In this lesson, students will consider their own notions of
poverty, examine the lives of people classified as “working poor”
from a variety of perspectives, and present their findings to the class. Then,
students will synthesize their knowledge in a paper examining poverty and hardworking
people.
Grades: 6–8, 9–12
Subjects: American History, Civics, Economics, Language Arts, Social
Studies
Suggested Time Allowance: 3–5 classes or full unit
Objectives:
In this lesson, students will: 1. Explore their own ideas about poverty. 2. Examine the complex causes of poverty among low-income earners
by reading and discussing The Working Poor. 3. In groups, research a particular aspect of poverty as it
relates to a chapter in the book and prepare oral presentations with visual
aids. For instance, “Money and Its Opposite” looks at the challenges
the poor face in managing their money and their vulnerability to financial scams;
the plight of immigrant farm labor is examined in “Harvest of Shame”;
and the impact and importance of job training is reviewed in “Work Works.” 4.Individually, write a paper speculating
on how one of the lives discussed in the book (for example Caroline Payne, Kara
King, or Leary Brock) could have been different if she had known about alternative
options or had more information to help her make decisions.
Resources / Materials:
• classroom board
• pens/pencils
• Student journals
• paper
• computers with Internet access
• resources about cost of living, social services, etc. (Economics, Health,
and Sociology textbooks, encyclopedias, periodicals, computers with Internet
access, etc.)
ACTIVITIES/PROCEDURES
1. Warmup/Do-Now: In their journals, students
respond to the following questions, written on the board prior to class: “How
do you define poor? How does someone become poor? How does someone leave poverty
and enter the middle class?” After a few minutes, allow students time
to share their responses.
2. As a class read and discuss “Work Doesn’t Work”
focusing on the following questions regarding Caroline Payne (pp. 50–76):
a. What personal characteristics of Caroline Payne embrace
the ethics of America? b. How is Caroline Payne one of the “forgotten”
Americans (p. 53) or “invisible in America” as the subtitle of the
book suggests? c. How does David K. Shipler describe the year 2000? d. What is the difference between what Caroline Payne makes
now, working in a Wal-Mart, and what she earned twenty-five years ago working
in a factory? What is the difference in real dollars, corrected for inflation
(see p. 51)? e. Is Caroline Payne a victim of racial discrimination? Is
she lazy? How are her work habits described? f. What happened when Ms. Payne applied to manage departments
at Wal-Mart? g. What did the people who received promotions have that Caroline
Payne did not? h. What happened to Caroline Payne’s teeth? i. How did Caroline’s physical appearance affect her
job prospects? j. Why did Caroline move around a lot as a child? k. When Caroline got divorced, how did she supplement her income?
l. How is Caroline’s second marriage characterized? m. Why is the economic cost of failed relationships high? n. Why did Caroline’s investment in education turn out
to be a bad one? o. How did Caroline’s life at home affect her work? p. What “profound disability” of Amber’s
was confirmed in the first grade? q. Why did Caroline initially move away from New Hampshire?
r. In what ways did Caroline repeat her parent’s “syndrome
of uprootedness” (p. 58)? s. Why is it important for Amber to have consistency in her
teachers and counselors? t. Why did Caroline lose her job at Tambrands? u. How did Caroline buy her house? How did she secure her second
mortgage? v. Why did Amber’s teacher threaten to report Caroline
for neglect? What were the circumstances that led her to work rotating shifts?
w. According to the book, what is the “most curious and
troubling facet of this confounding puzzle” (p. 70)? x. Why did Caroline eventually move to Muncie, Indiana? y. What is Caroline’s newest hope? z. Poverty is not a single problem, but a constellation of
problems. In the case of Caroline Payne, trace the dimensions of her experience
of poverty.
