Unit 4: Personal Impact in the World- What Can We Do?
Essential Questions:
- What are some issues that humanity faces?
- How are we responsible for what happens to our community? What can we do for our community?
- What can one person do to make a difference in the world?
- How can we advocate for others? What can we do to fight discrimination?
- In what ways can we reach others with our message?
Materials Needed:
- Copies of Civil Disobedience for each student
- DVD/Internet version of "Invisible Children" documentary
- Technology to watch DVDs
- Recording technology to create videos/watch these videos
- Computers to upload and edit videos, and to conduct research on students' topics
- Journals for students to use in social change projects and in class
- Photo-copies of excerpts from Freedom's Children and It's Our World Too!...
- We will need to work with various community organizations to become involved with our social change projects
Standards:
Reading:
2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
3. Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
6. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.
7. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea.
2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
3. Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
6. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.
7. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea.
Speaking & Listening:
1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacherled) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
2. Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
4. Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
5. Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.
1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacherled) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
2. Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
4. Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
5. Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.
Writing:
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
Partner Texts:
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau:
Thoreau's Civil Disobedience has been an instrumental text in many aspects of social change throughout time, specifically the Civil Rights movement in the United States. This text will be the foundation document for students in understanding social change, and give students a responsible, productive avenue to question authority.
Freedom's Children by Ellen Levine:
This novel is a compilation of personal narratives about young adults who grew up in the Civil Rights era. These stories will be used simultaneously with Civil Disobedience to allow students to see real-life examples of such actions. We will also analyze these stories to see how young adults made a change during the Civil Rights movement, and compare their approaches to our current social issues and how we wish to address them.
Invisible Children- Film Documentary:
Invisible Children is a group of young adults that set out to make a difference in the world, specifically in Africa. In our classroom we will use this documentary to examine world-wide issues of violence, poverty, governmental corruption, and the power of youth. We will also analyze the ways in which the group presents their message, and use this to develop our own methods of producing meaningful messages.
It's Our World Too! Stories of Young People Who are Making a Difference by Phillip Hoose:
This text will also be used in our classroom to give the students real-life examples of changes that young adults have made in the world. We will compare and contrast the examples provided in this book to the ways in which we wish to go about social change, and the ways in which the young adults in Freedom's Children addressed social issues.
Integrating Civic Responsibility into the Curriculum by Gottlieb & Robinson:
This educational textbook will be the foundation for this overall unit. It will provide me with lessons and activities to incorporate into the classroom based around civic responsibility, and will aid in the students' ability to become involved in their communities through social change projects.
Formative and Summative Assessments to Include:
1. Interviewing:
For this unit, there is a big push to get students involved with members of their community. For this assessment, I will ask students to analyze short interviews conducted with government officials and other agents of change, and together we will create a guideline for conducting efficient interviews.
Pairs of students will then use these interview techniques to create interview questions that address a community member they have researched that has something to do with the social issue their group is going to address. They will contact these community members and set up either a phone or in-person interview to learn more about their social change topics.
2. Community Involvement Journals:
When conducting the social change projects, students will be asked to create and update a personal journal that tracks their feelings towards their involvement. This will ask students to reflect on their role in the social change, track the progress of their involvement, and to conduct further research on their community issue. These journals will be used throughout the project, and will be "evidence" for creating their "Voices of Change" summative assessment.
For this unit, there is a big push to get students involved with members of their community. For this assessment, I will ask students to analyze short interviews conducted with government officials and other agents of change, and together we will create a guideline for conducting efficient interviews.
Pairs of students will then use these interview techniques to create interview questions that address a community member they have researched that has something to do with the social issue their group is going to address. They will contact these community members and set up either a phone or in-person interview to learn more about their social change topics.
2. Community Involvement Journals:
When conducting the social change projects, students will be asked to create and update a personal journal that tracks their feelings towards their involvement. This will ask students to reflect on their role in the social change, track the progress of their involvement, and to conduct further research on their community issue. These journals will be used throughout the project, and will be "evidence" for creating their "Voices of Change" summative assessment.
3. Voices of Change:
The summative assessment for this unit will call on students to address a social issue in their community, or in the greater world. For this assessment they must employ the strategies we have explored throughout the unit, and create a type of media that addresses their topic. For example, students may create informational posters, write letters to government officials, create a video documentary, hold a peaceful protest, or use additional modes approved by the teacher and school district.
The summative assessment for this unit will call on students to address a social issue in their community, or in the greater world. For this assessment they must employ the strategies we have explored throughout the unit, and create a type of media that addresses their topic. For example, students may create informational posters, write letters to government officials, create a video documentary, hold a peaceful protest, or use additional modes approved by the teacher and school district.
