Tiny Home Design

Affordable Housing Problem

SAMPLE LESSON

IN THIS LESSON

60 MIN

GRADES

6-8TH

TIME

Understanding the problem and learning about a solution

This lesson begins by building awareness of Nashville’s affordable housing problem and empathy for those it impacts. Then, students are introduced to tiny homes as one of many ways to provide more affordable housing. Through a gallery walk, students are introduced to a variety of designs for tiny homes and analyze which designs they like and why.

OBJECTIVES

  • I can explain who is impacted by Nashville’s affordable housing problem and how tiny homes can be a solution.

  • I can explore tiny home designs.

VOCABULARY

  • Affordable Housing: when a household spends 30% or less of their gross income on housing costs including utilities

    Tiny Home: a home that is less than 500 square feet

    Scale Model: a larger or smaller representation of an object that has the same proportions

    Optional Vocabulary:

    DADU (Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit): a term for building a involves building a small, single-family residence on a property with an existing residence. DADU is an alternative vocabulary term for tiny home if you prefer to focus on students choosing a location on an existing property with a single-family home instead of somewhere else in the neighborhood.

STANDARDS

  • STANDARDS

    6th

    6.VA.Cr1.B Investigate personally relevant content for creating art.

    7th

    7.VA.R1.A Analyze multiple ways that images influence specific audiences.

    7.VA.R3.A Compare and contrast evaluation of art based on personal preference versus established criteria.

    8th

    8.VA.R1.B Explain how aesthetic choices are influenced by visual and material cultures and can impact perceived meaning of artworks.

    8.VA.R3.A Construct a persuasive and logical argument to support an evaluation of art.

    SEL INDICATORS

    3A.2 Recognizes multiple points of view or perspectives in a situation

    3B.2 Shares reasons for helping others

    3B.3 Identifies roles they have that contribute to their school, home, and community

LESSON SLIDES

LESSON VIDEO

LESSON VIDEO

Procedure

    1. Have students complete the Art Affordable Housing Day 1 Do Now, which shows students the following fact: “Those earning less than $52,026 a year struggle to find housing in Nashville while providing for their household’s most basic needs (Source: Urban Housing Solutions). Then, it asks the following questions:

      • What jobs do you think make $52,026 or less a year?

      • When housing is too expensive, what happens to people who struggle to afford it?

    2. Ask students to share their answers to #1. Use Slide #2 to show them a list of jobs that make less than $52,026 a year. If there are jobs they are still wondering about, look them up as a class.

    3. Ask students to share out their answers to #2. Be sure the following three impacts are mentioned:

      • People are forced to move to a cheaper area.

      • People become unhoused.

      • People have to sacrifice other things like food and clothes so they can afford housing.

    4. Use Slide #3 to lead the class through a discussion about the importance of low wage workers using the following question: What would Nashville do without the people who make less than $52,026?

    1. Explain to students that there are a lot of different ways to help people better afford housing, including better pay, making houses cheaper, or building more housing to make it more available. For this project, they will specifically look at how tiny homes can be a source of affordable housing.

    2. Show students the two videos about how tiny homes are being used to help provide affordable housing in Nashville. After you watch each video, discuss who the tiny homes are supposed to help.

      • Video 1

      The tiny homes in this video are intended to be a space where unhoused people may live while they work to get their feet back on the ground.

      • Video 2

      The tiny homes in this video are still sold like regular houses, just at a much lower price since they share a lot and are very small. Therefore, they will benefit low wage workers.

    3. Use Slide #5 on the PPT to introduce the tiny home project to students and show some examples.

    1. Explain to students that they will begin the project by looking at examples of tiny home designs to gain an understanding of different types of styles.

    2. Set up the Tiny Home Examples images around the room and give each student a copy of the See, Think, Wonder handout.

    3. Give students instructions for the Gallery Walk using Slide #6 on the PPT: At each picture, fill out a row of the See, Think, Wonder handout. You will have 3 minutes at each station.

    4. Assign students to their starting picture, and have them rotate to each station.

    5. After they have rotated through each station, have students go to the station with their favorite house and spend 5 minutes sketching it.

    6. After students return to their seats, have students share which tiny home was their favorite and why.

    1. Have students complete the Art Affordable Housing Day 1 Reflection, which asks the following question: How will you help Nashville’s affordable housing needs with this project?

Materials

Art Affordable Housing Day 1 Do Now

Tiny Home Examples

See, Think, Wonder

Art Affordable Housing Day Reflection

Art Affordable Housing Day 1 Presentation

Lesson Videos

Tiny Home Design Sketching

Differentiation

This lesson incorporates written, verbal, and visual opportunities for students to learn the content.

For the Tiny Homes Gallery Walk, the teacher may assign less houses for students to look at.