Grade 8 Student-led Civics Workbook is available online now. Please click on the image below to get to the Workbook.
In November 2018, Massachusetts passed a bill requiring students to complete at least two civic action projects, also known as student-led civics, one in eighth grade, and the other in high school (Senate, No. 2631). For the student-led civics projects, students identify issues that matter to them and their community, investigate them, make a plan for action, implement it, and reflect on their efforts to drive change (DESE, 2019). The DKP provided cases to Civics Project Guidebook (DESE, 2019). We present those cases on our website, courtesy of the DESE.
Where did the cases come from?
Over the course of the academic year 2017-2018, a group of teachers in the 10 Questions Teacher Leader Program tested out the then Questions framework in various settings and produced useful ideas for effective implementation. The teachers’ projects are being accepted for presentation during the 98th National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference taking place in Chicago, IL from November 30 to December 2, 2018. Two sessions are scheduled. One is “Hearing the Other Side at Home and at School,” scheduled Saturday, December 1, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, led by Benjamin Liberto and Kathleen FitzGerald. The other is “Bending the Arc through History and Literature,” scheduled Friday, November 30, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, led by Melissa Strelke and Elizabeth Olesen. The following cases became part of the DESE Civics Project Guidebook. See the menu on the right.
- Case A: Six Stages Reflection
- Case B: High School Independent Project
- Case E: Civil and Human Rights
Two additional cases are worth reading.