Charity and Justice: What’s the Difference? (Middle Grades)

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Objectives

Activities will help students:

• distinguish between charity and justice
• identify causes of societal problems
• think about ways to address the underlying causes of societal problems

Essential Questions

• What is the difference between charity and justice?
• What causes societal problems?
• How can we address the root causes of societal problems?
• How can graphic organizers facilitate understanding? 

Materials

Handout 1: Definitions

Handout 2: Charity and Justice: A Scenario

Handout 3: Solving Problems

Political Cartoon 

Artist: Jeff Parker. Reprinted with Permission. Teachers may purchase individual cartoons for other lesson plans at PoliticalCartoons.com.

Glossary

charity [char-i-tee]
(noun) aid given to those in need

justice [juhs-tis]
(noun) characterized by fairness, ethics, equity, and law

Activities

1. This lesson is about charity and justice. Working in a small group, complete the handout called "Definitions" to explore the meanings of the two concepts. Share with the class your examples of charity and justice.

2. On your own read "Charity and Justice: A Scenario." Summarize what you’ve read by completing the chart at the bottom of that page.

3. Look at the list of societal problems on "Solving Problems." Follow the directions on the handout to fill in the chart.

4. Working in a small group, identify a problem in your community. Use the problems on the "Solving Problems" handout as guidelines. Find out if any person or group in the community has taken action to address the problem. If so, find out what they have done. Is the action taken a charitable response? If so, what would be a justice response? With your group, brainstorm possible justice responses to the problem.

5. Then, working on your own, write a letter to the editor of a local paper, explaining the justice solution you are proposing and why you think it is a good idea.