https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu Collection of tools to teach social class in the classroom en-us 2019-02-08 00:09:40 UTC 2025-10-17 02:13:38 UTC hello@padlet.com shawnee13jones https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329032297 2019-02-08 00:23:11 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329032297 shawnee13jones https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329074514 Author: Suzanne Collins
Grade: 6th-12th
These books show the importance of social classes. This society was made up of 12 districts each district filled with poverty. The capital runs all of the districts and rules with an iron fist. The books shows the main character Katniss, she grew in District 12. This society puts on the Hunger Games. A game putting kids against each other to fight to the death. Two kids from each district would be put in these games, except the Capitol. This shows students the difference in different social class and how they are treated.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767052-the-hunger-games

]]> 2019-02-08 05:14:40 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329074514 shawnee13jones https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329078502 Author: Liz Murray
Grade: 6th-8th
Breaking Night is about a girl named, Liz Murray. She grew up homeless after being born into a drug-addicted family. Many people that she went to school with made fun of the way that she dressed and how she acted. She decided one day to go back to high school and eventually she received scholarships. With all of these advancements she graduated from Ivy League schools. This story gives hope to students that if they are in this situation, they can rise above it.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1432370.Breaking_Night]]> 2019-02-08 06:12:13 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329078502 shawnee13jones https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329080887 Author: Scott Westerfeld
Grade: 9th-12th
Uglies follows a girl Tally when her friend runs away from the authorities, she is forced to turn her friend in or never be pretty. This is about how people in society are judged based on their beauty. Once people turn a certain age their minds are wiped, and they are genetically altered to be beautiful. The citizens that are not beautiful they are treated as lower class people.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24770.Uglies]]> 2019-02-08 06:41:41 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329080887 shawnee13jones https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329083091 Author: Kathryn Stockett
Grade: 9th-12th
The Help is about a girl Skeeter who has just graduated college. She writes articles about the servants that work at her house and their lives. Through their eyes it shows how they are treated and even though slavery was outlawed they were paid unfairly, and this is an example of social class in the south. Through reading this book students will learn the trials that black people went through and the extent that they were treated. This will help students be educated on how the Civil Rights movement was needed.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4667024-the-help]]> 2019-02-08 07:07:06 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329083091 shawnee13jones https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329311342 Author: Victor Hugo
Grade: 10th-12th
Les Misérables when translated in French means the miserable. This story tells about how the miserable or lower class in France were not treated with fairness. They fought to get their freedoms back to help the lower class get their fundamental rights to be free. Following each of the characters, it shows the injustice happening to the people living on the streets. Also, the book shows how the upper class is treating these people as if they are animals.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24280.Les_Mis_rables]]> 2019-02-08 17:27:22 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329311342 shawnee13jones https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329458992 Grade: 3rd-5th
Divide the class into three groups. Each group representing a different class such as; high, middle, and low social classes. They are then assigned to buy specific items for their egg child to help protect them. Each group is given a certain amount of money to buy these necessary supplies to help their egg child live. The lower class is given less money than the other social classes. The teacher then creates a market place, which is put in place to purchase different items for your egg child. These certain items are padded mailer packages, newspaper, fabric, and string. After purchasing these different items each group is given several minutes to help protect their baby. Then when their time is up they stand on a chair and drop their egg child to the ground to see if they survive. Usually the more wealthy upper class group, their child survives with little to no harm and the middle and lower class groups have more damage because they have less money to purchase the necessary items for their egg to survive.
https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/baby-egg-reimers.pdf]]> 2019-02-09 05:56:09 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329458992 mmadilyn715 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329518780 Author: Dr. Jillian Roberts
Grades: 1-3
This book is great  for elementary aged students. This book is a gentle way of introducing poverty to younger aged students. This book explores people who live without the resources that they need. On Our Street helps students to understand how lucky they really are, and how we can help people in poverty.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35797220-on-our-street]]> 2019-02-09 19:01:03 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329518780 mmadilyn715 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329519329 Author: Vera B. Williams
Grades: K-3
A Chair for My Mother is a story about a little girl named Rosa, her mother, and her grandmother. They were a poor family to start with, but when their house burns down times get really hard. The community pulls together to give this family a place to live, but the only thing that is missing is the comfy chair that Rosa's mom adored. All three of the women save money in order to buy another comfy chair. This book shows all of the different social classes, and how they come together in hard times.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/835202.A_Chair_for_My_Mother?from_search=true]]> 2019-02-09 19:07:22 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329519329 mmadilyn715 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329520920 Author: William Miller
Grades: 1-6
Rent Party Jazz is set in the depression era in New Orleans. In this book Sonny's mom loses her job, and has no way to pay the rent. Sonny turns to an old friend who comes up with a solution to this problem; a rent party. Not only does this book explore the idea of social classes coming together to help each other out, but it also explores the history during the Great Depression Era. This book is a great resource for teachers who want to teach their students how to solve problems, and want their students to understand poverty a little more.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220216.Rent_Party_Jazz?from_search=true]]> 2019-02-09 19:23:49 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329520920 mmadilyn715 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329522901 Author: Sharon Dennis Wyeth
Grades: K-2
Something beautiful is about a little girl who decided to look past the scary sights in her neighborhood. The little girl's neighbors tell her about things that they think are beautiful. Through this experience, the little girl learns about the power of hope and perspective. This book explores social class through the point-of-view of the lower class. Something Beautiful helps children to understand social classes that are different from their own.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/957923.Something_Beautiful?from_search=true]]> 2019-02-09 19:43:55 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329522901 mmadilyn715 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329524138 Author: Laura E. Williams
Grades: 1-2
The Can Man is about a boy who really wants to buy himself a skateboard, but doesn't know how to earn money. He observes a man collecting cans for money, and decides to collect cans in order to earn money for his skateboard. Through his encounters with The Can Man, the little boy decides to give the money he earns from collecting cans to The Can Man. This book teaches kids that it is important to break social class barriers. It also teaches kids the importance of giving back to their community through service.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7724334-the-can-man?from_search=true

