How to Help Our Community
Part 1: Driving question:
What are your three initial driving questions?
1) How can we raise money for our community?
2) How can people make a difference?
3) In what ways can our classroom give back to our community?
What is your one, final driving question?
How can people (students) positively make a difference in their community?
Background information of this driving question:
What grade level are you working?
2nd grade
Which standard are you targeting?
2.1.3 Identify individuals who had a positive impact on the local community.
2.2.5 Identify people who are good citizens and describe the character traits that make them admirable. * citizen: someone with rights and responsibilities in a particular community, city, state or country
Provide any background information the reader should know about this project, such as time span, schedule and so on. Provide a brief introduction to your question as well and an overview to what you envision your lesson looking like.
Students will be researching ways other people have given back to their community and then thinking critically about how they can give back themselves. Students do not necessarily need to know anything before this project, but it could be helpful if they have a specific area that they would like to improve in their community. Students will be asked to answer 2 questions “How can they positively make a difference in their community?” and “how is their idea helpful?” This project will take approximately 2 weeks to complete. During the first week, the teacher will present the grabber and just what it means to give me. Towards the end of the first week and beginning of the second week, students will have time to do their research. At the end of the week, students will be doing their recording with their teacher.
Why do you think this is a good driving question?
Try to answer these 4 questions. (But you should not answer them with yes or no, instead explain the details and convince me that you’ve met these criteria)
Does the DQ warrant in-depth study?
Yes, students can research what other people have done, and then take this idea and think deeper about how they can use the data they found to come up with something even better.
Is the DQ an authentic and relevant issue/problem for my students?
Yes, the DQ provides the opportunity for students to solve real world problems. Students can take a look at their community and find solutions on how to improve it.
Is there more than one plausible solution to the DQ?
Yes, there are many ways students can approach this problem. Students can be very creative in finding solutions.
Does the DQ provide opportunities for students to evaluate, analyze, present, and defend their solutions?
Yes, student’s first task is to research with other possibilities people have come up with to improve their community. They are then able to process these and come up with their own unique way to give back in a positive way. Students then present their idea to the teacher during the recording, where they are able to argue why their idea is a good idea.
Part2: Grabber
What is your grabber?
List all your grabber components here, links are needed.
Pay It Forward: https://youtu.be/GJeWFoKZ63U
Introductory Grabber: Instructor should introduce the video and the background knowledge behind it and have students pay attention to the main points of the video which is the common theme of helping people and making a difference.
Introduce the Central Question: After watching the clip and video, we will introduce the central question which will be, ‘How can we make a difference and positively influence our community around us?’ because at this point in the classroom everyone is engaged in the topic and thinking about how they can potentially help their surrounding community.
Lecture: After the video is shown, we will brainstorm with the class and come up with a list of possible ideas of how we can help people, make a difference, and impact our community. Each student will think to themselves first and come up with some of their own ideas. Then we will meet and discuss with the entire class and make a collaborative list. Next we are going to introduce the culminating activity.
Why do you think this grabber is beneficial and how it align with your driving question?
Try to answer these questions. (But you should not answer them with yes or no, instead explain the details and convince me that you’ve met these criteria)
Does the story, article, video, announcement, role play, or other resource hook the learner into asking more questions about the topic?
Yes, it gets students thinking of what they can do to “Pay It Forward.”
Does the grabber capitalize on novelty and / or high emotion situations?
Yes, this video makes students feel good about what the people are doing, and creates a sense that they want to do these things too.
Does the grabber establish authenticity and relevance?
Yes, the grabber shows how this project can be applied to the real world and how important it is to help those in need. It’s authentic because it teaches students how to be compassionate and think about the world.
Make sure to explain in detail how this grabber would be used.
This grabber will keep students interested and excited about helping people. While watching the video, students get a sense of how good it feels to help someone. It gives them the impression that it is good to help people without necessarily getting something back in return. This video shows how if you pay it forward then the person you pay it forward to will then pay it forward, thus creating a loop of helpful beings. This video draws emotions in students to allow them to feel that they want to be helpful.
Culminating activities: List all your activities here:
1) Activity 1
What is your first activity?
Introduction: Students will be given a packet to fill out. On this packet, students will need to answer the questions “How have other people made a difference?” and “Why is this helpful?” They will need to answer these two questions three times, for a total of six questions. This way, students will have come up with three examples how out to make examples. Students can research or interview their family to find ideas. These ideas will then be pulled together to make a class video project. Students will present their ideas to the teacher while being recorded and the teacher will then put the videos together to complete the project for all the students to see.
Lecture: Distribute packets to students.Explain to students that they can fill in these questions by researching online and interviewing their parents, they need to do at least one of both. Then demonstrate to students how to search for examples of how other students and schools have helped people using the internet. Students will be given iPads to practice how to do this before they are actually required to do real work. After this demonstration, explain to students how to ask their family members these questions. Tell students that these questions need to be complete sentences. Tell students that after they get this information, they will be explaining to the teacher what they learned on a video.
Recording: Students will explain how they think is the best way to give back to the community. Each student should also explain why they think this is a good idea. This recording will be the assessment student’s critical thinking.
Why do you think this is a good activity for PBL?
Try to answer these 4 questions. (But you should not answer them with yes or no, instead explain the details and convince me that you’ve met these criteria)
How is the activity authentic?
This project applies to the real world. It transforms research skills into solving a real world problem
Does the activity provide students with the opportunity to present and defend problem solution?
Yes, this project allows students to show the information they found on out to make a difference, and allows students to argue why they think their idea is helpful.
Does the activity require student collaboration?
During the grabber period, students are required to brainstorm together ways that they can improve their community. This exercise allows students to open their minds to the subject before they start their research.
How will I judge what students have learned from the activity?
Students will learn how to use iPads for research and how to interview on a small scale level. Students will also learn how to think critically while using their research. Students will learn how to present their argument based on their research and critical thinking of the idea. Students will learn about their community and ways that even a student can improve it.