Appendix 2: Civic Engagement Example Activities

This compiled list of activities are comprised from the work of the National Council for
the Social Studies as well as examples created by the K-12 South Dakota social studies
educators.While the activities are listed by grade level, educators can adapt any of the
activities to meet the needs of any grade level or standard.

Grade Level Activities/ Description

Kindergarten ● Flag Presentation:

○ Invite a community member or organization
(ex. Veteran’s group, VFW, American
Legion) to give a presentation on the flag.
This will help students better understand the
meaning of the flag and what it stands for.
● Make posters to show examples of classroom rules
being used.
○ Students demonstrate understanding of the
classroom rule by drawing a picture or
writing a sentence about the rule.
● Students create the classroom rules.
○ Knowing the process of how rules are
created, how to agree on rules, and why
they are important for the classroom.
● Classroom PSA or video about helping others in
need.
● Classroom hosting a food drive or clothing drive to
donate to a local organization.
● Classroom makes posters to advocate for local food
drives or donation centers and show how those
places help the community.
● Map Skit
○ Students will work with each other to create
a skit about identifying places on maps and
globes. Students would use a map to show
how students could get to places within the
school/community. For example, students
would give directions to go to the library. A
student would describe what rooms to pass,
which direction to go, etc. It will help show
their understanding of identifying places on
maps and globes.
● Picking up garbage
○ Have students pick up garbage in different
environments to help show what that
environment should look like and how to
 care for them.
● Develop a club that helps take care of the
environment.
○ Students can take responsibility and have a
group each week that is in charge of taking
care of the environment at school or another
location. This can include: picking up trash,
watering trees or flowers, pulling weeds,
cleaning various items, etc.
● Community Garden Project
○ Plant a class garden for students to care for and
when completed, harvest the garden and share
with others to eat. It will require working
together along with seeing how we use the
environment for things that we want and need.
● Create posters about different celebrations.
○ Have students draw pictures to represent the
celebrations and hang them around the school.
Students will gain an understanding of the
different cultural and community celebrations.
By discussing these celebrations and creating
these posters, students will be applying the
knowledge they’ve learned. Hanging them up in
the community allows others to gain knowledge
as well.
● Host a culture fair or celebration fair at the school.
○ Students and families could showcase different
parts of celebrations by bringing in photos,
instruments, decorations, etc. to share with
others. Community members could also come in
and share about different local celebrations,
their origins, and how we celebrate.
● Each student or groups of students could design their
own new celebration.
○ Students could take the things they learn and
design a celebration of their choosing or create
their own. Students would have to understand
what they have learned about various
celebrations and apply it to theirs.

