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People Who Make a Difference
Lesson 2:
From Unit Power to Make a Difference (The)
Purpose:
This lesson will enable students to gain a better understanding of how individuals within the community work for the common good. Students will research individuals who are acting philanthropically in their own community, supportive of a core democratic value.
Duration:
Two to Three Fifty-Minute Class Periods
Objectives:
The learners will:
- demonstrate knowledge of a minimum of four core democratic values.
- identify key community people involved in philanthropy in accordance with a core democratic value.
- describe and evaluate the philanthropy he/she has researched.
- demonstrate effective interview skills through interviewing an individual engaged in philanthropy.
- design and select additional projects in which he/she can personally support core democratic values within the community.
Service Experience:
Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.
Students will select an individual to interview about their involvement in philanthropy, which supports a core democratic value.
Materials:
- Yellow pages for each group
- Internet access for web site: www.guidestar.org
- Pencil, paper
- Attachment One: Core Democratic Values
- Tape recorder, if available, for interviews
Instructional Procedure(s):
Anticipatory Set:
Write the term “Core Democratic Values” on a large sheet of paper or board. Ask students to reflect on the words and suggest what those values are. You may have to check for understanding of core, democratic and values. Give students a copy of Attachment One: Core Democratic Values.
- Divide the class into groups of three or four students to brainstorm and list as many groups and/or individuals as they can who support CDV’s within their communities. Explain that the person may work or volunteer for an organization such as the Red Cross or Boy Scouts, foundation such as the Ford Foundation, or be a regular volunteer at a local hospital, nursing home, community center, etc. (Information about local community members who have private foundations can be found at www.guidestar.com , zip code search). Allow no more than ten minutes.
- Bring the class back together to discuss the groups’ findings. A student recorder will list the individuals and groups on the board.
- Students will then select an individual or group representative to be interviewed, based on the philanthropy, and associate that philanthropy with a core democratic value.
- Students will develop a list of questions to ask the person.
- Students will schedule the interview by phone or in person.
- The student will write a one-page essay based on the interview incorporating the following information:
- Person interviewed
- What that individual does
- Describing the core democratic value(s) that are demonstrated through this philanthropy
- Evaluating the service to community
- Describing their reaction to the contribution the person they interviewed is making to the community
- Person interviewed
- Students will share their interviews with the class.
- Culminating Reflective Activity:
Students will describe how they can use their time, talent and treasure to provide for the common good and reinforce a core democratic value.
Assessment:
- Students will be evaluated on their class participation and by teacher observation of the class.
- Students will also be evaluated on the essays that they write regarding their interviewing of a person in the community who supports CDVS.
School/Home Connection:
- Interactive Parent / Student Homework:
Students ask their parents which three core democratic values they believe to be the most meaningful to them and why.
Extension:
After additional class discussion, students may select a community project of their choice, supportive of a CDV.
Bibliographical References:
Lesson Developed and Piloted by:
William McWhirterGrosse Pointe Public Schools
Pierce Middle School
Grosse Pointe, MI 48230
Handouts:
Handout 1Print Handout 1
Core Democratic Values Descriptors
Fundamental Beliefs
| Life: | The individual’s right to life should be considered inviolable except in certain highly restricted and extreme circumstances, such as the use of deadly force to protect one’s own or others’ lives. |
| Liberty: | The right to liberty is considered an unalterable aspect of the human condition. Central to this idea of liberty is the understanding that the political or personal obligations of parents or ancestors cannot be legitimately forced on people. The right to liberty includes personal freedom: the private realm in which the individual is free to act, to think and to believe, and which the government cannot legitimately invade; political freedom: the right to participate freely in the political process, choose and remove public officials, to be governed under a rule of law; the right to a free flow of information and ideas, open debate and right of assembly; and economic freedom: the right to acquire, use, transfer and dispose of private property without unreasonable governmental interference; the right to seek employment wherever one pleases; to change employment at will; and to engage in any lawful economic activity. |
| The Pursuit of Happiness: | It is the right of citizens in the American constitutional democracy to attempt to attain - to “pursue”- happiness in their own way, so long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others. |
| Common Good: | The public or common good requires that individual citizens have the commitment and motivation - that they accept their obligation - to promote the welfare of the community and to work together with other members for the greater benefit of all. |
| Justice: | People should be treated fairly in the distribution of the benefits and burdens of society, the correction of wrongs and injuries, and in the gathering of information and making of decisions. |
| Diversity: | Variety in culture and ethnic background, race, lifestyle, and belief is not only permissible but desirable and beneficial in a pluralist society. |
| Truth: | Citizens can legitimately demand that truth-telling as refraining from lying and full disclosure by government be the rule, since trust in the veracity of government constitutes an essential element of the bond between governors and governed. |
| Popular Sovereignty: | The citizenry is collectively the sovereign of the state and holds ultimate authority over public officials and their policies. |
| Patriotism: | Virtuous citizens display a devotion to their country, including devotion to the fundamental values and principles upon which it depends. |
Source: CIVITAS: A Framework for Civic Education, a collaborative project of the Center for Civic Education and the Council for the Advancement of Citizenship, National Council for the Social Studies Bulletin No. 86, 1991
and
Learning to Give 6-8th grade unit CDV, CDV, What’s a CDV? written by Tom Webb, www.learningtogive.org.
