United States Government: Democracy in ActionUnit 8:
State and Local GovernmentBig Idea Activity — Lesson Plan (10.0K) Can ordinary citizens really be part of the political process? Assignment: Grassroots Reform
Students will implement a grassroots campaign for a local or state issue. Assignment Task List
Step 1: Have students brainstorm ideas for a change in your community or state. Organize them into small groups to form ideas about issues to promote in a grassroots organization. What do they feel strongly about? The issue may be statewide or localized. The activity sheet provides these examples:
- Promoting a new park or improvements in an existing locale
- Providing publicity for the county humane society
- Promoting the distribution of a classic novel to every senior in the state upon high school graduation
- Promoting foster care or Big Brothers and Big Sisters organizations
- Promoting stricter pollution regulations
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(0.0K) (0.0K) Differentiated Instruction To jumpstart ideas, have students browse through local newspapers for problems in the community or state that need to be addressed. |
Step 2: List each group's ideas on the board. Have the class discuss and narrow the issues to one issue that most students feel strongly about. Step 3: Work with students to help them clearly state the issue and its solution(s). Explain that they need to describe what they want to change regarding this issue and the people who would benefit from the change. Give them class time to gather and summarize online and print information relevant to the issue/problem and solution. Emphasize that in order to effectively promote their issue to local or state legislatures, the public, and the media, they must be clear on their goal and ways to meet it. Step 4: Steer students to consider various tactics they may use to promote their issue:
- Attending local council meetings
- E-mailing local officials
- Preparing leaflets highlighting the issue/solutions and distributing them door-to-door in teams
- Posting information online
- Writing editorials for the local newspaper
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Encourage students to check online and in the phone book to see whether other grassroots organizations with a similar goal exist in your area, and how they can work together or get ideas from them. Remind students that an organized demonstration requires a local permit.
Step 5: Discuss with students the correct behavior they must follow when implementing their tactics. Explain that a successful grassroots organization is run on skills similar to business skills even though the goal is not personal gain. These skills include effective communication, following through on responsibilities, staying informed, sticking to facts instead of opinions, and keeping egos in check. Remind students that grassroots organizations are not about one person—they are successful because everyone works together professionally even when the issue is emotional. Step 6: Help students organize themselves into subgroups to implement the tactics they decided upon in Step 4. Point out that successful grassroots organizations are extremely well organized in terms of who will do what, when, and where. Students need to identify who will be responsible for various actions, and keep track of everyone's responsibilities on a chart or Excel sheet. They must include details such as who called or e-mailed which officials and when, or who prepared and distributed leaflets to which neighborhoods and when. Explain that they must not duplicate their efforts, but they should be prepared to expand their tactics if people they contact also want to become actively involved. (10.0K)
After your grassroots campaign, discuss this question: Can ordinary citizens really be part of the political process? |