Essential Question(s) of this lesson that point to the big idea:

Lesson #1

What is social justice?

Why does social justice matter to me and my community?

By the end of this lesson students will

K:

Know that the term Social Justice is highly nuanced, it can mean radically different things to different
people, and represent a number of issues.

D:

Collaboratively construct a working definition of social justice for the purposes of the unit.

Reflect meaningfully about the role that social justice plays in their lives.

Plan for Learning Activity(ies) or Tasks, & Check for Understanding/Assessment:

Hook/ Intro: Provide students with a selection of popular slogans or compelling prompts related to a variety
of social justice issues, e.g., Black Lives Matter/ My Culture is Not a Costume, I Need Feminism
Because.../Feminism is for Everyone, Equality vs Equity visual/ Not Every Disability is Visible see
appendix 1).
o Ask students by show of hands if they have seen or heard of any of these campaigns. Ask students to
briefly define or elaborate on each slogan or prompt for the benefit of the class.
o Example questions to ask: Who has heard of? Can you tell the class what: My culture is not a
costume meansetc.
o Ask students to pick one prompt that resonates with them and to write in their journals about for 3-5
minutes about what that prompt might mean.
o Students will then pair up with a student who has selected a different prompt from them and share
their ideas. Have students explain their partners ideas, rather than their own, to the class. Jot down
their ideas on the board under the broad headings: racism, sexism, heterosexism, and ableism. As
different ideas emerge, verbally note the variety of responses.

Ask students to reflect and journal their ideas on the prompt: Describe how and what links these issues
together.

o As students think-pair-share their thoughts to the class, jot down their ideas under the heading
Social Justice. Again, note the variety of responses as they emerge.
o Ask students to speculate whether or not they feel that a single definition of social justice can be
agreed upon. Explain that the class needs to come up with a definition that accurately represents all
of their ideas. Ask: what are the essential components of a solid definition of social justice?
o Tease out a response from the group and solidify a class definition. Ask students to copy the answer
down and/or create a document that contains the definition and distribute it to the class
electronically/ post it on the wall.
o If needed, access social justice definitions from different sources across the web to show that
definitions can be flexible for certain ideas and concepts that are hard to pin down.
o Make the definition communal and offer a means to change it, if needed, as the unit progresses. The
definition should be a living document that can change to suit the needs of the class. Over time, it is
our expectation that acknowledging the difficulty in defining the concept will play a role in
understanding why messages/ communication is imperfect and how that can affect the way we read
media messages.

Exit Card Prompt: So far we have talked about four social justice concerns. What are some other examples
of social justice issues that you can think of? Which issues matters to you most? Due to the fact that only a
small sample of issues were provided, we would expect other suggestions, issues to emerge. Students should
not feel limited to the issues presented by the lesson, and their responses may inform the examples used in
further lessons; if not many new ideas emerge from the exit card, the teacher may introduce other forms of
social justice to the class.

Materials Needed:

Smart-board/ screen to show images

Internet Access

Appendix: