Lesson 1: Our Civic Identities

Lesson 1: Our Civic IdentitiesOVERVIEW In this lesson, students will introduce themselves to one another to root the course in their own stories and senses of self. Students will then define and reflect on their own civic experiences and attitudes before reviewing the action civics process they’ll participate in within the GC program.

OBJECTIVESBy the end of this lesson, students will have...

Assessed their own level of civic engagement and examined their attitudes toward government

AGENDA Do Now: My Civic Participation (7 minutes) Our Language (8 minutes) Action Civics (5 minutes) Four Corners (20 minutes) Exit Ticket: The Story of My Name (Name Tents) (10 minutes)

MATERIALS Student handbooks Construction or printer paper to make name tents to put on desks (1 per student) Four Corners activity signs (“Strongly Agree,” “Agree,” “Disagree,” “Strongly Disagree”) Tape to post signs Markers

PREPARATION BEFORE CLASS Follow the directions in the “Getting Started” activity to create a name tent for yourself,

including identifying a story about your name to share Ensure student handbooks have arrived and are ready to pass out to each student Create “Strongly Disagree,” “Disagree,” “Agree,” and “Strongly Agree” signs for use in

Four Corners activity

ASSESSMENT RESOURCES Reference the Assessment Portfolio for assessments aligned to Lesson 1

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Lesson 1: Our Civic Identities

GETTING STARTED

DO NOW: My Civic Participation (7 minutes)Welcome students to their first day of Generation Citizen! Inform students that today they will learn more about what Generation Citizen is and begin the process of making change in their community. Spend a few minutes introducing yourself if you are a Democracy Coach or guest classroom facilitator.

Explain that each Generation Citizen class will start with a “Do Now” activity of the lesson. This activity will be posted on the board as well as be in their Student Handbook. When students arrive to class, they can begin the “Do Now” as soon as they enter the classroom. This activity is designed to draw students into thinking about that day’s content. Typically, these activities will last no longer than 5 minutes.

Pass out and introduce students to the GC student handbook. Invite them to review the list of activities on page 2 and follow the instructions: Put a checkmark (√) next to any activities you or your family and friends have done before.

Debrief: After three minutes, invite or 2-3 students to share a story about one of the activities they’ve participated in or observed. What was it like? Why did they or their friend or family member do it? Express appreciation for the incredible level of community engagement that students already demonstrate in the room.

Tell students that each of them brings unique contributions to the class through things they already know or experiences they have already had. This will be essential to the GC program and project they’ll be working on together. That is the way citizenship works as well. Each of them has a unique voice and set of experiences they bring to civic engagement that can make their community, nation or world a better and more interesting place.  

Our Language (8 minutes)Acknowledge that there is a lot of language they will be using to describe this range of community activities and civic engagement process. To begin learning this language, in their student handbooks they will see four different words that are important to understand moving forward.

Stop and Jot: Direct students to take a look at the four words in their handbook: citizen, civic engagement, government, and politics. Tell them to take sixty seconds to jot down the first words that come to mind when they think of these terms, based on their own understanding and experience with these words in their life.

Debrief: Ask for a volunteer to read aloud the definitions written under the words. After each definition is read, invite the class to call out a few of the words that immediately came to mind for that word.

Explain that these are terms that are going to be coming up a lot this semester. It’s important to know what they mean, as well as to recognize that we all have our own ideas about politics and government and civics,

A NOTE ABOUT THIS SIDEBAR: Throughout the curriculum, this sidebar is a place where you can find lesson modification suggestions, sample language, glossary definitions and other tips for enacting each lesson.

TIP: If students do not readily volunteer to share answers, ask them to spend 1 minute sharing their answers with a partner. Listen in to a few conversations as they discuss in small groups and publicly celebrate an insightful example or story when you call the class back together.

GLOSSARY TERMS:Citizen : A person who lives in a specific placeSample Sentence:She was an active citizen in her community, attending every neighborhood meeting and speaking up on important issues.

Civic Participation: Individual and group actions that try to improve a community and the lives of its membersSample Sentence:Voting is one form of civic participation.

Government: The political institutions, people, and laws that organize and control public lifeSample Sentence:

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Lesson 1: Our Civic Identitiesbased on our personal ideas and experiences. Invite a student to discuss if they see any differences between the definitions offered and the reactions of the students to those terms, and reflect on this.

If students do not raise this point when discussing the word citizen, consider drawing attention to the point below:

Citizen – Notice how broad the GC definition is of ‘citizen’. The GC definition does not reference a legal status of citizenship. In Generation Citizen, the word ‘citizen’ includes to anyone living in the community who is affected by the way that community functions and can play a role in making their local, state and national community better.

Short on time?Instead of having students write responses all four words, invite students to pick one or two of the words and call out their associations, then offer the debrief explanation (above).

Framing: Explain that you’re going to spend the rest of the period discussing briefly what the Generation Citizen program is about, and getting to know what experiences, beliefs, and opinions students are bringing into the program.

DURING CLASS

Action Civics (5 minutes)Explain that in Generation Citizen, students will be practicing some of the most important skills and learning the most important strategies of civic leaders. They’ll be doing this through undertaking a project as a whole class that will help solve a community issue, and just as importantly learning a process they can use throughout their lives to address future issues they care about! This is an “action civics” class. Review the definition of Action Civics and the sample sentence.

Pair/Share: Invite students to the review the action civics process laid out on page 3 of their handbooks. With a partner, they can discuss their personal reactions to the questions written below the process. After three minutes, ask a pair to reflect on each of the questions.

1. What do you believe is the most important step in the action civics process?

2. What do you believe is the most challenging part of the action civics process?

3. What part of the action civics process are you most excited about getting involved in?

Short on time?Circulate while students are talking with partners to listen in on their answers, and tell 1-2 students that you’re going to call on them to answer number 3. Skip sharing out answers to the first and second questions, and go right to inviting that student to share what they’re most excited about.

Four Corners (20 minutes)Explain that a central part of action civics is that students express their voice

Fernando wanted to get involved in local government so that he'd have a say in the rules impacting his daily life.

Politics: The web of activities and relationships which influence an individual’s or group’s powerSample Sentence:Akiya knew that she needed to have good relationships in politics in order to help her legislation get passed.

Action Civics: The practice of learning about the political process through taking local action on specific community issues.Sample Sentence: During the course of this program, we will participate in action civics as we work to tackle issues.

TIP: Add these words to a Word Wall or consider asking students to create a visual display of each term to post publicly.

SAMPLE LANGUAGE: In this activity and for our entire time together, your

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Lesson 1: Our Civic Identitiesand bring in their thoughts and ideas to the process. The next activity will be an opportunity for students to practice expressing their voice by sharing their opinions and experiences.

Assign one label to each corner of the room (“Strongly Agree,” “Agree,” “Disagree,” “Strongly Disagree”), and have students practice recognizing each corner when pointed to. Explain that when you read aloud each phrase, students should walk silently to the corner of the room which represents their opinion, and you’ll invite a few students to share their thoughts during each round.

Pose one prompt at a time to the class. (Use a timer! Three minutes per question.)

I believe that cats are better than dogs. I believe that most adults know what’s best for youth. I believe that decisions made by politicians affect my daily life. I believe that my elected officials (people who are voted into office)

care what I think. Lasting change happens only once laws are changed. Student-choice! (Invite a student to make one up of their own)

Invite 1-3 students from each corner to explain their responses to each question, varying the order in which you call on corners. Encourage students to start statements with “I” and to listen carefully to their peers’ remarks. They are welcome to change corners after listening to a convincing argument.

Debrief: Back at their seats, ask students to “Turn and Talk” to discuss each question with a partner. Then solicit 1-3 students’ responses for each:

What’s one thing that stood out to you as we did this exercise? Why do you think we did this activity? How did you feel about how people spoke to each other when they

disagreed? What did you see that went really well in terms of how everyone

interacted? What did you see that you want to improve on as we continue to

discuss and negotiate important issues in class?

