Opportunity and Social Mobility: Unit Overview

Using period photographs, this lesson exposes children to some of the images from the era of school segregation and the path to integration in the United States.  The students observe and think about what happened when children were not given equal opportunities for education.  Next, the unit looks at access to information.  How does the arrival of the Internet, or a community library, change the lives of citizens?  Finally, work with your students on statistics that highlight access to food, energy, clean air, and clean water.  How many people in the world actually have these things?  What do their lives and homes look like?  Read for information, gather statistics, and see how opportunity affects social mobility.  The sensitive content will be new for most elementary students, making this a great opportunity for supporting the students with these fully integrated lessons.