1st Grade ● Flag etiquette presentation by community groups for

example the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign
Wars
○ The presentation will help students understand
the meaning behind the colors and parts of the
flag and why it is an important symbol of the
United States. The presentation could also
 discuss how to handle and fold the flag
respectfully.
● Create a poster for awareness
○ Students will create posters to identify the
primary symbols of the United States. These
posters can be displayed around the classroom
or school to help other students be aware of the
different symbols of the United States.
● Invite the principal to the classroom
○ Students will be able to identify who the
principal is and understand the importance of
rules.
● Field trips to places that offer community services, such
as the fire station, police station, post office and others.
○ Services would be explained by those who
actually work in that field.
● Write a thank you note to a community service member
○ Help students understand and be thankful for
the variety of community services available and
the sacrifices these services offer.
● Field trip to bank, post office or other community service
○ Students will gain an understanding of services
provided in the community.Students can also
determine how these services help families.
● Field trip to the grocery stores
○ Students will u​nderstand the process of getting
the goods to the community. ​Students can also
determine how these goods help families.
● Classroom Jobs
○ Students earn class designed money for
classroom jobs and use it to purchase items
from classroom stores.
● Take a walk outside or around the neighborhood.
○ Students will get to see that maps are useful in
finding certain areas within the classroom and
outside of the classroom.
● Create maps of the classroom for in need students.
○ Students can create maps of their classroom to
help new, ESL, etc. students who may not be
familiar with the classroom.
● Bus driver/police officer/firefighter/postal worker visit
○ These community service members could
discuss the importance of absolute locations in
their line of work.
● Invite someone from Game, Fish, and Parks to talk to the
class.
 ○ Students will learn about different bodies of
water and land masses in surrounding areas.
Students will also learn their role in how they
can preserve these areas.
● Classroom visit from city council or mayor
○ Students can learn how the city is divided up
into different wards/precincts even though the
boundary is not visual.
● Students redesign boundaries around their
classroom/school
○ Students can brainstorm and draw out new
boundaries they would want to see in their
school or classroom and note how that would
change/impact the school and classroom.
● Doctor/Nurse/EMT visit
○ They could describe how clothing helps to
protect a person from environmental dangers
(sunburn, frostbite)
● Research how other cultures have adapted to their
environment
○ Students can research how different cultures in
and around their community modified and
adapted their living to fit their environment both
past and present.
● Invite an older member of the community into the
classroom.
○ Discuss a timeline of their life and how it differs
from the life of a first grader.
● Field trip or classroom visit from museum staff
○ Students learn about how things are grouped in
a museum based on a time in history.
● Local historian visit
○ Invite a local historian to visit the classroom and
tell about the history of the town. Historians
should share different types of sources such as
newspaper articles, photographs and artifacts.
● Visit local museum or historical place
○ Students can see various types of artifacts and
gain an understanding of past life.
● School wide programs or individual classroom visits
○ Students participate in programs celebrating
people/events such as Veteran’s Day, Native
American Day, Memorial Day and learn about
the history and the people who are honored.
● Research people and events in their own communities
who have been recognized with celebrations.
 ○ Students conduct short research projects to
learn how certain celebrations in their
community came to be.

2nd Grade ● Find local symbols and figure out what they mean
(American Legion)
○ This connects the students to real world
examples that are both local and national. The
class could find national symbols (American Flag,
post office, eagles) and local symbols (mascot,
local historic landmarks) and our family’s
cultural symbols. l
● As a family, choose a symbol that means the most to you
and share with the class.
○ Students will explain why the symbol was
chosen and more important than others.
Students can also discuss that family symbols
may change over time as the family grows.
● Work with local community leaders to help solve a
community problem (for example, plant flowers or pick
up trash, etc.)
○ Even the youngest community members can
contribute to make their community better. This
helps them take pride in their community and
want to become leaders who make a difference.
It helps them make the concrete connection that
anyone in the community can be a leader.
● School Wide Voting Process
○ The school can set up voting booths including
ballots to help students understand how the
voting process works. Doing this process will give
students a better understanding of how laws are
passed by majority.
● Attend a City Council or School Board Meeting
○ By watching a local community organization they
can see first hand how to properly conduct a
meeting in order to achieve an agenda.
● Take a field trip to a government service (firehouse, post
office)
○ Government services and taxes are both very
abstract for students. By visiting a government
service students will correlate the idea that the
tax money is paying for these services in their
community.
● Bring in local business to explain the goods and services
they provide
OR
 Walk around your community and identity business with
goods and services
○ When students can identify goods and services
provided in their community, they will
understand the impact businesses have on a
community.
● Make a map of something important in the community.
○ Work with community/business owners to make
a map of an important place. By visiting these
places and making a map students will see the
connection of how paper maps represent the
real world.
● Poster Presentation addressing:
○ What makes our town great?
○ What makes our state great?
○ What makes our country great?
■ By using these broad questions, students
can decide what characteristics of their
town or state make it unique. Students
could make a poster of a specific region
and present it. All the different posters
will show they live in multiple regions
with diversity.
● Community Video/Slideshow
○ When your class is out walking in your
community finding the man-made and natural
features, take pictures or short videos. This can
be made into a video to showcase your
community.
● Implement a positive change
○ Use the list of negative consequences and create
solutions to make a positive change in your
community.
● Club Visit (Conservation district, Lyons Club)
○ Use local clubs and have them talk to the
students so they can see how the different
activities they do positively impact the
community
● Community Garden
○ Working with a local 4-H club or community
group to make a community garden for
residents and even connecting with the local
food bank.
● Make a presentation of the history of local town
○ Visit the local historical museum or talk to
members of the historical society. Gather
information to make a presentation to other
 grades. Highlight the order of significant events
in the town’s history.
● Guest Speaker
○ Have a community member or family member
come in and talk about school, life, family,
farming etc when they were growing up. This
will allow students to ask questions and
understand that people alive today had very
different situations growing up.
● Heritage Celebration
○ Have family members of the students in the
classroom share different customs and traditions
they follow in their family to help celebrate
different holidays.

