions, and this strategy will also help learners acquire and use academic words, those tier two and tier three words that so hinders the learners of Hearne Elementary.

Anchor charts are tools utilized by teachers to support instruction and to move students towards maximizing success in the lessons being taught in the classroom. They can be powerful tools for both students and teachers and academic support for visual learners to help them review concepts taught or learned and maintain the learning expectations set forth. When I create anchor charts in my classroom it is to highlight the important elements of the lesson. They help me focus on, and my students to remember the most important concepts and skills that are being taught. The rationale for creating anchor charts is that they improve students’ comprehension and are designed to scaffold their learning. There are three specific anchor charts that I will be making for this curriculum unit. I typically use colors and not just black and white to make the anchor charts come alive for the students. A strategy within this strategy is that I make a copy of the anchor chart and give it to the students to put inside of their reading journals. This is done so that if students need to reference it for any reason, it is always accessible them. Sometimes anchor charts get covered up with other anchor charts due to limited wall space inside of the classroom. If an anchor chart is covered up, students always have access to a miniature version of it inside of their reading journal.

I will use the following Mentor Texts in the curriculum unit:

1. Baby Goes to Market
2. Feast for 10
3. Bring me Some Apples, and I’ll Make You a Pie
4. The Bagel King
5. World Pizza
6. Thank You, Omu!
7. Notes From a Young Black Chef
8. Bilal Cooks Daal
9. Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando
10. Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji

Mentor texts are pieces of children’s literature used to return to and reread by teachers and students to be studied and imitated. Mentor texts can help students learn how to take risks with their writing styles and challenge them to be different writers in the future than the level they are currently on.

Turn and Talk, is an instructional strategy teachers use to have students speaking and listening about a topic and then rephrasing the information. It helps them think more deeply about the discussion topic and provides involvement of a group of students rather than just talking directly to the teacher. When students engage in this strategy, it is to provide oral language support. By doing this, students can formulate and share their ideas and thinking in a low-risk setting. When students turn and talk, I am always listening for two critical things: are the students speaking in complete sentences, and are the students using academic language? If so, publicly acknowledge them (it encourages other students to do so). If not, I model for students how to correctly do it and explain that we speak in complete sentences because we read and write in complete sentences. Modeling the correct way allows students to participate in the classroom discussions without the entire student body listening to them speak, which could prove miserable for some students.

Writers Workshop is an instructional tool used to help students become more confident and capable writers by giving them time to work independently and with their classmates by selecting topics, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing their finished writing sample.