Exploring Core Democratic Values - Meghan Murphy



Exploring Core Democratic Values

Looking at Current Issues in the News

Lesson plan:

1. Spend time introducing the Core Democratic Values and Principles.

2. Once the class is familiar with and can define/discuss CDVs, introduce the concept in the Basic Beliefs collection of news articles or bring in articles from local papers or online news sources that demonstrate that CDVs are in play today, every day in our current events/issues.

3. Define “public policy” and differentiate from “Service Learning.”

4. Give each group of four students one article to read and discuss. Most of the articles have focus questions to facilitate a discussion in Part I of the Activity. Be ready to present (summarize, don’t read) the article to the rest of the class and tell why it is representative of the CDV at the top of the article.

Assignment: Find an article in any local newspaper or online news source (MLive, WSJ, NYT, etc.) that presents a local, state, or national public policy issue. Print out for class and attach to this rubric.

Summarize the article. – Identify the CDV that is being debated. – Identify the level of government that would have jurisdiction in this issue. (local, state, national) AND the branch of government that addresses this issue

Give the rationale for choosing the CDV you identified and why you said that. – Develop 2-3 focus questions that would help another student discuss the issue. – Be ready to present your article to a small group and turn in.

Exploring CDVs in the News Rubric (USE TEMPLATE)

| |3 points |1 point |0 points |

|On time |Assignment is on time and available |Work is posted on time, but not |Assignment is late. |

| |for class discussion |brought to class for discussion | |

|Title/APA Citation |Article is identified using APA |Article is identified by the Title, |Article is misidentified or|

|(Use Template) |citation format |Date, News Source |not identified |

|Article – print and include|Included article highlights a U.S. |Included article is about something |No copy of the article |

|with assignment |community, state, or national public |other than a U.S. public policy issue|turned in with assignment |

| |policy issue |(service learning, etc.) | |

|Grammar, Spelling, |0-1 mistakes in grammar, spelling |2 -3 mistakes in grammar, spelling |Any amount of mistakes in |

| |and/or punctuation. |and/or punctuation don’t affect |writing affect |

| | |understanding. |understanding |

|Article Summary |Article is summarized clearly and |Article is summarized. Important |Article summary is missing.|

|(5Ws and H) |succinctly including all important |info may be missing or summary | |

|(Use Template) |information |includes too much info. | |

|CDV identified |CDV(s) identified correctly |Unclear choice; not really the focus |CDV identified incorrectly |

|(Use Template) | |of this article |or not identified |

|Rationale for each CDV |Rationale for each identified CDV |Rationale for identified CDV |Rationale for identified |

|(Use Template) |clearly described |described, but may be unclear |CDV not described |

|Level of government |Correctly identifies the U.S. level |Unclear choice or reason; not really|Level of U.S. government |

|(Use Template) |of government with jurisdiction |the focus of this article |missing/incorrect. |

|Branch of government |Correctly identifies the branch(es) |Unclear choice or reason; not really |Branch(es) of U.S. gov’t |

|(Use Template) |of U.S. government involved |the focus of this article |involved missing/incorrect.|

|Focus questions |2-3 focus questions that will |1 focus question that will facilitate|No focus questions written |

|(Use Template) |facilitate discussion of the issue |discussion | |

Total points possible: 30; What do you think? _27___ Total points earned: __________

CDVs in the News – Use this template to complete this assignment. Student work is inserted in right-hand column below for each section

|Name and SST309 Section |Meghan Murphy Sec.01 |

|Title of Article and APA |‘Religious freedom’ bill would allow prayers at high school graduations, football games |

|Citation | |

| |"Michigan Ann Arbor Bay City |

| |Detroit Flint Grand Rapids ." . N.p., |

| |n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. . |

|Complete summary of |Who: (Michigan Senate, Congress, Supreme Court) |

|Article |What: A religious freedom bill for schools |

|(5Ws and H) (Who, What, |When: December 11, 2013 |

|When, Where, Why, and |Why: For students to have “limited public forums” to have time for prayer or events that include religious speeches like graduation |

|How?) |ceremonies or football games. This bill will also say that “instructors would not be permitted to grade a student’s work differently |

| |based on religious content…” |

| |Where: Lansing, MI capitol. |

| |How: A proposal introduced in the Michigan Senate to be passed in Lansing, MI. |

|Core Democratic Value(s) |1. Freedom of Religion |

|Rationale for each of the |1. This article is about Religious Freedom in the school systems in Michigan and a bill to pass for students to have that Freedom at |

|CDVs |certain times or events with a “limited public forum.” |

|(Why does the CDV you | |

|chose fit this issue?) | |

|Branch of Government |(Michigan Senate, Congress, Supreme Court) |

|indicated in this issue |This is what is stated in the article. |

|AND how do you know? | |

|Level of Government with |(Michigan Senate, Congress, Supreme Court) |

|jurisdiction – AND how do |This is what is stated in the article. |

|you know? | |

|2-3 Focus questions – how |Considering the Core Democratic Values, do you think that this bill would be a smart decision in school? Why or why not? |

|would you lead a |From what you have read, how might you amend/change the bill? |

|substantive discussion on |Should other places besides schools have religious freedom? Why or why not? |

|this article as it relates| |

|to the Core Democratic | |

|Values? | |

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