3rd Grade ● Create a poster and display it

○ Creating a poster that connects the community
to the state and display it in the hallway,
lunchroom, classroom, etc. which allows the
students to show what they have learned about
South Dakota symbols.
● Visit or presentation from the South Dakota Cultural
Heritage Center
○ Invite someone from the cultural heritage center
so present on South Dakota symbols, explaining
their origins, meanings, and importance to the
state. Students can brainstorm if they feel more
symbols should be added as time has changed
with reasons for their thinking.
● Construct a classroom Constitution and class rules
○ Creating classroom rules would be comparable
to how the Constitution helped form laws.
● Create a short public service announcement addressing
the school/ community rules and the consequences that
follow
○ Creating a public service announcement for the
students at the school to address the school/
community rules and the consequences will
ensure each student knows that rules cannot be
broken without some consequence following it.
● Classroom or Virtual Visit
○ Invite a judge, police officer and lawyer to come
and visit with the class on the consequences of
breaking laws.
● Have the mayor or city councilman come speak
○ The elected officials would inform students
about their role and other roles in the local
 government.
● Bring in a representative from a local government
agency.
○ This would allow students to see which
government agencies are in their community,
their functions and how to access them.
● Present a rule or law.
○ Presenting a rule or law to the class each day will
help students understand what regulates a
community.
● Classroom or Virtual Visit
○ Have a police officer or lawmaker come and visit
with the class on how laws and rules benefit the
community.
● Create your own law/rule
○ After students examine community laws and the
reasons behind their creation, students could
create their own law/rules for their classroom.
● Create a class play
○ Creating a class play would allow the students to
act out the rights and responsibilities of a citizen
in a community. This could also be done in
smaller skits
● Create a timeline video
○ Creating a timeline video will show how the
resource is used to create a good or service that
is available in their community or surrounding
communities. For example: How a factory in the
community takes a resource and creates a good
that is used by other people. This is also helping
students see how community members are
involved in this process.
● Mock Trading Post
○ Students would each have their own and would
have the ability to trade with a classmate of a
good they want. This would show students the
importance of trading.
● Volunteer opportunity
○ Students will trade their time in exchange for
something they need by volunteering for
someone within their school or community.
● Create a community map
○ Creating a map using a grid system will allow the
students to document locations in their
community. Students will get to highlight
locations of their choice.
● Create an educational pamphlet
 ○ Creating an educational pamphlet on the
different continents, oceans, major rivers,
mountains and regions would show the
students’ ability to locate them as well as their
defining features.These pamphlets would be
placed in the community and school system
where families with limited English would be
able to see them and use them.
● Create a data table
○ Creating a data table showing movement in and
out of communities would allow students to
visually see how it affects that community.
● Research and present
○ Students could research a certain community,
figure out the hardships and successes for that
community, and then present to another class.
● Give a speech or presentation to the class.
○ Using cause and effect worksheets already
created when learning this standard, students
can prepare a speech or presentation to their
class. This presentation could highlight one or
more of the events that happened during the
creation of the United States.
○ Students can also research and present on how
these events impact present-day America.
● Historical Figure Wax Museum
○ Students would research one historical figure.
They would then dress up to portray that
historical figure with their classmates. They
would also be required to ask questions of the
other group members.
○ Students can look toward people who made
significant impacts within their state or
community as well to bring more of a local
connection.
● Current day research and analyzation
○ Students complete a short research project
presentation where they examine a person in
their community, state, country, or world who
they feel should be recognized for the impact
they are making.
● Prepare a community program on President’s Day.
○ Students would have to research and prepare a
program to invite community members to. This
program should fall on or near the President’s
Day. Students could give factual information
about Presidents and leaders as well as prepare
 artwork and songs.
● Identify other figures in America to be recognized.
○ Students will analyze figures who they feel
should be recognized for their work.
○ They will need to justify their thinking through
research.
● Culture Fair
○ Students will work in groups to prepare a display
board depicting a culture that is in their
community. They will include things like : beliefs,
language, social activities, music, food, and ways
people interact. They may also include things
from home and use outside resources (family
members or community members).

