Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
 
About the Museum Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Calendar of Events Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Special Events Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Press
Exhibitions Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Collections Online Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Education Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Visit Cooper-Hewitt Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Join & Support Cooper-Hewitt Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum National Design Awards Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum The Shop at Cooper-Hewitt
Home | Lesson Plans | Conversations | Design Resources | About
Educator Resource Center
Design for Social Justice
›› Return to Lesson Plans







Sign in to rate.
  1 ratings

Title:
Design for Social Justice
Posted by:
Kwanita Williams
Date:
11/30/2008
Grade Level:
High School
Category:
Urban Planning
Subject Area:
Arts
Language Arts
Social Studies
Lesson Time:
8 50-minute class periods
Introduction:
10th grade students in the Philadelphia School District are required to write a research paper. My students will read the novels To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines. Both novels focus on racial inequalities in our criminal justice system as a social justice issue. After reading the novels, my students will identify social justice issues in Philadelphia and/or their own neighborhoods/communities. The social justice issues will be the topics of their research papers. Moreover, students will develop a physical design and/or invention as a solution to social justice problems (eg. posters advertising AIDS/diabetes/breast cancer awareness, architectural designs for urban development, etc.)
State Standards:
No State Standards available.
National Standards:
Visual Arts

Standard 1. Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes related to the visual arts.

Language Arts

Standard 1.  Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process.
Standard 3.  Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions
Standard 4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes.
Standard 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes.

Historical Understanding

Standard 2. Understands the historical perspective.

Thinking and Reasoning

Standard 2.  Understands and applies basic principles of logic and reasoning.
Standard 5. Applies basic trouble-shooting and problem-solving techniques.
Standard 6. Applies decision-making techniques.

 

Objectives:

Students will:

  • understand the research process
  • identify community problems
  • develop problem solving skills by offering solutions to issues
  • demonstrate artistic abilities through design
  • learn about neighborhoods/communities through investigation

 

 

Resources:
Chaperones to take classes on neighborhood tour around school during 80-minute period. 
Materials:
  • computers with internet access
  • sketch/drawing paper
  • disposable digital cameras
  • tape
  • glue
  • poster boards
  • popsicle sticks
  • collage materials
  • string
  • scissors
  • stapler
  • markers
Vocabulary:
Note: Teenagers have very short attention spans.  This lesson is designed as a unit.  My high school is based on the credit system.  Students receive a LAP (Learning Activity Packet) once a month.  If a student completes the requirements for a LAP, a grade of 80% or higher and a credit is earned.  This lesson is designed to be broken up over a number of weeks.

DAY 1

As I teach in Philadelphia, I use as an example the Franklin Learning Center which is located in a North Philadelphia neighborhood that is experiencing gentrification.  Low-income homes and houses selling for close to a million dollars are within blocks of each other.  The neighborhood is also culturally diverse.  Gentrification is both a social justice problem for the low-income residents and a solution for neighborhoods that have been ravaged by poverty.  I will assign student groups a specific client group (teenagers, elderly, cultural groups African American/Latino/Caucasian) to find neighborhood solutions.

Session 1: Give students a handout including Philadelphia demographical information from the year 2000 based on US Census data.  Read aloud some statistical information to show students how to read the document. 

Session 2: Go online via SmartBoard or projector with screen.  Go to www.census.gov  to look up local statistical/demographic information as an example. (For example, I will type in Philadelphia City, go under the category of income and read aloud a statistic.  I will then break students into groups to look for Philadelphia statistics under the following categories (crime, education, income, health, incarceration, gentrification/urban development, racial demographics, employment, income, family status (single/two parent), etc.))

DAY 2 and DAY 3

Session 1:  If possible, have a local designer come in to give a lesson on design and city of neighborhoods.

Session 2: Students will spend the entire period researching local statistics online in the computer lab.

DAY 4

Session 1: Students will conduct neighborhood investigation on the streets/blocks surrounding school.  Students will work in pairs.  One will take pictures and/or sketches of positive things, negative things, people, and something that represents each of the senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound).  Another will take notes and find a person from client group to interview.  Students will ask questions on interview handout.                                                                                                                                   
DAY 5

Session 1: Students will identify a challenge to address.   Encourage identifying the correct problem.  For example, if their challenge is that low-income teens have no place to socialize, students may decide to put together a plan or design a free neighborhood community or recreation center.  The elderly who have limited access to transportation may benefit from a neighborhood health clinic.  Various cultural groups who wish to promote their heritage may enjoy a diverse offering of eateries in the neighborhood.

