I Can Make a Difference!

It's important for students to understand that they too can be an active participant in government and have a voice in society. In this activity, students will visualize how citizens in their community can change and improve the government and society that they live in. Depending on the town, city, state, or country they live in, students will have to do some research on their rights in relation to their area.

Teachers can use the list provided below to guide their students to the different examples of how they can be involved in a democracy, and can add examples as desired. Students should choose four examples from this list.

10 Possible Examples of How Citizens Can Make a Difference

1. Voting
2. Contacting their local representative
3. Attending school, town, or city council meetings
4. Staying informed of the news
5. Running for office
6. Promoting social issues
7. Serving on a jury
8. Signing a petition
9. Discussing and debating issues with peers
10. Respecting the differences and cultures in our community

Extension Activity:

Instead of having students research possible ways that they can make a difference, students will be working in groups to create an actual plan of ways that they will improve their own community. Students can help tutor students, participate in a local community group such as a soup kitchen, or volunteer with classmates to help clean their local environment. For every action students participate in, they should describe their action and create a visualization of the activity they chose. This activity can be a great use of the storyboard feature of uploading pictures to their storyboards. Students should take pictures of themselves in action and upload the pictures to their spider map to display to their class. Teachers or advisory groups should share their storyboards with other classes in order to "Pay it Forward" and see what ripple effect this could have on their community.