In this lesson the learners will identify several advocacy strategies and draw conclusions as to their effectiveness. They will identify local, state, and/or national concerns for animal welfare that call for advocacy intervention and determine what a successful intervention strategy might look like. They will include these strategies in a plan to address their identified local, state, and/or national concern for animal welfare.

The learner will:

• identify, compare and contrast some types of and styles of advocacies that have been and are being used as a “call to action.”
• examine advocacy efforts and determine their effectiveness.
• identify local, state, and/or national concerns that might call for advocacy interventions.
• determine outcomes for a successful advocacy intervention, addressing some of these identified local, state, and/or national concern.
   

Anticipatory Set:
Prior to the start of class have listed on the display board the “Characteristics of Advocates” from Attachment Two: Lesson One: Fact Finders, Individualists, Good Listeners, People who Persevere, Reasonable, Credible, Communicators, and Passionate.  As the learners enter the classroom, have the “I Have a Dream Speech” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. playing in the background. (Full audio and script:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm).
Begin the class period by replaying the speech and asking the learners to listen for evidence of the characteristics of advocates in the words of Dr. King.

• After hearing Dr. King’s speech, lead a class discussion that identifies the characteristics of an advocate exhibited in this speech.
   
• Encourage the learners to share their “homework” assignment from Lesson One in which they interviewed family members and/or friends about their advocacy experience. Discuss whether and what type of advocacy family members and friends have done. Discuss the types of issues that families are willing to step forward and advocate for. 
   
• Record on a chart their responses, clustering them into meaningful categories, such as war, environment, animals, health, and children.  Keep this information where it can easily be seen and add to it whenever appropriate during the lessons.
   
• Distribute copies of Attachment One: Types and Styles of Advocacy.  As you read through the styles of advocacy, provide additional explanation and discuss examples in order to give students an understanding of the variety of forms and intensities that advocacy can take.
   
• Assign learners to groups of two or three and give a copy of Attachment Two: Examples of Advocacy to each learner. Distribute a copy of Attachment Three: Advocacy Worksheet to each group. Allow groups to choose a historical example from Attachment Two, or the teacher may assign one to each group. The group shares responsibilites and researches their example from history. They fill in the information requested on the worksheet and discuss whether the advocacy strategy used was effective or not for addressing the issue.
   
• Have each group report their findings to the rest of the class and share their assessment of the advocacy strategy used in their particular event.
   
• Facilitate a class discussion about what they could learn from these examples about how to successfully advocate on behalf of a present-day issue related to animal welfare. They may also consider a world, community, or school policy.
   
• Conclude this lesson by having the learners write their reflections on the following Elizabeth Dole quote as it applies to this lesson: “We have learned that power is a positive force if it is used for positive purposes.”
  

• Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” (Full audio and script:
  http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
  speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm)
• See also Web Sites found on Resources Sites (Attachment Two)
• Additional Advocacy References:
  Advocacy ‘Know Your Rights’ Toolkit – Advocacy Methods & Materials
  http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/dis/
  disresearch/poc/pages/advtoolkit-methods.html
  Effective Advocacy:
  http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/res01/communications.html

For additional related topics and materials see: 

• ASPCA Professional: service-learning opportunities with animals
  http://www.aspcapro.org/service-learning.php
• ASPCA® Website Home page
  http://www.aspca.org  
• Learning to Give: www.learningtogive.org