Citizen Involvement Lesson Plan for 8th Grade Students

Topic: Citizen Involvement

Objectives & Outcomes

• Students will understand the importance of citizen involvement in their local community and will be motivated to participate in community activities.

Materials

• Handouts with information about community events and volunteer opportunities
• Highlighters or colored pencils for marking materials

Warm-up

• Ask students to think of ways that they can contribute to their community. Write their ideas on the board.
• Discuss the benefits of community involvement, such as making new friends, feeling good about giving back, and making a positive impact in the community.

Direct Instruction

• Review the different types of citizen involvement, such as volunteering, campaigning, and voting.
• Discuss the responsibilities and risks associated with each type of involvement, such as avoiding scams and being careful with personal information.
• Provide students with resources for finding opportunities to get involved in their community, such as local nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and election boards.

Guided Practice

• Divide the class into small groups and provide each group with a list of citizen involvement opportunities in their community.
• Have each group research one opportunity and present their findings to the class.
• Encourage students to ask questions and raise any concerns they have about the opportunity they have researched.

Independent Practice

• Have students choose one citizen involvement opportunity that they would like to get involved in and create a project that demonstrates their involvement in the chosen opportunity.
• Projects can be in the form of a presentation, report, or poster.
• Provide students with guidance on how to create their projects and assist as needed.

Closure

• Have each student present their project to the class.
• As a class, discuss the importance of citizen involvement and how it can make a difference in our local communities.
• Encourage students to get involved in citizen initiatives in their local communities after they finish the class.

Assessment

• Observe students during the independent practice project to assess their understanding of the concept of citizen involvement.
• Collect and grade the completed independent practice projects to assess student's ability to apply the concept of citizen involvement in a local community.