]]> 2019-02-09 19:57:24 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329524138 mmadilyn715 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329531145 By: Michele Soussou
Grades: 5-8
This lesson plan foes a long with the PBS website called People Like Us. The students will read the stories about people and social class. Then they will discuss what characterizations come along with social-class. They will also discuss other aspects of how money and social class correlate. Then the students will do a math worksheet that teaches them about how to calculate the mean using income. The worksheet also has the students calculate living costs of certain families, and then has the students categorize the families into social classes.
http://www.cnam.com/people-like-us/resources/lessonplans/income.html]]> 2019-02-09 21:24:20 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329531145 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329622255 Author: Annette Lareau
This book is great for all teachers K-12 . It explains how social class plays a big role in our childhoods. The author demonstrates the power, and limits, of social class in shaping the lives of America's children.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56360.Unequal_Childhoods

]]> 2019-02-10 17:24:15 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329622255 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329624059 Authors: William H. Parrett and Kathleen M. Budge
This book would also be good for any K-12 school teachers. It talks about the high-poverty high-performing schools and what they do differently than other schools. You can learn day to day practices that will make a positive difference for these students.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13569488-turning-high-poverty-schools-into-high-performing-schools
 ]]> 2019-02-10 17:37:08 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329624059 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329630652 Authors: Joseph M. Williams, Julia Bryan, Stephaney Morrison, and Tracey R. Scott
This article would be good for all teachers to read. It talks about findings in their study that helps low-income student have academic success. The four major factors they found were
1) Peer-social capital
2) Teachers who care
3) Family and community assets
4) Multiple streams if motivation 
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.li.suu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=3546877e-75e7-4bbc-9046-ac823a0413a1%40pdc-v-sessmgr02#

]]> 2019-02-10 18:23:02 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329630652 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329672826 Author: Megan Lawson
This article talks about erasing the opportunity gap by teachers acknowledging the barriers and accepting that they do in fact exist. Gorski breaks down the concept of equity literacy into four abilities; educators who practice equity literacy appropriately recognize, respond,
redress, create and sustain. He goes into detail about each of the four concepts. It gives really good information.
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.l
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.li.suu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=b952759d-2980-4a5b-8552-750231140d8e%40sessionmgr4006#]]> 2019-02-10 23:00:39 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329672826 harley_taylor https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329672968 Grades: K-5
This website gives resources for teachers to better understand students from different social classes and backgrounds. There are also books to read to kids to help them understand their classmates who are different from themselves. There also resources to help families get involved.

]]> 2019-02-10 23:01:39 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329672968 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329675963 Author: Eric Jensen
This book talks about research and real school success stories  that explore engagement as the key factor in the academic success of economically disadvantaged students.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18198681-engaging-students-with-poverty-in-mind

