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A fiction text about young Davey, his brother, and his mother living in a homeless shelter and eating at the local soup kitchen. After reading aloud, students will engage in whole-group discussion.

Discussion Prompts:
-"Have you heard of a homeless shelter? A soup kitchen?"
-"Would you tell your friends at school if you lived in a shelter or ate at the soup kitchen? Why or why not? Would you worry about how they might react?"

Engagements:
-With a partner, students will research homeless shelters and soup kitchens in their community
-Students will share information they gained from this research through Edmodo for other people to view as well

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11-Year Old Girl & Brothers Living in Shelter Video

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11-Year Old Girl & Brothers Living in Shelter Video

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This YouTube video is a brief 4-minute clip describing the experience of an 11-year old girl and her two younger brothers living with their mother in a Georgia shelter. After viewing this video and the other shelter video, students will have time to write an entry in their journal or on their blog to describe their thoughts and feelings of the clip.

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Growing Number of Homeless Families Overwhelm San Diego

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One family chronicles their struggles during their stay in a homeless shelter.

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This YouTube video is a brief 4-minute clip describing the experience of an 8-year old girl living in a homeless shelter and how she doesn't feel like she is "homeless" because she has a safe place to stay. After viewing this video and the other YouTube clip, students will complete a journal entry or blog describing their thoughts and feelings about the clips.

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Life in a homeless shelter through the eyes of an 8-year old

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Homelessness is on the rise in Minnesota. A statewide survey released by Wilder Research in March found the number of people who are homeless has increased about 6 percent since the last count in 2009, to more than 10,200. Nearly half of the homeless are 21 or younger.

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-Several images will be displayed that convey the "big idea" of poverty (e.g., homeless people, poor living conditions, malnourished people).
-Discussion Prompt: "As you view these pictures, I want you to think about what each one has in common. What message or theme are these images conveying?"
-Engagement: Students will independently create a Wordle using terms, ideas, feelings that they currently associate with the "big idea" of poverty.

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A fiction text about a young boy named Tim who wants a new skateboard for his birthday but his parents cannot afford to buy it for him. Great text to spark the discussion of helping others in times of need. During and after reading this, students will discuss wants versus needs.

Discussion Prompts:
-"Have you ever wanted a toy that you couldn't have? How did that make you feel? Did you do anything to try and get the toy still?"
-"What is something you may 'want'?"
-"What is something each and every one of us 'needs'?"
-"Why is the "Can Man" helping Tim when he really is the one who needs the money from these cans?"
-"What would here you do if you were Tim? Would you help the "Can Man" or would you take the money you earned and spend it for your birthday gift?"

Engagements:
-Collaborative list on Smart Board of wants versus needs
-Blog/Journal Entry in response to text and discussion

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Laura E. Williams (Author), Craig Orback (Illustrator)

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The Can Man [Laura E. Williams, Craig Orback] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Can Man

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This fiction text describes the unfortunate experience of a young girl and her mother moving from a comfortable life in Jamaica to a life of uncertainty in America. This is a story about the challenges of poverty, particularly homelessness, told from the perspective of Zettie, the young girl. This is a great story for students to engage in as an interactive read aloud.
Discussion Prompts:
-"Think about Zettie's current situation. How would you feel if you had no home and had to live in a car?"
-"Why is Mama crying? Why is she feeling this way?"
-"What are some of the challenges Zettie faces?"

Engagements:
-Interactive read aloud whole group discussion
-Think, Pair, Share activities in response to questions
-Share responses, ideas, questions, or comments on VoiceThread link with whole class and comment on peer's posts.

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An article from Wonderopolis about the facts of homelessness.  Great for discussing wants versus needs as well as the causes and impacts of homelessness.

Discussion Prompts:
-"Have you encountered a homeless person before? Tell us about it."
-"Is there anything we can do to help the homeless population in our community?"

Engagements:
-Dialectal Journal Entries - Students will pull quotes from text that they found intriguing, have a question about, or want to comment on.
-Students will post this entry on their individual Padlets for this unit

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It's been a long day at school. You've paid attention in class, worked hard on your assignments, and even done your best on a test. It's the end of the day and you look forward to going one place: home. That's right: home, sweet home. There's no place like home!

