Civic & Social Responsibility

Civic & Social Responsibility

Learning Outcomes: Students will address the issue and importance of civic engagement and how it is a demonstration of responsible citizenship. They will explore the reasons why people often hesitate to become involved in solving problems and consider ways in which they can be "part of the solution" rather than a "part of the problem."

Alignment with Standards: Essential Academic Learning Requirements Grades 9/10 Grade Level Expectations: Social Studies-5.3.1.DELIBERATION: Creates and articulates possible alternative resolutions to public issues and evaluates these resolutions using criteria that have been identified in the context of a discussion

American School Counselor Association National Standards: This lesson is aligned with ASCA Standard C: Students will understand the relationship of academics to the world of work and to life at home and in the community. A: C1 Relate School to Life Experiences A: C1.2 Seek co-curricular and community experiences to enhance the school experience.

21^st Century Skills:

· Self-direction: Systematic and comprehensive planning, Self-instruction, Resources, Effective and sustained effort, Self-monitoring and reflection, Results are valuable

· Digital Communication: Electronic environments, Responsible behavior

· Problem Solving: Identifying and addressing obstacles, Identifying solutions, Solving the problem, Self-evaluation and reflection
Materials:
· Teacher Lesson

· “Blue Sky” Lesson

·
· Copies of hand outs AND…

8½ x 11 paper (blue if possible), enough for each participant

Crayons/markers/colored pencils

· Service_Event_Student Response

· Computer/Internet Access

Implementation: “Blue Sky” -Whole Class Activity:

1. Discuss the meaning of community as it relates to the student’s experience: home, school, friends, neighborhood, city, state, country, and world.

2. Ask students to identify what is good about their community and what they would like to see improved or changed. Create

a chart to fill-in as the students discuss: Good Improve or Change

3. Give each student a piece of blue paper.

4. Invite students to portray their ideal world or what they would like their world to look like in 10 years–-what the world/community could look like if everyone worked together. ( Students can draw, color, paint, or create collages on their blue paper.)

5. When the students are finished, allow each student time to share their creation with the class.

6. Add students’ “Blue Sky” thoughts and ideas on a display board.

7. Identify and reflect on some of the recurring themes. This can be helpful in identifying student interests for planning of service projects.

8. As a class, briefly brainstorm ideas on how to achieve the vision and what challenges they might face in achieving “the ideal.”

Play the song "Where is the Love?" by the Black-Eyed Peas challenging them to identify the purpose of the song as well as the kinds of problems and solutions the song suggests.
· Have students share what they perceive as some of the problems that exist in their world today. Are they the same as those identified in “Where is the Love?” or are there different/additional problems?
· Ask students to share what the song is suggesting as a way(s) to address these problems. Should the solution(s) to the problems we face today be similar or different from what is recommended in the song?
· Ask the students whose responsibility it is to address these problems and work toward solution(s), leading them to conclude that everyone who is concerned needs to be a part of the solution.
· Put Sydney Harris’s quote on the projector “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem” and have students share what they think Mr. Harris is implying, and if they agree with the quote.
· Define Civic Engagement as “A person’s connections with the life of their communities.”
· Ask students how the nature of a person's "connection" to their community makes available opportunities to help resolve community problems or to create more problems?
· Brainstorm a list of problems in their community (school or larger community) that they particularly care about. (Teacher Note: This may require bringing in newspapers or having the learners look on-line for local issues.)
· Next to each identified problem place a plus sign representing a learner who was or is actively involved in helping to resolve the problem.
· Discuss what kinds of actions the learners have taken in the past (perhaps through participation in service events) and how it demonstrates responsible citizenship.
· Discuss common reasons/excuses why people are not civically engaged (lack of knowledge, lack of time, not knowing what to do, feeling that they cannot make a difference, mistrust of politicians, etc.).
· Introduce the students’ individual task by Reading to class: If we were to list the top five things that we would change in our world to make it better, we probably would not all agree on exactly what these five things should be. One person recently responding to this challenge wrote to epinions.com & listed her top five things she would change about our world. She listed the elimination of rage and violence, the elimination of racism, a cure for all the horrible diseases, a tolerance for religious beliefs and faith, and an increase in respect for each other and for what is right, just and fair.

http://www.epinions.com/

Discuss: One would have to admit that these are pretty big ideas! And yet it would seem that we have to start somewhere.
Individual Student Task:
· Have students download/save their response sheet ( Service_Event_Student Response) & fill in based on their knowledge from the prior whole class activities.
· When students have completed their Service_Event_Student Response document, ( Service_Event_Student Response) they will need to UPLOAD it with their name to the class Moodle site.
Additional Resources: OSPI: http://www.k12.wa.us/LearnServe/LearnServe.aspx

Learning to Give: http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit444/lesson1.html

