Supplemental Lessons

The following are lessons that can be adapted and incorporated into your classroom.  The first two lessons offer a way in which to get students thinking about the Urban Agenda project.  The third lesson offers another way to get students thinking about issues that affect their lives.  The fourth and final supplement is a writing assignment that can be adopted into any classroom. 

The first two lessons, Defining Your Space and Agenda Building, are the standard lessons that comprise agenda building.  These lessons allow students to first become acquainted with various terms and ideas and then use these definitions to explore issues in their own world.  The lessons will enable students to hash out issues of importance to them and let them know that they are politically involved, even if it is somewhat moderately.

The third lesson, Utopian School, offers students a chance to build their own school.  However, this lesson is not merely an exercise of imagination.  Students are forced to think about concerns of funding, government approval, parental approval and other caveats of public planning.   This offers students a deeper insight to the trials of the decision making process. 

The writing lesson is a way to get students to research and logically organize an argument around their issue.  The oral component, offered as a suggestion, also allows students to lead classroom conversations on their issue. 

All of these lessons touch upon fundamental skills and knowledge found in the MEAP.  The creative teacher can use the foundation in these lessons to build their own lessons to meet the needs of their classrooms.   

Lesson One: Defining Your Space

Lesson Two: Agenda Building

Utopian School Lesson

Writing Lesson

 

 

 

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