Social+Statification

This module will be presented in Moodle, however to allow access for this class I have posted the lessons to wikispaces.
 * =Hybrid Course Module = ||

All human beings have a culture, and this culture is the cornerstone for their daily routines. As we have already learned, cultures are vastly different, and the differences extend beyond food, dress, and social conduct. To further complicate matters differences exists within each culture. Why do these differences occur? Why are they tolerated in some insistences and in others, they are the cause of violence and discord? These questions are the focus of this unit. This unit will take approximately three and a half weeks (9 blocks of in-class time) to complete. I. Dimensions of Stratification (1.5 blocks)
 * Title: ** ||
 * Social Stratification and Diversity**
 * Introduction: **
 * Type a summation of the lesson in the space below. Introduce the general topics that will be examined in this module. ** ||
 * Introduction: **
 * Type a summation of the lesson in the space below. Introduce the general topics that will be examined in this module. ** ||
 * Learning Objectives for Module: **
 * The following learning objectives are addressed either with the in-class environment or through your online class. **
 * List objectives in bullets ** ||
 *  SWBAT: **
 * show their understanding of how the economic dimension of social stratification affects human motivation by analyzing data and writing an essay on the cycle of poverty
 * determine cultural values associated with socioeconomic stratification of the upper, middle, working, and underclasses
 * analyze the relationships among social class and other culture group membership and political power by surveying their peers and adults and analyzing the results
 * summarize the differences between the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionit approaches to social stratification by reading a text selection and taking part in an online discussion
 * discuss the measurement and extent of poverty in the United States by analyzing data from the U.S. Census Bureau
 * evaluate commitment to proverty programs in the United States by researching data resulting from these programs
 * analyze the influence of motivation on socioeconomic consequences by examining media myths about welfare
 * Face to Face Activities: **
 * Class time is used to present and discuss these selected class topics and perform these class activities. The following outline provides the general topics addressed. This content is prepared from your text, the online component and resources other than your text. Be specific as to time and sequence. ** ||
 * Face to Face Activities: **
 * Class time is used to present and discuss these selected class topics and perform these class activities. The following outline provides the general topics addressed. This content is prepared from your text, the online component and resources other than your text. Be specific as to time and sequence. ** ||

A. Social Stratification and Social Class

1. How is social stratification related to social class?

B. The Economic Dimension

1. Are there extremes of income and poverty in the United States?

C. The Power Dimension

1. Can you exercise power without being wealthy?

D. The Prestige Dimension

1. How is prestige distributed?

E. Key Terms

1. social stratification 2. social class 3. bourgeoisie 4. proletariat 5. income 6. wealth 7. power 8. prestige

F. Activites

1. lecture and discussions based on their readings 2. analyze maps 3. use [|Folded Frayer Model]for vocabulary reinforcement 4. __Sneetches__ by Dr. Seuss, students act out characters

a. discuss reactions to star-bellied and plain-bellied Sneetches b. compare Sneetches to Orwell's __Animal Farm__ (read in their ninth grade English classes)

II. Explanations of Stratification (1.5 blocks)

A. Functionalist Theory

B. Conflict Theory C. Symbolic Interactionism D. Key Term

1. false consciousness

E. Activities

1. Excerpt from __A World Lit Only by Fire__ 2. Role Play - students should illustrate one or more aspects of the concept of exploitation according to Marx's conflict theory of stratification, after students perform them discussions follow either in person or on the wikispaces board 3. Text selection: "Field Research: Who's Popular, Who's Not?"

III. Social Classes in America (2 blocks)

A. Class Consciousness B. The Upper Class C. The Middle Class D. The Working Class E. The Working Poor F. The Underclass G. Key Terms

1. class consciousness

2. working poor 3. underclass

H. Activities

1. Lecture 2. Vocabulary reinforcement

IV. Poverty in America (1.5 blocks)

A. Measuring Poverty

1. How is poverty measured in the United States? 2. How many Americans are poor?

B. Identifying the Poor

1. How are race and ethnicity related to poverty? 2. How are gender and age related to poverty?

C. Responses to the Problem of Poverty

1. What were the goals of the War on Poverty?

D. Welfare Reform

1. What is the nature of welfare reform? 2. Has welfare reform worked?

E. Key Terms

1. absolute poverty 2. relative poverty 3. feminization of poverty

F. Activities

1. Lecture, readings 2. Discussion about some of the media myths about welfare.

a. Poor women havemore children as a result of the financial benefits. b. We don't subsidize middle class families. c. The public is fed up with spending money on the poor.

V. Social Mobility (1.5 blocks)

A. Types of Social Mobility

1. What are the types of social mobility?

B. Caste and Open-Class Systems

1. What is a caste system? 2. How is the caste system kept intact? 3. What is an open-class system?

C. Upward and Downward Mobility

1. Is upward mobility increasing? 2. What are the social and psychological costs of downward mobility?

D. Key Terms

1. social mobility 2. horizontal mobility 3. vertical mobility 4. intergenerational mobility 5. caste (closed-class system) 6. open class system

E. Activities

1. Lecture, readings 2. Independent practice 3. "Family Tree"

a. Students create a graphic illustrating the types and categories of jobs held by family members b. Must include a method of indicating any social mobility that may have taken place c. What trends, if any, evident? d. Have students think about their own goals for the future. Would they like their children to be in the social strata? Can they do anything now to make those goals more likely to be reached?


 * Online Activities: **
 * Online time is used to present and discuss these selected topics and perform these activities. The following outlines provides the general topics addressed. This content is prepared from your text, the face-to-face component and online resources. Be specific as to time and sequence. ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Online time is used to present and discuss these selected topics and perform these activities. The following outlines provides the general topics addressed. This content is prepared from your text, the face-to-face component and online resources. Be specific as to time and sequence. ** ||

Online Activities will be posted on the Sociology Wikispaces For classroom use we will be using Moodle Formative Assessments created with Hot Potatoes will be used in Moodle, where I will be able to check for understanding, I've posted the quizzes on wikispaces but I'm not able to glean any data from that site. <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Explanations of Stratification ** __Who's Popular, Who's Not?__ <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Social Classes in America ** __Survey - homework__ __Writing Assignment - homework__ Using Google Docs, write an essay in which you locate yourself in the stratification system. Explain why you believe you fit into the category you decided upon. In your essay include answers to the following questions. Are there some stratification categories where most of your friends and family fall? Which categories do they fall into? What does this tell you about your social network? In what ways could this information affect your career plans? <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Poverty in America ** __<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Paired Learning Activity - 1 block for preparation, students will view presentations for homework __ Students will be directed to the [|Institute for Research on Poverty]. As a pair, students will choose an issue relating to poverty to research. They will create a page in the class wiki to present their findings. <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Poverty in America and Social Mobility ** Students will develop and analyze graphs dealing with three sets of U.S. Census Bureau data over a thirty-year span of time. How Mobile Are We?
 * after reading the text selection students will take part in an online discussion of stratification in schools.
 * students will use Google Forms to construct a survey designed to find out what social class the respondents think they belong to
 * students will survey their peers, parents, and other adults
 * data will populate a Google Docs spreadsheet, which students can import into Excel
 * using Excel students will chart the responses and compare them to the percentages found in their text and to the [|U.S. Census data]
 * <span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Assessment: **
 * <span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Describe the overall assessment of the module. ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> The overall assessment will include three assignments, all done online: **
 * How Far Will the Federal Poverty Line Stretch?
 * A reflection post to the discussion board, along with comments on your classmates' reflections
 * An objective assessment
 * An objective assessment