Kate Daly
SCG 439
Professor Lavie Raven
Professor Lavie Raven
12 October 2012
“Homeward Bound”
Brainstorm:
1) Cause- Abused and neglected animals
2) Tool-Ceramic bowls
3) Art Form- Photography
Objective/Purpose:
For this unit, my
objective is to create awareness of the problems domestic animals face when
they are neglected and what students can do to raise money and awareness for
these animals. The students will also learn how to research charities and how
said charities actually distribute their finances.
Project Title:
“Homeward Bound”
Background/Justification:
Despite the
often-public outcry that animals be treated with respect and care, tens of
thousands of cats, dogs, and other domestic animals are found dead or on the
brink of death from abuse and neglect. In recent years, television shows and
news stations have brought abuse to our attention, such as through programming
about dog fighting rings, animal “cops” and caseworkers, and the Michael Vick
case. Although many people want to help these animals, many charitable
organizations divvy up their finances to only donate a small portion of their
profits to the actual cause. Students need to look at these charities with a
critical eye, identifying what red flags are present and how to avoid them.
Skills:
Students will read Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? by Gary L.
Francione. Students will learn how to identify bias and
presentation in advertising and organizational groups. CC. K-12.W.R.2 Text Types and Purposes:
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and
information clearly and accurately through the effective selection,
organization, and analysis of content (From Common Core.) CC. K-12.W.R.7 Research to Build and Present
Knowledge: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on
focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under
investigation (From Common Core.) CC. K-12.R.R.8 Integration of Knowledge and
Ideas: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text,
including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and
sufficiency of the evidence (From Common Core.) Students will be given ceramic pet bowls to
paint to donate to an animal shelter. They will likely donate the bowls to
P.A.W.S. Chicago as we will be taking a field trip to this shelter in the last
week of the unit. Students will create a project based on
photographs they take themselves that reflect what they’ve learned throughout
the unit.
Content:
This unit is designed mostly for an
English/Language Arts classroom, as we will be doing quite a bit of reading,
critical analyses of texts, and writing proposals and response papers based on
research they gather. However, this unit could work for a number of other
content areas as well.
Social
Science/History:
-History
of animal rights. When did animals start becoming domesticated?
-Evolution
of advertising, which could coincide with the evolution of
media (TV, radio, Internet, etc.)
Mathematics:
-Percentages
and amounts that charities receive and how they spend it.
-The
value of your money: how much do you need to donate to make a
difference?
World
Language/ESL:
-How
do animal laws compare in America to other countries? How can
you write a proposal in that language
to help homeless pets?
Community
Building Assets:
Students will learn how to create awareness
for a cause in their community by presenting factual information as well as
creating an impact through emotion and personal story. Students will also learn what other plights
are affecting their community through research of charities and learn how they
can help these groups through volunteering (meaning, money is not the only way
one can help a charity.)
Other
Expertise:
A speaker who works for P.A.W.S. Chicago
will give a talk on how students can help animals in the city and what are the
biggest issues a charitable organization face. If possible, we will also take a
field trip to the P.A.W.S. shelter (1997 North Clybourn Avenue, Chicago IL
60614) to see the inner workings of a shelter and how those who volunteer or
work there go about their days.
Materials:
Drawing/Poster board Disposable cameras Markers Colored pencils, pens Glue sticks Ceramic pet bowls (one for each student) Ceramic paint (for the outside of the bowl) Paintbrushes Journals (for written reflection) Computers with Internet access
Student
Activities:
At the beginning of each class, students
will take five minutes to write in their journals about the readings, projects,
or whatever we are currently working on. This is an informal reflection that
will be their bell ringer for the day.
Week
One
Background for the students: A brief history
of animal rights in America in the 20th and 21st century.
How have these rights shaped the laws? What do these laws mean for domestic
animals? Activity: Students will get into groups to
discuss ethical dilemmas involving animal rights. For example, students will be
given scenarios such as, “You’re walking home from school and you see a dog
being dragged along by a leash and choke collar. The dog seems to be in pain
but the owner is on their phone and isn’t paying attention. What would you do
and why?” Students will present their answers to the class and we will discuss
the impact of these issues in our everyday lives. We will begin reading excerpts from Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or
the Dog? and online supplemental materials to offer different views. Students
will begin to learn about the importance of bias and presentation in books and
online resources. Students will find one website that is
presented “improperly” and one website that is presented “properly” and explain
the differences between each one.
Week Two
Students will continue to research bias in
websites and books and will begin to learn about charities. Activity: Students will be assigned a
recognizable/famous charity and will have to fill out a worksheet with such
questions as “What percentage of collected money goes towards the cause?” This
will help them start to identify how charities can advertise or present
themselves as being more charitable than they really are. We will continue to read some excerpts from
our book and begin to tie this into the idea of which charities we should look
into. Hopefully we will have a guest speaker come
in from P.A.W.S. Chicago to discuss the importance of animal shelters and what
they do for our community. Activity: Students will make ceramic pet
bowls to donate to P.A.W.S. and write a short letter to the shelter to express
what they’ve learned about homeless pets and how they feel these bowls will
help the organization.
Week Three
We will take a field trip to P.A.W.S.
Chicago to see the conditions of the shelter and learn some more facts about
what it’s like for a homeless pet in a good shelter. We will also learn what
it’s like for a homeless pet in a less desirable shelter. Activity: Students will get to create poster
boards with disposable cameras and art supplies. Each student will pick an
animal charity in Chicago to research and create an “advertisement” for this
shelter/charity. If possible, students will notify these charities of their
work and send them a copy of the poster! Wrap Up: Students will reflect on their
ideas of animal rights and the state of animal shelters and organizations in
Chicago. We will discuss as a group how this unit made them feel. What did they
learn that surprised them? How can they continue to help their community
through these organizations or through other causes?
Resources:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
(A website that critically and objectively analyzes various charities and their
effectiveness.)
Evaluation/Assessment:
Students will be
graded based on their reflections/journal entries, class participation, group
and individual activities, their poster board advertisements, and various
questions based on their readings.
Reflection:
N/A
N/A
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