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Discovering the Legacy of the War on Poverty 20 Social Studies Skill Builder ACTIVITY Discovering the Legacy of the War on Poverty 20 Overview Materials This Social Studies Skill Builder introduces students to the goals and legacies • Transparencies of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, a set of programs devised to 20A.1–20A.3, decrease poverty in the United States. Students examine images and corres- 20B.1–20B.6 ponding written information related to six War on Poverty programs—Federal • Placard Masters Food Assistance, Legal Services, the Job Corps, Head Start, the Office of Eco- 20B.1–20B.6 nomic Opportunity, and VISTA. By recording notes about and discussing each • Student Handouts program and its effects, students assess the degree to which the programs have 20A–20C affected contemporary American society. • CDTrack 17 Procedures at a Glance • Post halves of Student Handout 20B on the walls to create 18 stations. • Divide students into mixed-ability pairs. Use the diagram at right to direct students to move into their correct places. • Explain to students that they will learn about programs from President Johnson’s War on Poverty to understand their influence on American society. • Play CD Track 17 to introduce students to the Great Society. • Next, pass out Student Handout 20A and have students read it. • Project Transparencies 20A.1, 20A.2, and 20A.3. Review the salient information from the handout and the Teacher’s Guide with students. • Give each student a copy of Student Handout 20C and each pair one of Placards 20B.1 through 20B.6. • Have pairs examine their placard, locate the corresponding station, read the written information, and record notes on Student Handout 20C. • When a group finishes at a station, have one student bring both copies of Student Handout 20C to you. Check their work. Then give them a new placard. Continue this process until pairs have visited most of the stations. • Project Transparency 20B.1 and have students share their answers. Use the Teacher’s Guide to give students additional information. Repeat this process for Transparencies 20B.2 through 20B.6. • Finally, have students stand on spectrums to represent the degree to which the programs influenced contemporary American society. 11 Procedures Procedures in Detail 1 Before class, create 18 stations—each of which represents a War on Poverty program—by making three copies of Student Handout 20B and cutting apart and posting sections of it on the walls of your classroom. Then decide how you will divide students into mixed-ability pairs. Use the diagram found below the Materials List to determine where students should sit. 2 In class, direct students to move into their correct places. Then tell them they will learn about various programs from President Johnson’s War on Poverty to understand their influence on American society. 3 Play CD Track 17: “Johnson’s State of the Union Address,” a four-minute Student Handouts 20A –20B excerpt from Johnson’s address on January 4, 1965. (Note: The text of the speech appears in the Teacher’s Guide.) After students listen to the speech, have them write answers to these questions: • How would you describe Johnson’s speaking style and tone? • What are the primary features of Johnson’s Great Society? • What proposals does Johnson make? • What governmental efforts would be required to fully achieve Johnson’s proposals? • How do you think Congress responded to Johnson’s message? • How do you think the American people responded? Transparencies 20A.1 –20A.3 4 Pass out Student Handout 20A: Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society, and have students carefully read it. Then project Transparencies 20A.1, 20A.2, and 20A.3. For each, review the salient information from Student Handout 20A with students. Also use the Teacher’s Guide to give students more information. 5 Next, give each student a copy of Student Handout 20C: Notes on War on Poverty Programs and each pair one of Placards 20B.1 through 20B.6. Have pairs carefully examine their placard and then locate the station with the corresponding written information. Have students carefully read the written information. Then ask them to use Student Handout 20C to summarize the goals of the War on Poverty program, write a brief description of it, and Student Handout 20C record its influence on American society. 6 When a group finishes at a station, have one student bring both copies of Student Handout 20C to you. Check their work for accuracy and thorough- ness. Then give them a new placard. Continue this process until pairs have visited most of the stations. 