Grade:11^th grade 

Subject: U.S History/Geography

Standards:

Arizona History and Social Science Standards

• HS.G3.2 Evaluate the impact of economic activities and political decisions on spatial patterns within and among urban, suburban, and rural regions.
• HS.G3.5 Evaluate the impact of social, political, and economic decisions that have caused conflict or promoted cooperation throughout time.

National Council for Social Studies Standards

• Geography Theme 3: People, Places, and the Environments
  • Assist learners to analyze the spatial information about people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface.
  • Enable learners to describe the processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement. 
  • Challenge learners to examine how the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth’s surface.

Learning for Social Justice Standards

• JU.9-12.12 I can recognize, describe and distinguish unfairness and injustice at different levels of society.
• JU.9-12.15 I can identify figures, groups, events and a variety of strategies and philosophies relevant to the history of social justice around the world.

Objectives:

• Students will be able to
  • define gentrification and identify the economic, social, and political processes involved in gentrification. 
  • evaluate how gentrification impacts spatial patterns and land use.
  • identify and assess gentrification’s relationship to conflict and cooperation. 

Guiding Questions:

• What are the economic, social, and political processes involved in gentrification?
• How do the economic, social, and political processes in gentrification affect how the land is used and who has access?
• How does gentrification contribute to conflict and/or cooperation?

Assessment:

• Use students’ maps of gentrification and answers to questions about viewpoints of gentrification to assess their understanding. 

Prior learning: 

• Students will have already studied the relationship between the New Deal and redlining. 

Materials:

• Street map of Southside and La Plaza Vieja Neighborhoods 
• Two graphic organizers
  • Viewing Guide for “Gentrification Explained”
  • Mapping Stakeholder Relationships
• Three videos
  • “Gentrification Explained”
  • “What It’s Like to Get Kicked Out of Your Neighborhood”
  • Oral history video on the gentrification in Southside and La Plaza Vieja
• Large pieces of paper for students to map what they know

Differentiation Strategies:

• Allow students to work in small, teacher-led groups during guided practice.
• Provide students with discussion questions before discussion time. 

Cross-Curriculum Connections:

• Students could complete an activity comparing subprime mortgage payments and low-interest rate mortgage payments to understand the long-term costs of subprime lending. 

Extension:

• Arrange for students to interview people with historical connections to the neighborhood to learn more about conflict and cooperation in the context of gentrification. 

Total time: 60 minutes

Activating Background Knowledge: (5 minutes)

• Project the Street Map of Southside and La Plaza Vieja on the board.
• Instruct students to describe what Southside and La Plaza Vieja are like today.
  • Students could write lists, complete freewriting, or draw to describe the neighborhoods.

• Ask students to form pairs and identify processes or choices that influenced the current state of the neighborhoods compared to them being historically African American and Mexican neighborhoods.
• Invite students to share their answers about processes or choices that influenced the current state of these historic neighborhoods.

Presenting New Information/Explicit Teaching: (25 minutes)

• Review the Viewing Guide for “Gentrification Explained” with students before watching the video.
  • Explain that the first box will be filled with information in the definition projected in the video.
• Explain that students will discuss the following questions after they watch the video:
  • What is gentrification?
  •  What are some economic, social, and political processes involved in gentrification?
• Show the video “Gentrification Explained” (7:30 minutes).
• Encourage students to share their viewing guides in pairs.
• Engage students in a class discussion based on the following questions:
  • What is gentrification?
  •  What are some economic, social, and political processes involved in gentrification?
• Explain to students that they will watch two more videos to identify different stakeholders involved in gentrification as well as areas of conflict and cooperation among stakeholders.
• Define stakeholders and brainstorm stakeholders involved in education.
  • A stakeholder can affect or is affected by a particular effort.
  • Model filling out the graphic organizer for Mapping Stakeholder Relationships in the context of education:
    • Students, teachers, families, staff, administrators, businesses, policymakers, etc.
  • Brainstorm potential areas of conflict and cooperation within education.
• Tell students to fill out the graphic organizer Mapping Stakeholder Relationships while watching the following videos:
  • “What It’s Like to Get Kicked Out of Your Neighborhood” (6:22 minutes)
  • Oral history video on the gentrification in Southside and La Plaza Vieja
• Invite students to share their graphic organizers in pairs or small groups.

Guided Practice: (15 minutes)

• Guide students to individually map what they learned about gentrification on a large paper.
  • Encourage students to use words and images to map out what they know about gentrification regarding:
    • It’s definition
    • Economic, social, and political processes involved
    • Different perspectives on gentrification 
• Explain to students that they need to write a description on their map that answers the questions:
  • What’s the story of gentrification from a bird’s-eye view?
    • What are the pieces and how are they related?

Independent Practice: (10 minutes)

• Instruct students to answer the following questions on the back of their map:
  • What is the human story of gentrification from a street-level view? How are people positively or negatively affected by gentrification?
    • What is gentrification’s relationship to conflict and cooperation among stakeholders?
    • What is unjust about gentrification and why?
  • Where do you stand with gentrification from a personal view?
    • What assumptions, interests, or personal circumstances shape how you see gentrification?
  • What are some ways you can get involved with strategies to address gentrification?
    • Consider any committees, organizations, or groups involved with strategies to address gentrification.

Reflection: (5 minutes)

• Ask students to complete an exit ticket that addresses the following:
  • Choose one of the economic, social, or political processes of gentrification to describe how that process affects how land is used and who has access to the land.