Explain that in GC the content of their ideas in not only important, but how they express their ideas and treat each other during discussions is equally important.

WRAPPING UP

Exit Ticket – The Story of My Name (Name Tents) (10 minutes)Explain that each class will end with an Exit Ticket activity that all students will complete before they leave class. Today’s Exit ticket is called ‘The Story of My Name’. Explain that Generation Citizen is all about their voice and building from their own stories and experiences. You want them to be comfortable here telling their own stories, stories that they’ll be building on throughout the semester. To practice, they are going to start by telling the story of their name.

participation is key to making Generation Citizen work. This is about your voice and you advocating for something you believe in.

TIP: Write, or have a scribe write, students’ reflections on the board as they contribute. This helps reinforce the discussion for visual learners and demonstrate interest in students’ opinions.

TIP: Jump into the rotation yourself so you demonstrate interest in your students’ stories!

TIP: If you’re a Democracy Coach or guest to the classroom, invite students to use their name tents during every GC class period to help you get to know them more quickly, and to remind themselves

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Lesson 1: Our Civic Identities

Pass out full-size sheets of colored paper to students. (Let them select their colors, if possible.) Instruct students to fold their papers in half, hot-dog style/length-wise, to make a tent, and model folding your own. Have students write their name (given name, the name they are called, or the name they wish to be called one day) on both sides of the tent.

Have students pick out one story to tell about their name based on one of the prompts. Write this story on the inside of the name tent.

What it means Why it was given to them A funny story of someone mispronouncing it or mistaking them for

someone else A story of meeting, knowing, or learning of someone with the same

name A story about changing their name or adopting a new name or

nickname

Tell students that they may already know each other, but you would like them to learn even more about each other. They will reintroduce themselves to a few classmates, especially those whom they don’t know well. Model introducing yourself to the class. (“I am…, I am originally from…, and a story about my name is…)

Invite students to stand up and move around the room to pair up with a classmate they don’t know well, because they’re going to take turns introducing themselves. Make an announcement after one minute so that they make sure to switch, and inform them that they’ll find and introduce themselves to a new partner after two minutes.

Thank students for participating and sharing a story. Collect the name tents as students leave class.

to bring their own selves and stories to this work. You can also collect the name tents at the end of class, read each name as they leave and tell them it was nice to meet them (using their name to begin the very important process of learning names). Quiz yourself on their names when you hand them back at the start of your next lesson.

Consider posing an exit ticket question: what is the name of your Democracy Coach?

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Lesson 1: Student Handbook Pages

Do Now: My Civic ParticipationPut a checkmark (√) next to any activities you or your family and friends have done before.

I Have… (√) Family or Friends Have… (√)

Volunteered for an organizationWorked to solve a community problemWent to meetings of a group or clubDonated to a charity (money, clothing, food, skills, time…)VotedShowed support for a political candidateDonated to or volunteered for a political campaignPersuaded others to be for or against an issueContacted an elected officialContacted the media about your opinionTook part in a protestSigned a petitionTalked about current eventsRead or watched the news

Look at the words below and jot down the first words that come to mind:

CitizenA person who lives in a specific place

Civic ParticipationIndividual and group actions that try to improve a community and the lives of its members

GovernmentThe political institutions, people, and laws that organize and control public life

PoliticsThe web of activities and relationships which influence an individual’s or group’s power

YOUR VOICE!How does the way you think of these terms compare with the GC definitions?

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Lesson 1: Student Handbook Pages

StudentHandbookPage 2Action Civics

YOUR VOICE!1. What do you believe is the most important step in the Action Civics process?

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Lesson 1: Student Handbook Pages

StudentHandbookPage 3

2. What do you believe is the most challenging part of the Action Civics process?3. What part of the Action Civics process are you most excited about getting involved in?

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