Choices in Little Rock Taking Informed Action Project

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Activate Students’ Civic Imagination 

Begin by resharing the following quote, which students first encountered in Lesson 3.4.  

“[Human rights begin in] small places close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

Explain that in the Taking Informed Action project that students will be introduced to in this lesson, they will be looking at a “small place close to home”—their school—and thinking about how to strengthen democratic values within that community. 

To help students start to think about the question they will answer in the project, ask them to respond to the following prompt in their journals: 

• Imagine that when you walk into school tomorrow, it is a place where democratic values are upheld. What would you see, hear, and feel at school? What would change and what would stay the same? 

Before students answer the question, ask them to revisit the characteristics of a strong democracy that they have identified during the unit. You can either have students refer to the ladders they created with these characteristics or reshare with them a few characteristics that apply especially to a school context: 

• Everyone, no matter their background, has a fair chance to have their voice heard. 
• All people in the community feel safe speaking up about problems and ideas for change.
• Everyone in the community is treated equally and with respect.

Once students have finished, ask them to share their reflections with a neighbor in a Think-Pair-Share. Then elicit responses from volunteers. 

Activity 2: Discuss Ways to Make the School More Democratic

Share with students that they will be breaking into small groups of three or four to discuss their experiences at school and make suggestions for ways to strengthen democratic values within their school, or to identify choices or policies that are currently undermining democratic values at their school. This activity may involve students sharing personal information about their experiences at the school. It will also necessitate students being open and empathetic to their classmates’ experiences, even if those differ from their own. For these reasons, we recommend that you start off this activity by returning to the class contract and discussing with students how they might make space for ways that their peers’ experiences at the school may diverge from their own. 

Once you have finished contracting, pass out the Strengthening Democratic Values at School handout. Read the instructions on the handout aloud, and answer any questions that students have. Circulate around the room as students complete the handout together. 

Once students have finished discussing the questions on the handout, have volunteers share ideas from their group discussion, or, time permitting, post students’ handouts around the room and have them explore their peers’ ideas in a gallery walk. 

Activity 3: Write an Action Plan

Share the Creating an Action Plan handout, and explain that in the next step, small groups will be discussing an action plan that includes the following components and information:

• The goal(s) or desired outcome(s) students want to see happen to make their school a more democratic space
• The suggested action steps or changes that will help make their desired outcome happen 
• Who they intend to reach through their action steps or proposals for change, and how they will reach them

Circulate around the room and help small groups brainstorm their desired outcomes, action steps, and intended audience. Students may need extra support as they identify their intended audience. For example, if their recommendations are focused on creating a different culture and climate at school, students might want to share their recommendations with their peers. They could create a slide presentation that they share with a younger grade or create a public service announcement video using their phones that is shared in homeroom or advisory. If the suggestions are about school policy, students may want to write a formal letter or ask to have a meeting with a school leader or staff member(s) to share their recommendations. 

Conclude the class by sharing details about how students will execute their action plans and complete their projects. (See Teaching Note 1: Implementing a Taking Informed Action Project for more information.) 

Activity 4: Assessment: Culminating Reflection

Once students have completed their Taking Informed Action projects, ask them to complete a culminating reflection by submitting their written responses to the following questions: 

• What part of the project makes you most proud? 
• What would you do differently next time? 
• How did this project shape your thinking about strengthening democracy and/or the power of young people? 
• What new learning are you taking away from this project?