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Teaching with Poverty: The Impact and Strategies
By: Matt Bergman
About Me
@mattbergman14
• bergman-udl.blogspot.com/• learn-lead-grow.weebly.com/
Essential Questions for Today:
● What is poverty?
● How does poverty impact our classrooms?
● What strategies can we use to overcome the challenges of poverty in our classrooms?
% of Americans Living in PovertySource: US Census Bureau
46.3 million Americans
We see the impacts of poverty in our classroom
Lack of motivation
Cognitive lags
Chronic tardiness
Inappropriate behavior
Lack of parental involvement
High transience rates
But do we understand what poverty really is?
Poverty is “the extent to which an individual does without resources.”
- Ruby Payne
SOURCE: Payne, R. (1996). A framework for understanding poverty . Highlands, TX: aha! Process, Inc.
In the United States, the official poverty thresholds are set by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Persons with income less than that deemed sufficient to purchase basic needs—food, shelter, clothing, and other essentials—are designated as poor. In 2011, what was the poverty threshold of a family of 4?
$23,018
SOURCE: Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind. United States: ASCD.
Source: US Census Bureau
How Poverty Occurs…
Situational Generational Absolute
Relative Urban Rural
SOURCE: Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind. United States: ASCD.
Situational
Generational
Absolute
Relative
Urban Poverty
Rural
Source: William P. O'Hare, The Forgotten Fifth: Child Poverty in Rural America (2009).
Source: William P. O'Hare, The Forgotten Fifth: Child Poverty in Rural America (2009).
Barrier = PovertyMany of our students come from poverty,
which we cannot control
We can control how we can help our students in our classrooms
Strategies We Can Use to Overcome the
Challenges of Poverty in our Classrooms
Tip 1: Build Relationships"No significant learning occurs without a
significant relationship." James Comer (1995)
Tip 2: Create a Stable Environment
Tip 3: Encourage a Growth Mindset
Lowering expectations does not work!
Tip 4: Reading is the Key to Vocabulary Development
36%of low income parents read daily to their
kindergarten aged child.
SOURCE: Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind. United States: ASCD.
The Matthew Effect
Keith Stanovich
What can we do?
Provide access to a variety of reading
materials
Opportunities to read in
school
Supports in place
Reading through a social lens
A. Variety of Materials in our Classroom
B. Opportunities to Read in School
C. Supports in Place
D. Reading through a Social Lens
4 A’s Model: What assumptions does the
author make?
What do I agree with from the text?
What do I argue with from the text?
What do I want to aspire to from the text?
A mother’s role is critical in the development of
vocabulary. According to research, by the time MOST children start school, they will
have been exposed to 5 million words and should know about
13,000 of them
SOURCE: Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind. United States: ASCD.
Tip 5: Developing Vocabulary Strategies
“The achievement gap is largely a vocabulary gap.”
How do you choose words to teach?
Tier 3 – Domain Specific
Tier 2 – General Academic
Tier 1 – Everyday words that we use
Beck, I.L., McKoeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: The Guilford Press.
What can we do?Multiple opportunities Meaningful interactions
Word Walls
Word Wall
Tip 6: Oral Language is Important!
Teachers use Academic Vocabulary and “smart words” in the classroom.
Embed higher-level synonyms and explanations within language.
Never use slang.
Tip 7: Increase Engagement
One last thought…“Do what you can, with what you have,
where you are at.” Theodore Roosevelt
Thank You!
● For questions:● [email protected]
● For more Web 2.0 ideas! ● @mattbergman14 (Twitter)● learn-lead-grow.weebly.com/ (Website)● http://bergman-udl.blogspot.com/ (Blog)
ReferencesBeck, I.L., McKoeown, M.G., & Kucan, L.
(2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: The Guilford Press.
Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind. United States: ASCD.
Payne, R. (April 2008). Poverty and learning: 9 powerful practices. Educational Leadership, 65(7), 48-52.
