Evaluating the Impacts of Leather Tanneries in Bangladesh

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

Objective:

You will be able to assess how journalists integrate diverse media and structure text in order to analyze the impacts of leather production in Bangladesh

Warm up:

1. Leather hunt: What are you wearing today that might be made of leather? What do you have with you and/or in your classroom that might be made of leather? Make a list of items. Be sure to look for items you may not immediately realize have leather in them.

2. Where does the leather you find come from? Check the labels and add the origin of your leather products to your list.

3. What is leather? What is it made out of? What process does it go through before it is available in a store? Research and then be prepared to share your responses with the class.

4. Imagine what it might look like to work in a place that prepares leather. Write a short paragraph describing how you imagine the place. Consider the following as you prepare the details you want to include in your paragraph:

   1. What is the structure of the place where leather is prepared? Is it indoor/outdoor? What tools might be involved?

   2. Who is involved in preparing leather? How?

   3. What dangers might people face in preparing leather? What might people need to do their work safely?

Journalists Debbie Price and Larry Price traveled to Hazaribagh in Bangladesh to visit a leather tannery that the government in Bangladesh is hoping to close and relocate.

5. Click on the article and look at the first image:

   1. What do you see? What do you notice about the structure?

   2. Who is in the image and what are their roles in preparing leather?

   3. What elements are keeping people safe/unsafe?

   4. How does the image compare to what you imagined in the warm up?
       

Introducing the resource:

The authors of the article you will read today use images and text to examine the economic, environmental and human impacts of tanneries in Hazaribagh. Before reading the article, make a prediction about what you think the author's purpose of the article will be? Use evidence from the opening image to justify your prediction.

As you review the article, write your responses to the comprehension questions attached. Be prepared to discuss the following when you finish reading:

1. How do the authors balance arguments for and against closing the tanneries in Hazaribagh? (Use the table below to help keep track of evidence.)

2. What do you think is the intended purpose for the article? How do the authors balance text and photos to communicate their purpose?

Discussion Questions:
 

1. What is sticking with you from the article? What lines from the article made the biggest impact on you and why? Which photo made the biggest impact on you and why?

2. What do you think the authors want the reader to think about after reading the article? Use evidence from the article to support your arguments.

3. How do the images contribute to the author's purpose?

4. What are the biggest challenges facing workers in the tanneries? What do you see as potential solutions, and who would need to be involved to make those solutions happen? What are potential barriers to the solutions you identified?

Extension exercises:

1. Billboard Design Pitch

What part of the investigation into tanneries is sticking with you most? Identify one piece of the reporting that you would most like to share with your community and design a billboard that incorporates one photo and one quote from the article. The billboard should clearly communicate the aspect of the article that you want your community to know about. Write a short paragraph pitching the idea of this billboard to a leader in your community. Explain to the community leader why you think this billboard would benefit your community.

2. Postcard Campaigns:

You have been assigned the job of communicating with a variety of audiences using information from the article. Select an image and quote that could be used to design postcards for each of the following purposes:

• Inform people in Bangladesh about the impact of tanneries on water

• Inform your local community about the process of creating leather

• Advocate to keep the tanneries in Hazaribagh open for one more year

• Advocate for the immediate closing of the tanneries in Hazaribagh

• Persuade your local community to donate to organizations that advocate for more labor restrictions in tanneries.

• Persuade your local community to purchase leather products from Bangladesh

3. Policy Proposal

Imagine you have been hired as an advocate for the workers at the tannery in Hazaribagh. Identify at least three challenges from the article/photos that the workers face. Use evidence from the article, as well as your own research, to identify potential solutions for each challenge. Research government and non-government organizations that might be able to support one or more of the solutions you have researched. Craft your solutions into a short proposal for that organization.

4) Leather Hunt revisited:

Go back to the items you identified at the start of the lesson. Select at least three items and investigate the origin of the leather for these items. Devise a list of questions you would like to ask the companies that produced the products you've selected. Do you want to know about the working conditions for workers? The wages for workers? The amount of leather the company gets from Bangladesh? Identify a representative for the company and call to ask your questions. Be prepared to share your responses with the class.