SDG 1 No Poverty

 

Goal 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

It is not my aim to scare my students or give them reason to be overly anxious. I will not be showing them endless filmclips, quoting large numbers or showing an abundance of graphs. I just want them to be aware that not all children enjoy a life such as theirs and that can be done by reading a picture book with a trusted adult who is there to answer questions and to clarify thinking. In this way they can empathise and consider ramifications. It could be as simple as them realising that there are people in the world who do not have enough money for food, housing or even beds and that this could be closer to where they live than they think.

Obviously, some goals were easier to find picture books for than others, so the list is not always long and of course some books will create more discussion than others, but all of the listed books will do that to some degree. The list of picture books in my school library to choose from is here. The Junior School Library at my school has a larger number of nonfiction titles, but I usually prefer to read stories.

I think Kate Milner's It's a No-Money Day is a book every school library should have and a good place to start because it is not heavy-handed and the child in the story remains positive.

Here's the blurb:

Mum works really hard, but today there is no money left and no food in the cupboards. Forced to visit the local foodbank, Mum feels ashamed that they have to rely on the kindness of others, but her young daughter can still see all the good in her day like reading and drawing, and even the foodbank. Maybe one day things will be different but for now together they brighten up even the darkest of days. A moving insight into the sad rise and necessity of foodbanks from the perspective of society's most vulnerable, and an essential book to help develop empathy in younger readers. 

After reading the book, I do not want the students to feel that they have a chore to do. This should be an enjoyable reading experience first and foremost. In my booklet, there are just three things to do:

* Before reading: Ask what is poverty? What does it look like? Feel like?

* Write the title of the book you read.

* Complete this sentence: This story made me feel ....

The adult or the child can do the recording. If a teacher is reading the picture book to the whole class, they may choose to have a class recording using something like sticky notes or padlet or fill in the booklet for the class.