Homeless People in New York City

A Webquest by:

Ms. Duran

5^th Grade Language Arts

The Minerva Mirabel School for

Law and Journalism

You are a group of reliable social workers who on your daily commute encounter homeless people laying on sidewalks and sleeping on train seats. All of you have discussed their unjust living conditions and have agreed on taking the mission of developing a strategy to resolve the homeless issue in New York City.

1. You will work in groups of five to conduct research on homeless statistics in New York City.

2. Each person in the group will have a role to play. Make sure you do your part to help the entire group. The roles that you will play are:

Group Leader-make sure that all of the research is completed, the steps of the Public Policy Analyst are complete and that the brochure is complete.

Researcher-you are responsible for making sure that all of the research is thoroughly examined and that a synthesis of each website is made.

Policy Creator-is it your responsibility to make sure that each

member of the group completes all of the steps of the PPA together.

You are also going to make sure that the brochure includes the

solution.

Brochure Creator-work with the rest of the team to make a

brochure that is complete with all of the programs and include

your new policy.

Presenter-on the day that the brochure is going to be presented you

will represent the group. You will present to the other groups the

brochure you have created and present your new policy solution and

why it was chosen.

3. You will conduct research to find out what programs have been implemented to deal with the problem and how successful these programs have been

4. You will create a new policy that your group think may help to reduce the number of homeless people in New York City.

5. You will follow the Public Policy Analyst format (see link in resource section below)

6. You will present your findings to the class, by creating a brochure with the statistics and information collected.

7. Your group will be responsible for inviting students from other classes and adults from your community to inform them on your findings and solutions

1. You will research the Internet using the Resources section to find out the homeless statistics in New York City.

2. You and your partner will research the internet using the resources list to identify some of the methods currently used by those agencies to deal with the homeless problem

3. You and your partner will contact one or more agencies or programs represented by the websites listed in the Resource section and arrange at least one interview with someone who actually deals with homeless people.

4. You will develop a new policy using the Public Policy Analyst format to deal with homeless people in New York City based on the knowledge gained by researching the websites listed in the Resource section and by talking to agencies dealing homeless people.

5. You will develop a brochure to distribute in the community.

Homeless Statistics

More Statistics

Current policies dealing with homeless

Policy for family at risk of becoming homeless

Why Are People Homeless? (Causes)

Agencies dealing with homeless

Public Policy Analyst Format

You will be evaluated as a group. Each member is equally responsible for making sure that the work sheets, the written report, and the brochure is completed to the best of your abilities.

The work sheets will be completed and handed in with a copy of brochure. You will receive 20 points for the complete worksheets.
The brochure presentation should be written using Standard English.
The oral presentation to your classmates and other people will be no less than 15 minutes and it should be engaging, well presented (speak clearly, and at an acceptable pitch where everyone in the room is able to hear you).
The new policy for dealing with the problem of Homeless people in New York City will be clearly defined.

Your work will be evaluated according to the following rubric:

GRADE:	1	2	3	4
Oral Presentation	Oral presentation is not well done nor does it clearly explain the policy created to deal with Homeless in New York City.	Oral presentation is adequately done and explains the proposed new policy for dealing Homeless In New York City fairly well.	Oral presentation is well done but it either does not capture the audience or clearly explain the proposed policy for dealing with Homeless in New York City.	Oral presentation is well done, interesting, and clearly explains of the policy created to deal with Homeless in New York City.
Brochure Presentation	Findings provided are inappropriate and incomplete.	Findings are appropriate but incomplete.	Findings are appropriate and complete but insufficient.	Findings are appropriate, complete, and sufficient.
Copy of Brochure Presentation & Worksheets	Written report does not use the conventions of standard written English.	Written report shows weak usage of the conventions of standard Written English.	Written report shows acceptable usage of the conventions of standard written English.	Written repose shows superior use of the conventions of standard written English

English Language Art Standards

E1c Reads and comprehends information materials.

E2a Produce a report of information.

E3b Participate in-group meetings.

E6a Critique public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse.

E6b Produce public documents.

E7a Critique functional documents with an eye to strategies common to effective functional documents.

E7b Produce functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose

By completing this project, you will have gained an understanding of the seriousness of the Homeless problem in New York City. You will be familiar with the main causes of homelessness. You will have a working knowledge of the methods that have been developed and implemented in New York City by both government and private agencies to deal with this problem. You will have met and conversed with at least one professional whose responsibility it is to deal with homeless people. And most importantly you will have created a solution that, you as a group believe, that if implemented, might help to reduce the homeless problem in New York City.