Social Inequality Alexandria SullensHigh School Sociology

Opening Activity Students will get in groups of 4 and will

be asked to discuss what they think social inequality is.

They will then be asked to talk about how they think if has affected our society.

They will be asked to pick one person to record their ideas to keep for after the lesson.

Social Inequality A situation in which individuals in a

society do not have equal status. Areas in which is occurs are voting

rights, freedom of speech, property rights, education, health care, and quality housing, etc.

Linked to racial inequality and wealth inequality.

Questions for Students Is inequality inevitable? Is inequality desirable or undesirable for

social progress in improving the quality of life for the vast majority of people?

What determines the variability of inequality across the nations of the world?

Video Clip of Tupac Shakur http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aogy

O3qP2Cs&feature=related

This is a clip of Tupac Shakur speaking on poverty and social inequality.

Students will watch the clip and reflect on what he is saying.

Activity Students will be asked to in their own way

express how they feel about social inequality. They will be asked to describe how it makes them feel, whether or not if affects them, what they would do to change it, etc. In whatever manner they want to represent it, whether it be a poem, story, essay, drawing, etc.

I will supply what I can to make the assignment as creative as possible.

Presentations Students will be asked in the last 10

minutes to volunteer to present their work. They will be asked to tell the class what they did, why and how it relates to social inequality, and what they learned from the lesson today.

If there are students who would like to present that didn’t get a chance, I will allow time in the next class.

Lesson Plan Big Picture / Rationale

Social inequality in America. Outcome/Objectives

Students will gain an understanding of what social inequality is and how it affects our society.

Opening Activity Students will work in groups to discuss what they

think social inequality is and how it affects our society. They will work in groups of 4 and express their own opinions and experiences. Students will be asked to record their responses.

Lesson Plan cont. Activities

Students will be given a mini lesson which describes what social inequality is. They will also have what is described in their textbooks about social inequality. The lecture will not be long, but will give students enough information for them to formulate their own ideas.

Students will then watch a video clip of Tupac Shakur expressing his views on social inequality.

Students will then be asked to make a representation of social inequality. They will be asked to either, write a poem, a rap, a story, draw a picture, etc. Whatever they think will express how they feel about social inequality. I will stress that creativity is the key in this assignment. I would like to know who they are and how they feel.

Lesson Plan cont. Examples/Questions

As students are working and I’m walking around I will be asking students about their work. General questions that will help my better understand what they are doing and what it means. This more of an open ended project and doesn’t take very much guidance. I will also ask students when they are presenting questions based on what they said.

Management The majority of the day will be the students working together

and an enjoyable task which will help keep the students on task. The students will not have time to be bored because everything involves their engagement. The opening activity will take about 15 minutes. The clip is about 4 minutes. 20 minutes will be devoted for students to work on their projects. The last 15 minutes will be for people to present their projects to the class.

Lesson Plan cont. Adaptations

Students will be given the notes if needed. I believe the group work will help with students who may have trouble. If students need to work in a group for the final project then they will be allowed to collaborate and work together.

Materials/Supplies I will need a computer and overheard projector for

the video clip and PowerPoint presentation. Crayons, markers, scissors, magazines, newspaper, colored paper, glue, paper, and other art supplies will be available for the project.

Lesson Plan cont. Assessments

The final project will be an assessment for me. I don’t think that social inequality is something students should be tested on it is something that should be aware of. If the project clearly shows an understanding of social inequality then they will be graded based on effort. The projects will be graded based on how much thought and effort went into it.

Closing Activity The presentation of the projects will be the closing

activity. Students will be asked questions for clarification of understanding while they are presenting.