3. Divide students into groups of six. Explain that each group
will be examining a different aspect of the situations described in individual
chapters in The Working Poor and preparing an oral presentation based
on their research. Assign each group one of the following roles: Economics,
Education, Real Estate, Civics, Sociology, and History. Encourage each group
to use the following questions and guidelines to aid them in their research
(copied into a handout for easier student access):
Economics:
What will $5.45 an hour x – 40 hours a week earn you in a year? What will
$6.80 an hour x – 40 hours a week earn you in a year? What would you be
able to afford to rent or buy in your town or city? How much could you spend
on groceries? Clothing? Medical care or dentistry? Use current newspapers to
get an understanding of the real estate market in your city. Look at advertisements
to get an understanding of the cost of housing, groceries, clothing, medical
care, etc.
Education:
The chapter “Dreams” examines the role of education in depth. Determine
how the schools are funded in your area and compare the amount of money spent
per pupil with other nearby communities, the state, and the nation. Speak to
teachers and administrators to see if they feel they have adequate resources
to educate and whether or not they feel disparities in funding affect the quality
of education and ultimately the success of their students.
Real Estate:
Explore any of the cities in which Caroline Payne or any of the other individuals
in the book have lived. What industries are there? How much does it cost to
live there? What is the climate like? The demographics? Use online resources
or current newspapers to provide your group with a portrait of the city.
Civics:
Is there legislation or programs in place to protect the working poor? How does
someone apply for welfare? Medicaid? Research legislation, welfare, and charitable
programs in your city.
Sociology:
Describe a day in the life of someone who works in a factory or stocks shelves
in a Wal-Mart. What are their responsibilities on the job? How many hours make
up a shift? What sort of benefits might they expect?
History:
Since 1950 there have been a great many changes in American life and how people’s
employment has been viewed and treated. Put the lives of people like Caroline
Payne, Tran Mao, and Ann Brash into a larger historical perspective by creating
a timeline from 1950 onward, documenting seminal events in labor law, welfare
reform, and economics.
Once research is completed, group members should compile their research into
an oral presentation to be given to the class. To aid in their presentations,
students should create visuals to help the audience comprehend the information
being conveyed, as well as to aid them in note-taking.
Presentations may be given in a future class.
4. Wrap-Up/Homework: After each group has presented, students
individually respond to the following prompt (written on the board for easier
student access): “Think about some of the decisions that specific individuals
in the book have had to make. Using both hindsight and the information that
you have gathered through research and class presentations, imagine what you
might advise them to do in one of the situations described in The Working
Poor. Hypothetically, how might their lives be different, if there were
different options and more information available to them? For example, if Caroline
Payne had been able to save her teeth or wear dentures, perhaps she would have
been able to more readily smile at customers. With teeth, perhaps she would
have been promoted to a manager in one of the sales departments at Wal-Mart.
Or in the case of Leary Brock, at what points in her life did she miss opportunities?
What might have happened if she had told her mother about her rape, and if her
mother had shown more sympathy and belief in her daughter? What motivated Leary
to turn herself in to the police? What would most likely have happened to her
if she had been placed in jail instead of a treatment program?”
FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
• What is the responsibility of the government toward
people in poverty? Private industry? Charity?
• Do you believe there is any way to break the cycle of poverty described
in the book?
• Is it fair to ascribe blame to anyone for the poverty described in the
book?
• Is it the fault of the individual or society when people fail to succeed
in life? How can the belief that in America one can get ahead if one works hard
coexist with the contradictory “American Anti-Myth, which holds the society
largely responsible for the individual’s poverty.” (see pp. 5–6)
• Using the story of Tran Mao and his family as a basis, describe the
things that need to come together in order for one to successfully get out of
the cycle of poverty?
• Using examples from the book (for instance the case of Lisa Brooks),
discuss how the problem of poverty is not a single problem but one of interlocking
problems, with the outcome often the result of negative effects that reinforce
one another.
• In what ways does housing limit the chance of escaping poverty? What
is the relationship between housing and health?
EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT
Students will be evaluated on participation in group discussions,
thoughtful research, group presentations, and the completion of a paper utilizing
supportive reasoning and explanations.
1. What kinds of questions do you think are
raised by The Working Poor? Write a letter to President Bush, a member
of Congress, or a local city official asking the questions that are raised by
the book. Then, write a response from the perspective of the recipient of your
letter.
2. Make a budget for a family of four with one wage earner
earning just above minimum wage. Include food, medical care, housing, clothing,
and incidentals.
3. Research the programs and services (federal, state, local,
faith-based, charitable, etc.) for the working poor available in your own municipality.
Create an informational pamphlet designed to help the working poor understand
the services available to them.
4. In The Working Poor David K. Shipler points out
that an obvious solution to Caroline Payne’s problems would have been
for Procter & Gamble to allow her to work day shifts at the Tambrands factory.
However, no one in the helping professions called the factory manager or foreman.
Imagine you are in a helping profession and wish to counter the “regard
for the employer as untouchable.” Write a letter to the factory manager,
asking for Caroline Payne to be put on day shifts. How will you convince the
manager to change the shift? Alternatively, write a letter to the landlord whose
housing conditions are unacceptable and urge improvement.
INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS
Global Studies: Create a chart comparing poverty
levels in the United States to three other countries, one being a Scandinavian
country. What anti-poverty programs are available in the countries you have
chosen? Are they government or privately funded? Include a brief written analysis
of your findings.
Health: Create an informational pamphlet about depression.
How many people suffer from it? What are the symptoms? What are some of the
treatments?
Media Studies: Keep track of your television watching for a
week, paying close attention to how the poor are portrayed. Do the cashiers
and factory workers fit the images in The Working Poor? David K. Shipler
calls the poverty of the working poor “invisible.” Using your television
journal as evidence, agree or disagree with his contention.
Teaching with The New York Times: Read some of the
case studies in the column, The Neediest Cases. What problems present themselves
most often? How are they solved? Research the Neediest Cases Fund. How does
it respond to poverty? Do you think it is effective?
Elyse Fischer is a freelance materials developer.
Long-term projects include work for the Developmental Studies Center in Oakland,
CA, and The New York Times. Prior to moving to the West Coast, Ms.
Fischer was a senior producer at eSchool Online, a division of ACTV, creating
online professional development products for teachers across the nation. She
was also the associate director of a prejudice-reduction and diversity training
program in New York City. Fischer graduated from Columbia University, Teachers
College with an M.A. in International Education Development, specializing in
curriculum and teaching. While at Columbia, she taught preschool in New York
City, as well as worked as a museum educator at the American Museum of the Moving
Image. Before returning to New York for graduate school, Fischer was the library/media
specialist at Laguna Middle School, on the Laguna Pueblo Reservation in New
Mexico.
Javaid Khan, a graduate of Bank Street School for Children,
received his B.A. in Sociology from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.
Khan taught English at Poly Prep High School in Brooklyn, New York, for several
years, during which he also served as associate head coach of the girls’
varsity basketball program.
In 1997, Khan worked with Wave Hill, a cultural institution in Bronx, New York,
as a summer crew leader in the “Wave Hill Forrest Project.” In that
role, Khan managed a team of high school students who worked on environmental
restoration projects in the community. Most recently, Khan traveled throughout
New Zealand with the Experiment in International Living Program as group leader
of sixteen American high school students. He cites that particular education-related
experience as his most challenging and memorable to date. Currently, Khan is
a freelance writer living in New York City.
ABOUT THIS LESSON PLAN/COPYRIGHT
This lesson was originally published in a slightly different
form to accompany the article “A Poor Cousin of the Middle Class,”
by David K. Shipler which appeard in The New York Times Sunday Magazine,
January 18th 2004.
Reprinted by permission of The New York Times. All rights reserved.
This lesson plan is free to download by educators for teaching purposes only.