]]> 2019-02-10 23:21:55 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329675963 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329678759 Authors: Moon-Heum Cho, Christina Convertino, and Claudia Khourey-Bowers.
This article talks about  an interdisciplinary team that created two online learning modules entitled Teacher as Learning Facilitator and Teacher as Anthropologist. By doing these modules preservice
teachers demonstrated their knowledge and awareness of poverty as it relates to teaching
and learning practices. 
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-015-9366-9]]> 2019-02-10 23:39:40 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/329678759 harley_taylor https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330155844 Grades: K-12
This website has lesson plans and resources to help teach diversity. It is well organized into different categories such as economics or LGBTQ+. It strives to teach history through the eyes of the everyday person, as opposed to the people in power at the time. It brings a new perspective.]]> 2019-02-12 01:20:09 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330155844 harley_taylor https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330160344 Grade Levels: K-12
This website provides resources for a wide spectrum of diversity. By going to Topics in the menu you can choose different topics, such as poverty. It then provides resources such as articles, websites, and online courses. It is a great place to learn how poverty may affect your students, and how to support them.]]> 2019-02-12 01:40:16 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330160344 harley_taylor https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330162532 Edutopia is a well organized website built for teachers to learn about how to connect with their students from different backgrounds, and as a number of great articles about understanding children from poverty, and how to connect with them. It gives suggestions to help them without embarrassing them. It also has a lot of resources for help in other areas, such as helping students with trauma.]]> 2019-02-12 01:50:32 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330162532 harley_taylor https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330164274 Grades: 9-12
This website easily organizes your information for scholarships, and lets you know what ones you qualify for, and how long they will take to fill out. For many students living in poverty, college doesn't seem like an option because they don't have the money for it. It can be difficult to feel motivated to get good grades, if it feels like you won't move past that point anyways. By sharing this resource with freshman students, you can show that by working hard, it is possible for them to get several scholarships, and get to college. Many students in poverty also have at least one job to help with bills, so they don't have much time, and since this site keeps all your information and organizes it for you, it saves a lot of time.]]> 2019-02-12 01:59:01 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330164274 harley_taylor https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330174765 By: Bill Bigelow
Grades: 9-12
This lesson plan starts out with students reading parts of Daughter of Earth, by Agnes Smedley. In it she talks about while she was able to succeed in school, at the same time the hidden curriculum reinforces her low place in society. Have students discuss what they read and then give them writing prompts.]]> 2019-02-12 03:01:15 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330174765 bayalex1 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330220515 This video is a quick overview of how social class affects different generations, a person’s overall education, and the quality of life. There is a difference between old money, people who have inherited wealth because of their parents and grandparents, and new money, people who have worked hard to be rich. The quality of education and opportunities for people who live in poverty is greatly decreased. In addition to this, a person of lower class tends to have a shorter life span and be less healthy because they do not have great access to health care.  

]]> 2019-02-12 08:04:21 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330220515 bayalex1 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330220917 This simple video has no words but quickly explores a few barriers that students of a lower class tend to have in their education. Some of these examples include: limited access to electronics and other school supplies, a smaller vocabulary, less support at home. After explaining how poverty affects students, the video explains how teachers and schools can assist these students. Some options mentioned include: provide additional technology and time to review curriculum, involve both students and parents in the education process. ]]> 2019-02-12 08:06:19 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330220917 bayalex1 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330221114 This video explains how a person’s hobbies and interests place them into a certain group or class. A person’s taste and interests greatly determine many “social and cultural advantages”. Cultural capital bridges the gap between a person’s interests, what we own and who we know, and ones education, as who you know and the types of things a person is involved in can greatly influence their acceptance into colleges and universities. 

]]> 2019-02-12 08:07:11 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330221114 bayalex1 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330221316 This TedTalk really captures the experience of a lower class person’s experience with upward mobility and social capital. The author, J.D. Vance, relates his experience of growing up in a steel production town with a broken family and mediocre education. In Vance’s town, people tend to accept the barriers that society has built up around them and adopt the attitude that no matter what they do they will fail, so they give up. If someone does persist and work hard to demolish those barriers, then they must pretend to be someone they’re not in-order to breach that division. Interestingly enough, Vance also discusses the widespread effect that childhood trauma has on many kids in these towns, trauma that carries over for many generations and increases likelihood of failure. Vance stresses the idea that we must teach these kids that life isn’t fair but their choices do matter.

]]> 2019-02-12 08:08:02 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330221316 bayalex1 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330221566 In episode two, “Myth of Meritocracy”, the old saying, “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” is discussed in relation to social mobility. Obviously, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is impossible, gravity will not allow it. But, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., this is especially “cruel to say to a man with no boots”. In the United States, the american dream is scarce to none - especially if someone lives on the wrong side of town. The chances for a person to be successful are largely based on where they live and their social class status. 

]]> 2019-02-12 08:09:01 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330221566 bayalex1 https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330234568 Grades: 6-8
This lesson is designed to help students understand the hardships that people in poverty face as well as challenge students to find solutions to the inequalities from poverty. The lesson includes visual aids (graphs) that can cover math curriculum, inspiration for skits which covers arts, as well as poems and stories that help students to understand language arts. All of these subjects can be covered in discussing the privileges (or lack thereof) that come from social class. ]]> 2019-02-12 09:03:24 UTC https://padlet.com/shawnee13jones/g501frll3ouu/wish/330234568