7 When pairs have visited most of the stations, tell them that the War on Poverty program on which they are currently working is the one they will present to the class and place on a series of spectrums. Give them a few extra minutes to make sure they thoroughly understand that program. Placard Masters 20B.1 –20B.6 12 Activity 20 Procedures Wrap Up 1 Have students return to their seats. Project Transparency 20B.1, which shows a poster for the Federal Food Assistance program. Ask the students who worked on the Federal Food Assistance program to come forward and share their answers with the class. Use the Teacher’s Guide to give students additional information about the transparency. 2 Repeat this process for Transparencies 20B.2 through 20B.6. 3 After the class discusses all the programs, create a spectrum by placing a 10- to 15-foot piece of masking tape across the floor. On the board behind the spectrum, label the ends of the spectrum as shown below. Transparencies 20B.1 –20B.6 Least Impact Greatest Impact on LifeToday on LifeToday 4 Explain to students what a spectrum is. Tell them they will explore the degree to which War on Poverty programs have influenced contemporary American society. Have each pair take two to three minutes to discuss where on the spectrum they would place their program. Then ask one student from each pair to stand on the spectrum where the pair thinks its program belongs. Have students hold their placards in front of their chests. 5 Once students are standing on the spectrum, allow students to question the placement of the programs. Assume the role of devil’s advocate by challeng- ing students to defend their placements using evidence from their notes. Encourage lively discussion about the relative effects of the War on Poverty programs on American society. 6 Repeat this process using the following two spectrums: Program Still Program Does ExistsToday Not ExistToday Program the Federal Government Program the Federal Government Should Not Be Involved In Should Be Fully Involved In Discovering the Legacy of the War on Poverty 13 Procedures Idea for Student Response After you have completed this activity, have students design a poster for a government program they would like to see created. Tell students their posters should include visuals and an engaging slogan. Also ask students to write a paragraph describing the program and explaining why it should be established. A poster might look like this: 14 Activity 20 Teacher’s Guide Transparency 20A.1 Transparency 20B.1 In this transparency, In this transparency, we see a we see a photograph poster for the Federal Food of Lyndon B. Johnson Assistance Program. It shows being sworn in as pres- an elderly woman looking ident of the United directly at the viewer. The aim States. He is aboard the of this poster was to attract the airplane returning from elderly to the Food Stamp Dallas after John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Jacqueline Program. Toward the bottom Kennedy stands by Johnson’s side as he takes the oath. of the poster, a second message asks for volunteers for Project FIND. In this program, volunteers sought and identified older Americans who needed help in getting Transparency 20A.2 services such as federal food assistance. In this transparency, we see a poster for the Peace Corps. Transparency 20B.2 It shows four ethnically diverse Americans looking directly at In this transparency, we see a the viewer, and the slogan poster for Head Start. Playing advertises that the Peace Corps on both World War I and World is prejudiced in favor of ethnic- War II Army recruitment posters, ally diverse Americans. The aim the slogan at the top of this of this poster was to recruit underrepresented minorities poster reads, “Head Start wants to the Peace Corps. You.” The poster features pic- tures of four children with insis- tent expressions and pointing fingers. The children, an Transparency 20A.3 African American girl and boy and a white girl and boy, In this transparency, we see a are all pointing at the viewer just as Uncle Sam does in political cartoon of President Army recruiting posters. Johnson playing a piano that represents Congress. The Transparency 20B.3 cartoon implies that Johnson convinced Congress to pass In this transparency, we see a many of his legislative measures poster for the Job Corps with ease; he was a master at program with the slogan “Who “playing” Congress. The cartoonist was aware that cares? Job Corps!” The poster pianos have 88 keys and used this symbolism to subtly and slogan encouraged disad- represent the 88th Congress, which was in session while vantaged young people to take Johnson was in office. advantage of the training ser- vices provided by the program. Enrollees in Job Corps centers received room and board, health coverage, a cash allowance, and, in some cases, work clothes. They could stay in a Job Corps center as long as two years. Both during and after that time, they received assistance in finding a job.
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