Inquiry-mindedness - The Critical Thinking Consortium

TEACHER RESOURCE #6Critical challenge #3Develop the criteria or core features of those actions that can break the cycle ofpoverty.➤➤➤➤➤➤➤➤➤➤➤➤Introduce the term “cycle of poverty” and brainstorm possible meanings with students. Explainthat the cycle of poverty generally refers to recurring factors that keep families in poverty for twogenerations or more.Show the students a representation of the cycle of poverty in a developing country from the followingwebsite: http://www.crcna.org/pages/sea_cycleofpoverty.cfm.Suggest to students that many individuals and organizations work to help people break the cycleof poverty. Invite students to brainstorm in groups the challenges of breaking the cycle. Pointout that breaking the cycle of poverty does not suggest that everyone should be wealthy, but thateveryone has a right to basic needs and human dignity.Pose the question: What would be the criteria or core features for an action that could break thecycle of poverty? Invite students to conduct an internet search for information about what othershave done to break the cycle. Key words for the search might be: breaking the cycle of poverty,One Hen, Ryan’s Well, Greg Mortenson, Pennies for Peace, UNICEF, International Red Cross.Introduce the Previewing strategy using materials from Teacher Resource #2 and invite studentsto preview the websites prior to exploring the details.Encourage students to research at least one project that successfully contributed to breaking thecycle of poverty and to use the 5Ws to record their findings. Invite students to share their findingsin groups of four, and to discuss the common qualities of each successful action. Instruct studentsto identify the criteria for identifying an action that can break the cycle of poverty and to list threeactions that would meet these criteria and three actions that would not.Critical challenge #4Write a persuasive letter to the editor of your local paper raising the issue of povertyin your community.➤➤➤➤➤➤Ask students what they have learned about poverty in their community. Brainstorm the issues thatexist in the community. Ask students to select a viewpoint on some aspect of local poverty thatthey think is not adequately addressed or understood (such as attitudes towards homeless people,willingness to help those in need, discrimination against poor people).Invite students to write a letter to the local paper, the school board, or the school newsletter arguingon behalf of their selected viewpoint on poverty in the community. Introduce the Persuasivewriting strategy using the materials from Teacher Resource #3. Encourage students to use Planningfor persuasive writing (Activity Sheet #3C) to plan their writing.Direct students to self- and peer-assess their work before submitting it to their intended audience.Tools for Thought 2008–09:3 53 © The Critical Thinking Consortium