Orange Trees and Monuments: Civic Engagement in the Elementary Classroom Trish Birk, National Board Certified Teacher, Grade 5 Linda Kidd, Coordinator, Elementary History- Social Science Los Angeles Unified School District 1

Objectives Explore a framework of instruction with an emphasis on Civic Engagement through the lens of Common Core Review a performance task that applies civic virtues and democratic principles. Understand the use of compelling essential questions that focus instruction and provide a depth of understanding Participate in a civics based role play activity 2

What does the C3 Say? Grades Children can begin to understand the role of government and the responsibilities of citizens. 2. Writing, speaking and listening activities allow students to deepen their understanding and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways. 3. Practice civic participation skills, including civil discourse, debate and informed decision making. 3

Framework for Civic Engagement According to Project Citizen from the Center for Civic Education, students need to develop the knowledge and skills in order to be effective and participating citizens. Students need to be able to identify problems in the community that need government officials and a government branch or agency to be involved in the solution. Essential Questions Standards based Authentic Problem –Connected to STEM High level of student engagement Collaborative Arguments supported with evidence Literacy Based – aligned to Common Core Specific guidelines to follow 4

The Project LAUSD Elementary History-Social Science and Science are designing interdisciplinary units of study Grades 3-5 Each unit starts and ends with a governmental action which requires students to understand the rights and responsibilities of citizens and the responsibility of government to act on the behalf of its citizens 5

Entry Event to Launch an Inquiry “According to the Buck Institute: the entry event is used to spark students’ interest and curiosity and to begin the inquiry process by leading students to ask questions.” Introduces the problem Immediate student engagement Establishes the frame for the entire project Provides background 6

Monuments and Orange Trees ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How do people, environment and events cause change and influence the design of towns and cities? FOCUS QUESTION: What is the problem in Mediana City? 7

Civic Engagement Objective Students will do a close read of the article “Park Not A Fun Place Anymore for Nine Year Olds”, and summarize in a presentation various citizens’ groups concerns and solutions to the problem about the park. Lesson Overview Students will read and discuss the newspaper article and use what the text says explicitly and implicitly to inform their decision on the future of the park in Mediana City. They will then role-play that citizen’s opinion in a presentation to the City Council of Mediana City. Project: Students will design a park that can sustain an orange tree, has at least one lit structure, and build a monument that commemorates the history of Mediana City. 8

What is the Problem in Mediana City? The Text 9

Roles Divide students into six groups, creating heterogeneous reading groups. Each student group will represent a citizen’s concern regarding the park, Concerns will be presented to the city council using the presentation guide. Roles include parents, physical education teachers, students, emergency room doctors, police officers, taxpayer groups 10

Note taking 1. Notes are taken through the lens of the particular role 2. Becomes the argument 3. Adds the evidence 4. Aids decision making 11

Presentation Guide 12 Provides a scaffold

Presentation Protocol How to Conduct a City Council Meeting Each citizen or citizen group will have a two-minute time limit to tell the city council what the most important problems are at Mediana City Park and a solution for these problems. Each group must provide evidence from the newspaper article, “Park Not A Fun Place Anymore for Nine Year Olds” to support their recommendations. Every participant in this meeting must listen carefully to all the speakers. No one may interrupt the citizen who is speaking. Each group must respect the opinions stated by the other citizens. 13

Journal Today you took on the position of a citizen from Mediana City to identify the problems and decide on a solution. Write a journal entry answering the following question: What are the problems and your best solution to the problems at Mediana City Park? 14

The Frame Planning Your Own Town Hall Meeting 15

Connection to the Common Core State Standards ELA Common Core State Standards RI4.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences form the text. RI4.2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text. RI4.8: Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text. RF4.4a,c: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. W4.8: Gather relevant information from print sources; take notes, paraphrase and categorize information, and provide a list of sources. SL4.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. SL4.2: Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud in diverse media and formats. SL4.3: Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker or media source provides to support particular points. 16

Debrief Discussion First remove students from their roles. How did it feel to take on the role of another person? What did they learn from the process? After the presentations, the teacher will tell the students that this process in city government is very typical. The citizens of the community elect the city council, and it is very important that the council listens to the concerns of the electorate. The city council oversees the functions of the community, makes policy, and sets the budget. So it is within their responsibilities to determine if funding for a new city park are in the best interest of the community. 17

Other Uses Grand finale of unit In-depth look at one aspect of history Individual texts Roles of people from the past Scientific questions/problems 18

Resources Digital copies of this activity and the frame can be found at: click on NCSS Resources 19

Questions 20