Words of Hope: Creating Stories for No Poverty

1. No Poverty
Creative Writing
Grades 5-8
30-60 Minutes

Materials Needed

  • • Notebooks or Paper
  • • Pens/Pencils
  • • Whiteboard or chart paper
  • • Markers

Goal 1: No Poverty

You can find an introduction to Goal 1, as well as the Targets & Indicators, Objectives, and Action Planning Resources on the Goal overview page.

See Goal 1 Overview
Goal 1 icon

Welcome students to an exciting creative writing adventure. Tell them that today, they will use the power of their words to explore a very important idea, Global Goal 1: No Poverty. This goal is a global commitment to ensure everyone, regardless of where they live, has what they need to live a happy, healthy life.

Connect Global Goal 1 to writing, explaining that writing can paint pictures in people's minds, make them feel emotions, and even inspire them to make the world a better place.

1

Create Word Bank

Begin by asking students: What are some of the most important things every person needs to be happy and healthy? On the whiteboard or large paper, create two columns. Label one "When Everyone has Enough" and the other "When People Need Help." Guide the discussion by asking students to describe what it looks, sounds, or feels like in both situations. Record student responses in the appropriate columns. This creates a shared word bank for their writing.
1

Choose Your Story Spark

Explain that it is now time to choose a "story spark" and create their own piece of writing. They can write either a short story or a poem. Encourage students to use vivid imagery and emotional language to make their stories and poems powerful.
2

Prompt 1: The Day We All Shared

Write a story or poem about a time (real or imagined) when people in a family, a school, or a neighborhood came together to share what they had so that everyone had enough.
3

Prompt 2: A Day in a World Without Poverty

Imagine a world where Global Goal 1 has come true, and no one lives in poverty. Write a story or poem about a normal day for a child in that world.
4

Prompt 3: The Helping Hand

Write a story or poem from the point of view of someone who receives a helping hand when they really need it, or from the point of view of someone giving the helping hand.
1

Share and Reflect

Organize students into pairs or small groups. Instruct students to take turns reading their writing aloud to their partner/group. As they listen, encourage students to offer positive and constructive feedback. After group sharing, invite a few volunteers to share their writing with the whole class.
Bring the class together for a final reflection.
1
What was the most important thing you learned about Global Goal 1: No Poverty today, through our writing?
2
Did writing a story or poem about these ideas change how you think or feel about poverty?
3
What did you discover about how powerful our words can be to share ideas and feelings?

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