LESSON PLAN STUDENT C CORRECTED Lesson Plan 4
Title: How can I make a difference? Pt 1
Grade and Subject: 8th Grade Civics
Goal: Students will have an understanding of how they can make a difference in their community. At the end of this project, students will hopefully feel proud of one another and learn what they can accomplish together as a team.
SOL’s: The student will demonstrate knowledge of citizenship and the rights, duties, and responsibilities of citizens by e) Evaluating how civic and social duties address community needs and serve the public good.
Content Standards: Learning how to apply civic ideals as part of citizen action is essential to the exercise of democratic freedoms and the pursuit of the common good.
Objectives: Students will be able to 1. List at least four ways they can volunteer in the community. 2. Define why volunteering is beneficial to the community. 3. List at least five results of what could happen if people did not volunteer in the community.
Warm-Up: (7 Minutes) **WRITE DIRECTIONS ON THE BOARD AND PASS OUT JOURNALS BEFORE THE STUDENTS COME IN** Directions- In your journals I would like you to write a story about how you can make the world a better and safer place. How would you start to change the world, what are some changes you would make, and how would you make those changes come true? After five minutes are up, ask for volunteers to share their stories. While students are sharing their story, write on the board changes the students would make in the world. After hearing from the students, get someone to collect the journals.
Questions for Warm-Up: What kind of changes did you hear your fellow classmates would like to make in the world? Did any of the changes sound impossible? If so why do you think they are unreachable? What changes which you heard were reasonable? Do you even think we can make the world a better place? Especially being thirteen years old.
Transition Statement: Each of one of you can make a difference in the world. No matter how old or how young you are. Volunteering is one of the best ways to start making a difference or change. Today we are going to learn ways we can volunteer and then we are going to start on our service project.
Lesson (30 minutes)
What is the definition of a citizen? o A native member of a state or other political community. When you hear the word citizen what are two things which comes to your mind? Is volunteering a duty or a responsibility of a citizen? What does the word responsibility mean? o It is not mandatory for a citizen to complete. What does the word duty mean? o It is mandatory for the citizen to do or follow. What have you volunteered for in the community? How did it make you feel after you were finished? What is something you would like to volunteer for in the future?
Teacher’s Notes
One of the main parts which make up an active citizen is volunteering in the community. There are many ways a person can get involved in the community. What are some organizations which are active in our community now? o Relay for Life, Lions Club, Lioness Club, Boys Scout, and Girls Scout. Fun Fact- There are more than one million charities registered with the federal government. What are some ways citizens can volunteer? o Organizations o Tutoring o Nursing Homes o Cleaning up the environment ( road-side clean up) o Raising money o Donating How can volunteering improve a community and make it stronger? o Build a family atmosphere. o Always have someone you can depend on. o Increase the population. o Make the community a safer and more beautiful place to live. What are two examples of how organizations give back to the community? o Relay for life helps raise money towards finding a cure for cancer. o The Boy Scouts and the Girls Scouts recycles cans and picks up trash to keep our area clean. What are the results of people not volunteering for the community? o Community will become out of order. o The population will either remain the same or decrease. o The community will begin to look unappealing from all of the trash on the road. o Nursing homes and other group buildings will lose support from the outside community. o Organizations will stop fundraising. I want you to think about what the community would be like if we did not have volunteers. Look at this picture on the powerpoint. How do you feel when you see this picture? What would you do if this was your community?
Transition Statement: Now we have learned ways we can be involved in the community and how volunteering in a community can build a family atmosphere. We are going to start on our group project to help us see how much we can change our community just by volunteering.
Group Project (20 minutes) Directions: For the rest of today we are going to work on our group project for this unit. Since this unit has been about citizenship can anyone tell me what they think the group project will be on? The project will be on “How Can I make a Difference?” I want you to see how volunteering and being active citizens in the community can make a difference. As a class we are going to vote on a community project, make individual goals, make class goals, and see how much we can get accomplished by working together. This project will be ongoing for the rest of the semester. At any time we can change our individual and class goals. Brainstorm service projects as a class. Write on the board all of the ideas the class gives. Out of all of the community projects listed are there any which are unrealistic? After several ideas, have the class vote on the service project. The students will need to close their eyes and place their heads on the desk. Call out each service project listed and the one with the most hands up will be our service project. After voting on the service project, establish class goals for this project. Students get to decide their own class goals. o Remember to think of goals which are reachable for this class. o What is something you expect your peers to do? o How are you going to work together? List students’ goals on the board and post them up in the classroom. For the next five minutes, I would like you to think of individual goals. o How active are you going to be in this project? o What do you hope to get out of this project? o Do you think it will make you a more active citizen?
Transition Statement: Now we have established our group project, for home-work I would like you to brainstorm ideas of when will be a good time to start our service project, what we need to do in order to meet our goals, and what is the first step we have to take to begin the project.
Summary: 3 important facts: 1. One of the main parts of being an active citizen is volunteering. 2. You can volunteer by joining an organization, helping out at a nursing home, picking up trash, recycling, or tutoring. 3. If a community loses volunteers it will become out of order, the population will either stay the same or decrease, homes in the community will lose support, and the community will begin to look unappealing.
Tomorrow: We will learn the obligations of voting and the registration process.
Materials: Teacher’s Notes Students’ Notes PowerPoint Markers Construction Paper Journals
Assessments: Discussion during the lesson. Observation throughout the activity.
Accommodations: 1. If a student is absent, I will provide him or her with a copy of the powerpoint. 2. I will work with my cooperating teacher before class to come up with a way to help the student come up with his or her own goals as a citizen.
Students’ Notes
What are some ways citizens can volunteer? o Organizations o Tutoring o Nursing Homes o Cleaning up the environment ( road-side clean up) o Raising money o Donating How can volunteering improve a community and make it stronger? o Build a family atmosphere. o Always have someone you can depend on. o Increase the population. o Make the community a safer and more beautiful place to live.
What are the results of people not volunteering for the community? o Community will become out of order. o The population will either remain the same or decrease. o The community will begin to look unappealing from all of the trash on the road. o Nursing homes and other group buildings will lose support from the outside community. o Organizations will stop fundraising.