Reviewing current political cartoons related to justice, equity, and racism, learners identify how language and humor act as a form of social action. They create their own cartoons or statement promoting or showing the damage of one of these themes.
Learners use visual literacy skills to analyze the components and message of an image. The students identify issues that are meaningful to them and create a simple image/message and then design a social media campaign to advocate for their issue.
We look at the Society of Friends/Quakers and describe how this group promoted the common good. The Quakers pushed for religious freedom and freedom of choice, which are Core Democratic Values. As a group, they formed organizations to promote social change in the areas of slavery,...
We learn about the ancient Aztec culture in Mexico.
From books and research, young people read about the Aztec Empire practice of human sacrifice, which was seen as a gift to help the community. Discuss the concept of sacrifice for the common good and debate individual rights and community responsibility when taking action for the common good....
Participants explore Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s thoughts about serving and taking action. They give examples of service and social action by one person that can change the world.
The learners define bullying and describe the impact on victims, bystanders, and the whole community. We explore how bullying behavior can be a civil rights issue when it makes school a place that isn't fair and safe for all. They create a survey and poll members of their school and...
The Free Breakfast for Children Program of the 1960s exemplified mutual aid and differed from traditional charity while still being a form of philanthropy. We discover and learn how the people of a community most affected by issues, including young people, are sometimes the most able to...
"Freedom songs" were an important motivating force during the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968. Through music we explore the important figures in the Civil Rights Movement and their contribution to the common good.
By reading about her life and her work, students will understand how Mary Eliza Church Terrell’s writing and activism brought about change for African Americans and women.