Poverty in America

Class begins with a collaborative data analysis activity in which students examine graphs and charts depicting poverty in the United States over time. Depending on students’ familiarity with interpreting quantitative data, the teacher may want to model how to identify trends and significant changes using the first graph with the whole class. Students work in small groups to analyze the data, describe patterns they observe, and record their findings in a graphic organizer. After analyzing the data, students watch a book talk and use ideas from the presentation to expand their thinking about the causes of poverty and the ways society responds to it. As students watch, they produce a list of explanations for poverty, considering both the challenges experienced by people living in poverty and the broader systems that shape how poverty is addressed. The teacher may pause periodically to ask clarifying questions and encourage students to connect the author’s ideas to the trends they observed in the data. Students conclude the lesson by answering the compelling question, “What kind of issue is poverty for those experiencing it and for how we address it?” by producing two evidence-based claims supported by both the data analysis and the ideas presented in the book talk.