4th Grade ● Students will select a current U.S. territory and compare
the rights of the territory to that of a state. They will
then compose a letter to a Senator or Congressman from
their state to advocate or dissuade adoption of that
territory as a state.
○ Students will need to research the rights of
states and the rights of the U.S. Territories. By
composing a letter to a congressman or a
senator, students will demonstrate an
understanding of the difference between the
rights of a state and that of a territory.
● Pamphlet/Mock Election
○ Students will participate in/host a state mock
election for their school and will create a
pamphlet to educate others in their community
about state powers and issues.
● Get involved or start a campaign for a bill that students
are passionate about
○ Allow students to brainstorm freedoms or
possible freedoms that they are passionate
about and find out ways to get involved in either
protecting or creating a law that protects that
freedom.
● Role play
○ Students will be broken into three groups: one
for each of the branches of government. Each
group will come up with a scenario or an action
they are going to act out or present to the class.
The other students will then be given time to
decide how they can check the power of the
branch that presented the scenario. The process
will be repeated for the other two groups.
 ○ To make this easier for students to understand,
you could use principals as the executive branch,
teachers as the legislative branch, and students
as the judicial branch. Students could then be
broken up among the three groups and asked to
present a scenario or goal they would like to
accomplish. Then the other two groups can
brainstorm ways to check the branch who
presented the scenario. Each group would get a
chance to present their scenario and each group
would get to practice checking the other group.
As an exit ticket, students could explain how this
is related to the checks and balances of the
three branches of government.
● Create a poster highlighting positives and negatives
○ Students will create a poster outlining the
positives and negatives of shopping locally or
find a local issue that students can analyze the
negative and positive factors that would go into
making a decision.
● Create an educational pamphlet/poster
○ Students will create an educational pamphlet or
poster which explains what services our tax
money is used for. For an added use of
technology, students could create an infographic
explaining what tax money is used for.
● Present to another class
○ Students will present their relationship graphs to
another class. They will describe how our region
depends on goods and services from other
regions to meet our economic needs. They will
also explain how other regions rely on our goods
and services to meet their economic needs.
● Share essay with the community
○ Write a 2 paragraph essay describing your
favorite political or physical feature in South
Dakota and share it with the community as a
way to promote people to visit that feature.
● Work collaboratively to write a resolution
○ Students will choose a region of SD and research
a problem or dilemma within that region.
Students will come up with 2-3 resolutions to
solve the problem. Then students should list
pros and cons for each resolution. Finally, they
should decide on the best solution to the
problem after evaluating the pros and cons.
● Create a pamphlet describing a region
 ○ Students will select a region of interest and then
create a pamphlet describing how natural and
man-made processes helped to shape that
region.
● Participate in a Debate
○ Students could also participate in a debate siding
either with that the cultures change positively
due to a specific historical event or negatively.
At the end students will be asked for their final
opinion on whether the culture changed
positively or negatively based on the historical
event and provide reasons to support their
opinion.
● Cultural Fair
○ Students will research different cultures in South
Dakota. Then students will host a cultural fair
for their school and community members.
● Research project/poster
○ Students will generate a question(s) about and
research one of the documents they used in
class, or find a new one, and use multiple
sources (at least 2) to answer their question.
They will then share their findings on a poster
that will be displayed in their classroom/school.
○ Students can apply this same process to current
events happening in their state/country/world
that they may have questions about.
● Document and share oral histories/narratives
○ As a class, contact a Native American Elder and
ask them to talk about how the creation of
reservations and historical conflicts and how it
has affected their tribe and their way of life.
Have students document the history that was
shared with them and ask them in another class
period to reflect on what they learned from the
Native American Elder.
● Create art to advocate (music, photography, murals,
etc.)
○ Students will take a stance on an environmental,
economic, cultural or population issue in South
Dakota. Using the research they have gathered,
they will determine a stance that they side with
and create art to advocate for that stance.
● Make A Poster
○ After studying South Dakota history and
highlighting key South Dakotans as you go, have
students select a key South Dakotan and create
 a poster highlighting their achievements and
their contributions in developing the state.
● Present day influencers
○ Students research present-day figures of South
Dakota to learn how they are impacting the
state. Students can also research how these new
influencers compare to historical figures.
● Share Oral Histories/Narratives
○ Students can interview a family or community
member that can trace their culture back to
Europe and then share that history with their
class.
● Document and share oral histories/narratives
○ If students are studying a recent war that
affected South Dakotans, they could gather
information from first hand sources and
interview others who lived through the event.
● Make and circulate a video
○ Students could create a short video of different
time periods to help raise awareness for how life
has changed. Students also analyze the impact
of these changes on people in their world
around them.
● Present to another class
○ Students will present the powerpoints about
how a specific event changed South Dakota or
impacted life for people in South Dakota.
■ Students could also put their
presentations on the teacher website for
the public to see.
○ Students should also analyze how South Dakota
would be different had these events not
occurred or turned out a different way.
● Create a poster chart and hang it in a public space.
○ Students will create a poster that includes an
event that influenced the growth and expansion
of South Dakota. Students should include a short
summary describing the event, two or more
factors that influenced growth/expansion, and
at least two images that relate to the text.
● Organize and analyze facts for a discussion
○ Give students two different historical sources,
one for them to first discuss with someone who
had the same historical source as them and then
to discuss with a student who was given a
different historical source on a similar topic.
Then they can compare factual events and the
 author's purpose and intended audience.
Students should then compare the similarities
and differences between the two historical
sources. Students should be able to explain why
this skill is especially important in our current
society.
● Write a class position statement
○ Students will be provided a history topic
provided by the teacher. Students will come up
with a claim and evidence. Students will then
discuss their claims and evidence. Finally, they
will be asked to agree on a class position
statement about the article.

