Printer-friendly versionThis lesson has students distinguish between charity (volunteering in a soup kitchen) and justice (working to end the inequalities that make soup kitchens necessary). It asks students to think about root causes (inequality) versus symptoms (poverty that leads to the need for soup kitchens).
Professional Development
Read an
explanation of the Difference
Between Charity and Justice.
Middle Grades (5-8)
High School (9-12)
Political Cartoon
Artist: Jeff Parker. Reprinted with Permission. Teachers may purchase individual cartoons for other lesson plans at PoliticalCartoons.com.
In this lesson, you have explored the differences between charity and justice. Apply what you’ve learned to this cartoon. Use these questions to guide you:
- What is the societal problem that this cartoon addresses?
- What in the cartoon represents a charitable response to the problem?
- What in the cartoon gets in the way of the charitable response?
- How would you address the problem in a justice-oriented way?
Standards
Activities
and embedded assessments address the following standards (McREL 4th edition)
Behavioral Studies
Standard 4. Understands conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among individuals, groups, and institutions
Civics
Standard 10. Understands the roles of voluntarism and organized groups in American social and political life
Standard 13. Understands the character of American political and social conflict and factors that tend to prevent or lower its intensity
Standard 14. Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life
Standard 28. Understands how participation in civic and political life can help citizens attain individual and public goals
Language Arts
Standard 1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process
Standard 2. Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing
Standard 3. Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions
Standard 4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes
