Description-
While studying child labor in the U.S during the industrial revolution, students will research the alleged use of child labor in the production of the goods they buy. They will develop a letter writing campaign in which students will write letters to corporations urging them to monitor and prevent the use of child labor in their overseas plants and work with foreign governments to end the poverty that forces children to work. They will make presentations to other classes in which they will explain the issue and ask for other students to join the letter writing campaign. The letters will be mailed to the heads of the various corporations.
I think that this service learning project would be interesting to also use in an economics classroom as well. As a teacher, I could tie this project into learning about labor economics. Child labor could be discussed and tied in a labor economics section. It also would be interesting to do while teaching American History's unit on the industrial revolution. I think this project is very interesting for the students to do, and I feel like they will be enthusiastic about this project, and see its relevance.
This ties in with inquiry learning because the students can connect this lesson to their daily life. Students are able to do this themselves, and pride themselves on their "achievements." The students are able to write the letters themselves, and are able to go to the other classrooms to generate a response from them as well as the companies. It would be a great way for the students to work on and better develop their public speaking and writing skills in the process. This is also good for the students to really experience a good learning cycle through exploring and researching about child labor, discussing it with the class, presenting it to other classes and writing the letters. I also think this will stem great class discussion if and when the companies write back to the classroom.
As a teacher, it may be possible to mitigate the challenges of finding different companies by providing them with a base of companies to search from. It may be difficult for them to find companies and information on their own, so maybe giving them a few they could initially start researching with, then letting them expand on their own from there. Also, as a teacher, you might have to prepare a discussion if the companies do not respond back from the letters. Other than that, I feel like this is a relevant topic in the economy, and that students will enjoy this project and see its relevance.
http://www.servicelearning.org/slice/index.php?ep_action=view&ep_id=250
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I like this idea and I think that it can really be educational for the students. I've thought about lessons where I could do something like this in terms of teaching kids about history and child labor (like during the Industrial Revolution.) The only thing I might be cautious about is these companies actually care about the letters. I think it's a good gesture and everything, and I really like the idea, but you know how these corporate people can be. If you have a backup plan to teach, that would be most beneficial.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great service learning lesson for a very sad topic. Unfortunately, child labor abuse is a very real issue still thriving in some countries. Not only does this topic tie in well with the child labor practices during the industrial revolution, but it is also very relevant to some of today’s concerns. I like the idea of letting the students direct their own learning by writing to large corporations and unknowingly becoming active in a serious global issue. This would be a great lesson to implement into any classroom.
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea and am so glad that you found a way to adapt it to your content area! This is an important topic that can relate to several different subjects and is something that a teacher can get the students interested in. This project will require teacher and students working together in order to make sure the students are finding correct and useful information to use towards the project. This lesson implements a variety of strategies which will give students a chance to learn different ways of gaining information and presenting it. I really like this project!
ReplyDeleteI like that this lesson can apply to different areas of social studies. One thing about it that stood out to me is that students seem to respond really well when they are learning about people who are their age. That way they can relate to them and more easily see their perspective. Good point about the companies, too. I had to do a project in elementary school where we had to research a country and write a letter asking for information. I was the only kid in the class who didn't receive a response (my country was Cuba). As long as you have a backup and put more of the emphasis on the sending of the letter than the response I think it would work really well!
ReplyDeleteAhhh the good old Industrial Revolution. I absolutely loved the incorporation of age related resources...it definite creates a whole new perspective for students, encouraging them to put themselves in the situation. I also like the cooperative learning approach that the lesson plan requires, I think this is integral for the success of students.
ReplyDelete...glad you managed to find a way to apply these approaches in Economics teaching. (Finally, right?) ;)
I really liked how you incorperated economics to the lesson plan. Students can learn how companies make a profit and their reasons for using child labor. This will also stimulate ethic questions and concerns that students can research or critique. Students can also learn about the various companies such as nike, that use child labor to increase their profits by paying these children less than a dollar yet selling there shoes for $80 dollars. Some students may even take the initiative not to buy nike shoes or clothes. Overall, the writing campaign will teach students to become more involved in their global community and take a stand for less fortunate people.
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