By the end of the lesson, SWBAT:

NAME:_______________________________
- Determine their own definition of self- DATE:_______________________________
advocacy and explain how this concept PERIOD:_______________________________
can impact current school dropout rates. SUBJECT: Reading
Day 3
Do Now
MVP: Look at the group of words below. Three of the words are alike or related in some way. One
word does not belong in the group. Find the word that does not fit and circle it, Silently &
Independently at your assigned seat.

1. Muscle a. heart b. brain c. branch

2. Ape a. cavern b. cliff c. boulder

3. Branch a. leaf b. net c. root

4. Dozen a. couple b. zero c. yellow

5. Flame a. ice b. frost c. snow

MVP: Circle the letter of the correct answer to each question below. Circle one letter only,
silently & Independently at your assigned seat.

1. Which of the following does a torch do?

(a) Dig in the ground (b) give off light (c) float on water (d) grow in the ground

2. In which of the following places will you probably see an ape?

(a) In a school (b) in a hospital (c) in a zoo (d) in an airport

3. Which f the following can you do with a spear?

(a) Throw it (b) hide inside it (c) groom with it (d) cook with it

4. Which of the following might you see coming from a chimney?

(a) Plants (b) water (c) people (d) smoke

5. Which of the following can you do with a net?

(a) Open a can (b) scoop up fish (c) draw a picture (d) dig a hole

I. Graphic Organizer
MVP: Silently & independently complete the graphic organizer for the three
vocabulary terms listed below.

Net Chimney Brain

Objective Review: SWBAT explain in their own words what advocacy is and why it is
important to their learning.
Give an example of a
situation or a scenario in
which you have, or
would need to,
advocate for yourself in
order to get what you
want or need:

II. Review of Advocacy

MVP: Answer the questions below with your table groups at a voice level 2.

Self-Advocacy
WHAT ARE SELF-ADVOCACY SKILLS?
WHY ARE SELF-ADVOCACY SKILLS IMPORTANT?

1. What does Self-Advocacy Mean?

It is having the ability:

▪ To ___________________ for yourself.
▪ To be able to ask for what you need.
▪ To ask for help and/or _____________________.

2. Is being able to Self-Advocate a skill?

Yes!
▪ It is an important social skill.
▪ Because it’s a skill, it can be _____________ and _______________.

3. Why are self-advocacy skills important?

Self-Advocacy Promotes:
▪ __________________.
▪ __________________: Meaning it allows you to be in more control over your life.
▪ Success in _______________, in the _________________, and with relationships.

Why is being able to self-advocate in school important?

1. _____________in school or at work is influenced by asking questions.

▪ *We ask questions to clarify information and to gain a better
understanding of something or to gain new knowledge.
2. To be successful, a person needs to be able to express their needs and desires.
▪ *They need to be able to ask for any necessary accommodations, assistance,
or guidance.
 4. A Few Important Points About Self-Advocacy.

▪ As we develop into young adults, being able to self-advocate becomes

important.
▪ If you desire to be in control of your own life and navigate your own path, you
must have strong self-advocacy skills.
▪ Your ________and ________will depend your ability to Self-Advocate.

According to several studies, success in school, the workplace, and with relationships are
highly influenced by a person´s self-advocacy skills.

STOP!
III. Reading
MVP: Listen and follow along with Ms. Wieseman at a voice level 0, as we learn about self-
advocacy and why it is important for high school students.

HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATE: CAUSES AND COSTS

[1] On Monday I dug into the current state of high school dropouts and where - Are high
American students today stand in historic statistics. In my research, I school drop out
rates higher or
discovered that while dropout percentages are much lower today than they lower today?
were a few decades ago, there is still a lot of room for improvement.

[2] Today I want to look at the underlying causes of the dropout mentality
and how every student who does not earn a high school diploma hurts
society as a whole. My hope is that in understanding common traits among
dropouts, we can achieve higher high school graduation rates as a nation.

Why are students dropping out?

[3] One unchanging factor when it comes to the dropout rate is -In paragraph 2,
what does the
socioeconomic background. Since the National Center for Education author say that
Statistics first started tracking different groups of high school students in the he hopes to
late 1960s, the socioeconomic status of each pupil has impacted the achieve?
graduation rate. Students from low-income families are 2.4 times more likely
to drop out than middle-income kids, and over 10 times more likely than high-
income peers to drop out.

[4] Household income is the not the only disadvantage many dropouts have,
though. Students with learning or physical disabilities drop out at a rate of 36
percent. Some behaviors that are often characteristic in dropouts include
being retained from advancing a grade level with peers, relocating during
the high school years and the general feeling of being left out or alienated by
peers or adults at the school. Overall, a student who does not fit the traditional
classroom mold, or who falls behind for some reason, is more likely to lose
motivation when it comes to high school and decide to give up altogether.
-According to
the author, why
Why should I care? are students
dropping out?

[5] The financial ramifications of dropping out of high school hurt more than
the individual. It’s estimated that half of all Americans on public assistance
are dropouts. If all of the dropouts from the class of 2011 had earned
diplomas, the nation would benefit from an estimated $154 billion in income
over their working lifetimes. Potentially feeding that number is the fact that
young women who give up on high school are nine times more likely to be,
or become, young single mothers. A study out of Northeastern University
found that high school dropouts cost taxpayers $292,000 over the course of
their lives.

[6] It’s not just about the money though. Over 80 percent of the incarcerated
population is high school dropouts – making this an issue that truly impacts -According to
every member of the community. Numbers are higher for dropouts of color; the author,
what are some
22 percent of people jailed in the U.S. are black males who are high school potential
dropouts. As a society, we are not just paying into public assistance programs outcomes of
for dropouts, but we are paying to protect ourselves against them through students
incarceration. dropping out of
school?

[7] I wonder what these numbers would look like if we took the nearly $300K
that taxpayers put in over the course of a dropout’s lifetime and deposited it
into their K-12 learning upfront. If we invested that money, or even half of it,
into efforts to enhance the learning experience and programs to prevent
dropping out, what would that do to dropout, poverty and incarceration
rates? Right now, the process seems to be reactionary. What would it look like
if more preventative actions were put in place?

IV. Reflective questions

MVP: Read, think & answer each of the following questions silently & independently at
your assigned seat. After 5 minutes, we will discuss these as a class.

Why do you
think that
students decide
to drop out of
school?
Using the In paragraph [ ], the author says that students drop out of school
author’s words because…
from the article,
why do students
drop out of
school?
In your own
words, what is
self-advocacy?
Who is “at risk”
for dropping out
of school?
How could self-
advocacy help
students who
are “at risk” of
dropping out of
school?
How does this
relate to you?

As a young
scholar, what
could you do to
prevent falling
behind in school
and being “at
risk” for
dropping out?
According to
the author, what
can our school
or school district
do to prevent
this from
happening?