Audio and song for “Where is the Love?" by the Black-Eyed Peas Lyrics:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blackeyedpeas/whereisthelove.html

What is Civic Action? www.DoSomething.org

Alignment with Standards:	Essential Academic Learning Requirements Grades 9/10 Grade Level Expectations: Social Studies-5.3.1.DELIBERATION: Creates and articulates possible alternative resolutions to public issues and evaluates these resolutions using criteria that have been identified in the context of a discussion American School Counselor Association National Standards: This lesson is aligned with ASCA Standard C: Students will understand the relationship of academics to the world of work and to life at home and in the community. A: C1 Relate School to Life Experiences A: C1.2 Seek co-curricular and community experiences to enhance the school experience. 21^st Century Skills: · Self-direction: Systematic and comprehensive planning, Self-instruction, Resources, Effective and sustained effort, Self-monitoring and reflection, Results are valuable · Digital Communication: Electronic environments, Responsible behavior · Problem Solving: Identifying and addressing obstacles, Identifying solutions, Solving the problem, Self-evaluation and reflection
Materials:	· Teacher Lesson · “Blue Sky” Lesson ·	· Copies of hand outs AND… 8½ x 11 paper (blue if possible), enough for each participant Crayons/markers/colored pencils · Service_Event_Student Response	· Computer/Internet Access
Implementation:	“Blue Sky” -Whole Class Activity: 1. Discuss the meaning of community as it relates to the student’s experience: home, school, friends, neighborhood, city, state, country, and world. 2. Ask students to identify what is good about their community and what they would like to see improved or changed. Create a chart to fill-in as the students discuss: Good Improve or Change 3. Give each student a piece of blue paper. 4. Invite students to portray their ideal world or what they would like their world to look like in 10 years–-what the world/community could look like if everyone worked together. ( Students can draw, color, paint, or create collages on their blue paper.) 5. When the students are finished, allow each student time to share their creation with the class. 6. Add students’ “Blue Sky” thoughts and ideas on a display board. 7. Identify and reflect on some of the recurring themes. This can be helpful in identifying student interests for planning of service projects. 8. As a class, briefly brainstorm ideas on how to achieve the vision and what challenges they might face in achieving “the ideal.” Play the song "Where is the Love?" by the Black-Eyed Peas challenging them to identify the purpose of the song as well as the kinds of problems and solutions* the song suggests.* · Have students share what they perceive as some of the problems that exist in their world today. Are they the *same* as those identified in “Where is the Love?” or are there *different/additional* problems? · Ask students to share what the song is suggesting as a way(s) to address these problems. Should the solution(s) to the problems we face today be similar or different from what is recommended in the song? · Ask the students whose responsibility it is to address these problems and work toward solution(s),* leading them to conclude that everyone who is concerned needs to be a part of the solution.* · Put Sydney Harris’s quote on the projector “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem” and have students share what they think Mr. Harris is implying, and if they agree with the quote. · Define Civic Engagement as “A person’s connections with the life of their communities.” · Ask students how the nature of a person's "connection" to their community makes available opportunities to help resolve community problems or to create more problems? · Brainstorm a list of problems in their community (school or larger community) that they particularly care about. (Teacher Note: This may require bringing in newspapers or having the learners look on-line for local issues.) · Next to each identified problem place a plus sign representing a learner who was or is actively involved in helping to resolve the problem. · Discuss what kinds of actions the learners have taken in the past (perhaps through participation in service events) and how it demonstrates responsible citizenship. · Discuss common reasons/excuses why people are not civically engaged (lack of knowledge, lack of time, not knowing what to do, feeling that they cannot make a difference, mistrust of politicians, etc.). · Introduce the students’ individual task by Reading to class: If we were to list the top five things that we would change in our world to make it better, we probably would not all agree on exactly what these five things should be. One person recently responding to this challenge wrote to epinions.com & listed her top five things she would change about our world. She listed the elimination of rage and violence, the elimination of racism, a cure for all the horrible diseases, a tolerance for religious beliefs and faith, and an increase in respect for each other and for what is right, just and fair. http://www.epinions.com/ Discuss: One would have to admit that these are pretty big ideas! And yet it would seem that we have to start somewhere. Individual Student Task: · Have students download/save their response sheet ( Service_Event_Student Response) & fill in based on their knowledge from the prior whole class activities. · When students have completed their Service_Event_Student Response document, ( Service_Event_Student Response) they will need to UPLOAD it with their name to the class Moodle site.
Additional Resources:	OSPI: http://www.k12.wa.us/LearnServe/LearnServe.aspx Learning to Give: http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit444/lesson1.html Audio and song for “Where is the Love?" by the Black-Eyed Peas Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blackeyedpeas/whereisthelove.html What is Civic Action? www.DoSomething.org