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    Subject: Social Studies

    Lesson Length: 45 mins - 1 hour

    Topic: Community Challenges and Concerns

    Grade Level: 10, 11, 12, 9

    Standards / Framework:

    Brief Description: Students will explore issues that their local community faces and analyze how these issues reflect enduring concerns in society.

    Know Before You Start: Students should be familiar with issues in their community.

    Hook:

    • Ask students:
      • "What are some problems or challenges that you have noticed in our local community?
      • "What are some things you love about your community?"
      • "Do you think the problems or challenges are unique to your community, or are they similar to problems faced by other communities?"
      • "Why do you think it's important to address these local community issues?"

    Activity:

    • Have students work in small groups to identify and discuss specific issues in their local community by filling out a concept chart centred around the "local community issues" and key problems that impact their community on its branches.
    • Have each group share the issues they’ve identified by completing a chart at the front of the room as a class. 
    • Have students explore community issues by discussing how they reflect broader societal concerns, writing themes on the board. For example, homelessness can relate to inequality and poverty, and educational issues can connect to quality and resource disparity.
    • Have students analyze local community issues by selecting a question from a list and, in pairs or small groups, provide brief answers and identify possible solutions.
    • Allow students to conduct safe online research if needed. Ask each group to share one of their identified issues and proposed solutions. 
    • Possible questions: 
      • How does the quality of our local schools impact the educational opportunities in our community?
      • In what ways does the availability of safe recreational spaces for teenagers in our area reflect the enduring challenge of providing positive outlets for youth?
      • How do concerns about cyberbullying and online safety among local teenagers connect to the deterioration of adolescent mental health?
      • What role do teen-driven activism and youth-led initiatives play in addressing issues of civic engagement and social justice?
      • What is the relationship between part-time employment opportunities for teenagers in our community and youth employment and economic independence?
    • Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a comic that poses a question about an issue in their community. 

    Closure:

    • Have students share their comics with the class or in small groups.
    • Emphasize the importance of understanding local community issues and connecting them to enduring societal concerns. Encourage students to think about how they can actively contribute to solving these issues in their community and society at large.

    Differentiation:

    • Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
    • Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.
    • Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.

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