In their groups students should now brainstorm possible solutions to their identified challenge.  Encourage wild ideas, defer judgment, build on other’s ideas, allow one conversation at a time, be visual, and go for quantity. 

Session 2:  After the students have compiled a list of ideas, they should work as a team to select and refine three of the best ideas.  Ask them to create prototypes of these ideas either through modeling, writing, sketching, etc.  As a class, each team should quickly present their identified challenge and their possible solutions.  Allow time for the students to provide feedback.  If possible, bring these prototypes to a test group.

Session 3:  After the students have had a chance to discuss/test their possible solutions, they should determine which idea they will produce.  Have your students use this session to produce their final product or any final presentation materials (if their solution is a system, service, etc.).

Closure (the following week):

Students can present their designs in front of the class (group presentations).  As a class, discuss how they addressed their challenge, what worked best, where they could improve, what they learned from the process, etc.

 

Procedures:
Teenagers have very short attention spans.  This lesson is designed as a unit.  My high school is based on the credit system.  Students receive a LAP (Learning Activity Packet) once a month.  If a student completes the requirements for a LAP, a grade of 80% or higher and a credit is earned.  This lesson is designed to be broken up over a number of weeks.

DAY 1

Session 1: The teacher gives students a handout including Philadelphia demographical information from the year 2000 based on US Census data.  The teacher read aloud some statistical information to show students how to read the document. 

Session 2: The teacher will go online via whiteboard or projector with screen.  The teacher will go to www.census.gov  to look up Philadelphia statistical/demographic information as an example.  For example, I will type in Philadelphia City, go under the category of income and read aloud a statistic.  I will then break students into groups to look for Philadelphia statistics under the following categories (crime, education, income, health, incarceration, gentrification/urban development, racial demographics, employment, income, family status (single/two parent), etc.)

DAY 2 and DAY 3

Session 1: Students will spend the entire period researching Philadelphia statistics online in the computer lab.

DAY 4

Session 1: Students will conduct neighborhood investigation on the streets/blocks surrounding school.  Paul Schultz will also accompany as another adult chaperone.  Students will work in pairs.  One will take pictures and/or sketches of positive things, negative things, people, and something that represents each of the senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound).  Another will take notes.

Homework: Students can conduct this same type of research in their own neighborhoods and/or choose to focus on the North Phila./Art Museum area surrounding the school.  Students will also be required to interview someone from the neighborhood.

DAY 5

Session 1: Students will “narrow down audience” and decide on a social justice topic related to Philadelphia and/or neighborhood.  For example, students may decide to focus on the high dropout rate, school violence, AIDs awareness, diabetes prevention, abandoned (crack) houses, etc.  Once the student pair decides on the audience, they can begin designing a solution (advertisement posters, design murals to cover-up graffiti, redesign abandoned houses, etc.). 

Session 2:  Paul Schultz will be present to give a lesson on design and city of neighborhoods.

Closure (the following week):

Students can showcase their designs in front of the class (group presentations).



Assessment:
Tings to observe:
  • Was the student a risk taker in the design process?
  • Was the student’s idea imaginative or strictly functional?

 

 

90% or higher- (showcase material) a student went above and beyond the basic standards (innovative, creative, sensory detail, and neat.
0%-90%- a student met or attempted to meet basic standards (creative and neat)
70%-80%- a student fell below basic standards (barely creative, not neat
Below 70%-failure; student did not attempt project

Enrichment
Extension Activities:
Students will spend the remaining three weeks of the unit (LAP 8) completing a research paper based on social justice and/or community-based issue.  Students will complete the research paper process by finding research (books, periodicals, internet, newspapers, etc.). Then students will write note cards, an outline, a rough draft, and final 3 - 4 page research paper including citations and bibliography following MLA format.

 

 

Teacher Reflection:
N/A.
Related
Files:
Interview Handout.docx (Interview Handout)
 
Comments:
You must be signed in to share, comment, or rate a lesson plan.
Sign in now or create an account.
Contact Us | Site Map | Feedback | Privacy | Copyright Info
2 East 91st Street New York, NY 10128 | 212.849.8400

© 2010 Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum: 2 East 91st Street New York, NY 10128; 212.849.8400