Fundamental Beliefs
| Rule of Law: | Both government and the governed should be subject to the law. |
| Separation of Powers: | Legislative, executive, and judicial powers should be exercised by different institutions in order to maintain the limitations placed upon them. |
| Representative Government: | The republican form of government established under the Constitution is one in which citizens elect others to represent their interests. |
| Checks and Balances: | The powers given to the different branches of government should be balanced, that is roughly equal, so that no branch can completely dominate the others. Branches of government are also given powers to check the power of other branches. |
| Individual Rights: | Fundamental to American constitutional democracy is the belief that individuals have certain basic rights that are not created by government but which government should protect. These are the right to life, liberty, economic freedom, and the “pursuit of happiness.” It is the purpose of government to protect these rights, and it may not place unfair or unreasonable restraints on their exercise. Many of these rights are enumerated in the Bill of Rights. |
| Freedom of Religion: | There shall be full freedom of conscience for people of all faiths or none. Religious liberty is considered to be a natural inalienable right that must always be beyond the power of the state to confer or remove. Religious liberty includes the right to freely practice any religion or no religion without governmental coercion or control. |
| Federalism: | Power is shared between two sets of governmental institutions, those of the states and those of the central or federal authorities, as stipulated by the Constitution. |
| Civilian Control of the Military : | Civilian authority should control the military in order to preserve constitutional government. |
| Patriotism: | Virtuous citizens display a devotion to their country, including devotion to the fundamental values and principles upon which it depends. |
Michigan Department of Education - Curriculum Development Unit: Social Studies 612198
and
Learning to Give 6-8th grade unit CDV, CDV, What’s a CDV? written by Tom Webb, www.learningtogive.org.
Core Democratic Values for Elementary Students
| Core Democratic Values: | the fundamental beliefs and Constitutional principles of American society, which unite all Americans. These values are expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and other significant documents, speeches, and writings of the nation. |
| Life: | Each citizen has the right to the protection of his or her life. |
| Liberty: | Liberty includes the freedom to believe what you want, freedom to choose your own friends, and to have your own ideas and opinions, to express your ideas in public, the right for people to meet in groups, the right to have any lawful job or business. |
| Pursuit of Happiness: | Each citizen can find happiness in his or her own way, so long as he or she does not step on the rights of others. |
| Justice | All people should be treated fairly in getting advantages and disadvantages of our country. No group or person should be favored. |
| Common Good: | Citizens should work together for the good of all. The government should make laws that are good for everyone. |
| Equality: | Everyone should get the same treatment regardless of where their parents or grandparents were born, their race, their religion or how much money they have. Citizens all have political, social and economic equality. |
| Truth: | The government and citizens should not lie. |
| Diversity: | Differences in language, dress, food, where parents or grandparents were born, race, and religion are not only allowed but accepted as important. |
| Popular Sovereignty: | The power of the government comes from the people. |
| Patriotism: | This means having a devotion to our country and the core democratic values in what we say and what we do. |
Source: Civitas: A Framework for Civic Education, a collaborative project of the Center for Civic Education and the Council for the Advancement of Citizenship, National Council for the Social Studies Bulletin No. 86, 1991.
and
Learning to Give 6-8th grade unit CDV, CDV, What’s a CDV? written by Tom Webb, www.learningtogive.org
Unit Contents:
Overview:Power to Make a Difference (The) Summary
Lessons:
- 1.
- Fame, Fortune and Philanthropy
- 2.
- People Who Make a Difference
- 3.
- Make a Difference in Life
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Comments
(The positive aspect of using the lesson was) the deeper understanding of Core Democratic Democratic Values by students.