About This Lesson
This lesson is part of the ASI Civic Fellows initiative. In addition to focusing on the important content knowledge and dispositions that are necessary for active participation in democracy, these lessons also emphasize key approaches to civic learning: Knowledge with skills; the power of deliberation and controversy; equitable civics, and teaching through Inquiry Learning.
These particular lessons emphasize using discussion and common experiences to build community, allow for deliberation, and active listening. The activities include discussion prompts, questions, and videos that allow the students to deeply engage in social emotional learning and use what they learn to impact the school community.
The focus of this lesson is to develop the rights & responsibilities of citizens and how can a citizen actively serve in their community.
Inquiry Question:
How can we as a school community work towards being more inclusive, welcoming and encouraging active participation of all members of our school community?
What it means to be a “citizen” and the idea of how a”citizen” actively engages in the school community. What does it mean to be a good citizen that is actively engaged in the community?
Note: These lessons and the materials were developed for a diverse group of learners in New York City as we were attempting to build community and engage students in being active members of our school community who would engage in community civic projects. These lessons and activities can be adapted/modified to meet the needs of any classroom or school community.
