Ask your students to read the article “More
families going without enough food” from Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Section:
Main, A1
Vocabulary Warm-Up: Match the words to their definition below.
TollLexiconPovertyScarce
________________ Insufficient to satisfy the need or demand
________________ The extent of loss, damage, suffering, etc.,
resulting from some action or problem.
________________ The vocabulary of a particular language,
field, social class, person, etc…
_______________ The state or condition of having little or
no money, goods, or means of support; Condition of being poor
Questions for Discussion (discuss as a class, in pairs, or groups, or use these
questions as a worksheet depending upon your class size and dynamics):
1.Where are the steep increases in food scarcity being seen the most?
2. In 2008, the report found, nearly ____ million children — more than
______ in ______ across the United States — were living in households in which
food at times ran short.
3.Among people of all ages, nearly ______ percent last year did not
consistently have _______________ __________.
4.The findings are from a snapshot of food in America that the U.S.
Department of Agriculture has issued every year since ________, based on Census
Bureau surveys. They provide a glimpse into what?
5.Hunger is up _____% in Washington State.
6.In Washington, the number of people who struggle regularly to put enough
food on the table has increased from 90,000 to ___________, according to the
survey.
7.The federal government began monitoring food insecurity in ________.
8.What are all the programs Stone believe would help this situation?
9.What did President Obama pledge?
10.What are the first steps in Congress to make this happen?
Suggested tools for further researching this issue and sharing/discussing your
findings with others (assign as in-class project or homework):
1.What does “food insecurity” mean? Have you or someone you know ever
experienced this? What were the feelings associated with this? If not, imagine
that your family didn’t have enough food. How would that feel?
2.Many government programs help those in need, through food, clothing and
other social services. Do you think it’s the government’s responsibility to
provide for those that need help? Why or why not? If the government didn’t
provide assistance, what would our community look like?
3.What can you and your classmates, family & friends do to help those who
need extra help this season? Why do you think more can food drives occur near
Thanksgiving and the holidays? Should it be a year-round effort?
4.What is the WIC program?
5.“Last year, people in 4.8 million households used private food pantries,
compared to 3.9 million in 2007, while people in about 625,000 households
resorted to soup kitchens, nearly 90,000 more than the year before. Food
shortages, the report shows, are particularly pronounced among women raising
children alone. Last year, more than one in three single mothers reported that
they struggled for food and more than one in seven said someone in their home
had been hungry — far eclipsing the food problem in any other kind of
household. The report also found that people who are black or Hispanic were
more than twice as likely as whites to report that food in their home was
scarce.”
·
What are your thoughts on the above statistics? When do you believe the economy
will rebound? Are there any family members or neighbors affected by layoffs?
How has this changed their lives?
6.Washington's 2009 minimum wage is $8.55 per hour. Did you know that this
is the highest in the nation? Ask your parents what their latest grocery trip
cost? If you had a minimum wage job, how many hours would you have had to work
to cover that grocery bill?
·
Do you think teens realize how much necessities, like food, cost? Why or why
not?
Newspaper-related CBA activity: Checks and Balances
A
responsible citizen of the U.S. understands how the constitutional principle of
checks and balances protects the three branches of government.
State a
position that evaluates whether the system of checks and balances worked during
a particular administration, court, or congress/legislature/local council by:
·Evaluating
whether it prevented one branch from exercising too much power.
Using the
e-edition, search through past articles and find a relevant story that links to
checks and balances in our government system.
