Lesson Plan - Out of School, Forced to Work

Analyze Images

Ask students to respond to this prompt: Look at the images in the article “Out of School, Forced to Work.” Choose one to analyze. What do you notice about it? What do you wonder? Discuss students’ responses.

Preview Vocabulary

Use Words to Know to preteach the terms pandemic, sanitation, erode, economy, sub-Saharan, vector, activist, advocate, food insecurity, underemployed, sweatshop, vaccine, supply chain, and refuse.

Read the Article

Read the article aloud or have students read it independently. As students read, direct them to mark problems related to child labor with a P and solutions with an S. Or you could have students highlight those parts of the text using different colors.

Answer Close-Reading Questions

Have students write their responses or use the Close-Reading Questions to guide a discussion.

• How has the coronavirus pandemic affected people around the world? (Cause and Effect)
The pandemic has killed more than 1.1 million people around the world and left hundreds of millions without jobs. Many families are struggling to afford food and shelter. In India and many other countries, schools have been fully or partially closed because of the pandemic since March. This has put more children on the streets and led to a sudden explosion in child labor.

• What is poverty? What is food insecurity? How do those issues relate to the problem of child labor? (Domain-Specific Vocabulary)
Poverty is the state of being too poor to meet basic needs like food and housing. Internationally, about 10 percent of people live in poverty, meaning that they make less than $1.90 per day. Food insecurity is a lack of reliable access to enough food. About 2 billion people worldwide deal with food insecurity. The Covid-19 pandemic is making poverty and hunger worse, which is also making the problem of child labor worse. Families struggling with poverty or food insecurity may feel that they have no other choice but to send their children to work, even if they earn only pennies a day, just so that they can survive.

• What evidence in the text supports the idea that many children’s lives were improving before the pandemic? (Text Evidence)
Before the pandemic, the number of child laborers had fallen by nearly 40 percent since 2000. People around the world had been working to pass stronger laws limiting child labor and making sure that those laws were enforced. More children had been going to school and learning how to read, and children’s health had been improving. In India, the government was working to enforce laws that ban children under age 14 from working in most situations. The country had built shelters to provide food, vaccines, clothes, and some schooling to millions of children.

• What are some of the dangers that child laborers face? (Key Details)
The jobs that child laborers work in are often illegal for children to perform and dangerous. For example, some children work in trash heaps littered with broken glass without gloves or shoes. One sixth-grader working in a garage in India accidentally cut his hand down to the bone. Another young worker said he has headaches and trouble sleeping. Additionally, child laborers miss out on an education, which can make it harder for them to escape poverty.

• How does the “School Closures” map support the article? Which five countries have the most students out of school because of Covid-19? (Text Features)
The map supports the article by showing whether schools are closed, partially open, or fully open in each country. It shows that the closures are affecting many millions of children. The countries with the most students out of school are India, Brazil, Bangladesh, Mexico, and Ethiopia.

• How would you describe the tone or overall feeling of the section “Empty Classrooms”? What details help create that tone? (Tone)
The tone of the section could be described as sad, depressing, or resigned. The authors use descriptive details to help readers imagine what a day might be like for 11-year-old Rahul as he works at a garbage dump and visits his closed school. Details like “empty look in his dark brown eyes,” “ratty slippers,” “windblown and deserted,” “paint chipping off,” and “shabby” contribute to the tone.

• Reread the “How You Can Help” sidebar. Which idea do you think would be the most effective way to help? Why? (Evaluating Ideas)
Responses will vary.

Watch a Video

Have students watch “Ask an Expert: Child Labor.” Then discuss these questions: How did the video add to your understanding of child labor? What else do you want to know about child labor?

Summarize

Use the Skill Builder Organize a Summary to have students determine which statements belong in an objective summary and put them in order. You can extend the activity by having students use the summary as a model for writing an objective summary of another article.

Assess Comprehension

Assign the 10-question Know the News quiz, available in PDF and interactive forms. You can also use Quiz Wizard to assess comprehension of this article and three others from the issue.