But what if you didn't have a home? Could you imagine that? Where would you go? Where would you ? Where would you put all your "stuff"? Sadly, for millions of Americans each year, they have no answers for those questions. Who are these people? They're the nation's .

Although most people in the United States have homes with warm beds to in each night, many people do not. people are usually defined as those not having a , place to each night. Without a home to call their , they must on the streets, in abandoned buildings, in parks, in shelters, at friends' homes, or in a .

In addition to lacking a home, people often lack many other things, such as jobs, healthy food to eat, clothes to wear, and access to medical care. Without a home and these many other things most of us take for granted, people face an uphill battle to regain the basic necessities they need to survive.

If you live in a large city, you've probably seen people sleeping in places and asking for help on street corners. Homelessness isn't limited to large cities, though. People in small towns and rural areas experience problems with homelessness, too. It is a nationwide issue.

Experts estimate that as many as 3.5 million people (nearly a third of them children) will probably experience homelessness in any given year. At any one time, there are about 750,000 men, women, and children in America. It doesn't matter what color your skin is or what culture you come from, homelessness affects everyone.

People become for a variety of reasons. Two of the most common reasons are and intertwined with each other: (1) they don't have a or make enough money to or a place to live; and (2) there is a shortage of affordable where they live.

As the economy has slowed in recent years, rates have risen dramatically. Today, nearly 15% - or over 45 million people - live in in the United States. The result is that some people simply cannot afford a place to live despite working every day of the week, often at more than one .

Other people lose jobs and cannot find new ones in today's tough economy. When people live paycheck to paycheck with no savings, all it takes is one catastrophic event, such as the loss of a or a major illness, to lead to missed or mortgage payments and eventually foreclosure or .

Each person's story is unique. Many other factors contribute to homelessness. For example, some people suffer from physical or mental disabilities that make it hard, if not impossible, to find work to support themselves. Other people struggle with drug and alcohol addictions that drain their financial resources and affect their health.

Many women and children are fleeing from abusive relationships. Domestic violence is a serious issue that many people struggle with. Sometimes choosing homelessness is preferable to suffering physical or mental abuse.

Sadly, many men are veterans. When returning from armed conflicts abroad, many soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, which can lead to mental illness, substance abuse problems, and inability to hold a .

Whatever the reasons for homelessness, there are many people working hard to help the . From individuals working at shelters to city, county, state, and federal government programs, efforts are being made to provide more affordable and good-paying jobs, as well as necessary food and medical care, to the .

A person might only be for a day or a week, while others might remain for months, years, or their entire lives. Each person can do his or her part to help the , whether it's volunteering time at a local or providing food, clothing, or money to help the . What can you do in your community?

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It's been a long day at school. You've paid attention in class, worked hard on your assignments, and even done your best on a test. It's the end of the day and you look forward to going one place: home. That's right: home, sweet home. There's no place like home!

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This fiction text describes the life of a homeless young boy and his father who live day-to-day in an airport, trying endlessly not to get caught. I would read this text aloud right after "A Shelter in Our Car" to allow children to hear two different perspectives of young children living without a home.

Discussion Prompts:
-"What do you think it's like to live day-to-day trying not to get caught? How would you feel if you had to 'blend in' with other travelers?"
-"Have you ever felt like you needed to hide from someone or 'blend in' with a group of people? What was that like?"
-"What does the bird represent to you?"

Engagements:
-Students will compare and contrast this text with "A Shelter in Our Car" text.
-Smart Board Activity - Completing a Venn Diagram that compares the two main characters in these two texts.

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Eve Bunting has written more than 200 books for children, many of which can be found in libraries around the world. Her other Clarion titles for very young readers include My Big Boy Bed, which was also illustrated by Maggie Smith, and Little Bear's Little Boat, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. She lives in Pasadena, California.

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Fly Away Home [Bunting, Eve, Himler, Ronald] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Fly Away Home