Subject: Civics, Social Studies
Lesson Length: 1 - 2 hours
Topic: Taking Action in the Community
Brief Description: Students will develop an action plan about a social and political issue in their community.
Know Before You Start: Students should be familiar with relevant social or political issues present in their community.
Hook:
- Ask students:
- "Have you ever felt strongly about an issue in the world?”
- “Do you think ordinary citizens can make a difference in your community, country, or the world?”
- "What are some things that prevent individuals from taking action to address issues they care about?”
Activity:
- Have students brainstorm and share community-based issues they care about. As they share, write the issues on the board.
- In pairs, have students explore and identify two historical instances of citizens addressing a social or political issue, one representing a successful attempt and the other an unsuccessful one. Have students fill out a Venn-Diagram to compare and contrast the strategies used by the successful and unsuccessful attempts and briefly present their findings to the class.
- In small groups, have students choose a social or political issue within their community that they are passionate about and wish to tackle. Have them conduct research to gather information about the issue's background, its current status, and possible solutions.
- Have students create a detailed action plan on a sequence graphic organizer, which can be in the form of four circles or nine boxes, following the structure of "First, Next...Last." Students should explore strategies such as organizing protests, writing letters to government officials, or using social media campaigns to raise awareness. Finally, each group will present their action plans to the entire class.
- Have students create a comic to explain how citizens or groups effectively addressed a social or political issue.
Closure:
- Have students share their comics with the class or in small groups.
- Emphasize the importance of individuals and groups taking collective action to address social and political issues. Remind them that their voices and efforts can be amplified through strategic planning, effective communication, and the use of technology.
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.
Resources:
- Comic to print or display: Comic.
- Venn Diagram
- 4 Circles Sequence Chart
- 9 Boxes Sequence Chart
- First, Next, Then, Last Sequence Chart
- GALE (Open Access through Local Library)
- “The Seven Steps of Action Planning PennState Extension
Suggested Content Packs:
Make a comic about National Parks
Make a comic about the News Station