5th Grade ● Teachers encourage students to go with parents to vote.

○ Students are watching firsthand their families
participate in our republic.
● Host Mock Election
○ Students in the 5th grade hand out ballots, tally
votes, and post results.
● Host Student Council Election
○ Students become actively involved in the
process of electing a representative governing
body.
● Write to local, state, or federal lawmakers.
○ Students’ voices are heard through writing to
lawmakers.
● Guest Speaker
○ Invite senators/representatives into the
classroom to speak with students
● Create/edit new laws and rules
○ Students can see how society could change if
laws and rules were added or changed.
● Using present day examples to argue the importance of
government.
○ Students analyze current events to establish the
role and importance of government. Students
can utilize the research gained to host a mock
debate determining aspects of the government
should change or stay the same.
● Tour the local county courthouse.
○ Students will learn the roles of each of the
county officials and their role in the executive
branch of government as civil servants.
● Write a letter to their local, state, or federal lawmakers
about a current piece of legislation.
 ○ As the author of the letter, the students are
becoming actively engaged in the process of
government.
● Invite a local attorney or judge to explain the purpose of
the judicial branch of government in checks and
balances.
○ Students will learn from members of the
community that are involved in the judicial
branch of government.
● Invite a state legislator (or U.S. legislator) to explain the
purpose of the legislative branch of government.
○ Students will learn from members of the
community that are involved in the legislative
branch of government.
● Invite a local mayor or other member of the executive
branch to discuss the purpose of their branch.
○ Students will learn from members of the
community that are involved in the executive
branch.
● Write a letter to their local, state, or federal lawmakers
about a current piece of legislation.
○ As the author of the letter, the students are
becoming actively engaged in the process of
government.
● Invite a local attorney or judge to explain the purpose of
the judicial branch of government in checks and
balances.
○ Students will learn from members of the
community that are involved in the judicial
branch of government.
● Write a letter to persuade or dissuade a Senator in
regard to a Presidential appointment
○ Students would be directly contacting their
Federally elected official.
● Write a letter to the local mayor or city council member,
school board, or other elected official on a matter that is
of importance to the student.
○ Students would be directly contacting their local
elected officials and understand the process of
how they can use their role as citizens to make a
change they feel is needed.
● Write a letter to persuade or dissuade a local
government entity on a decision.
○ Students would be directly contacting their local
officials.
● Attend a local government entity’s meeting.
 ○ Students would understand the process of a
meeting.
● Local Speakers
○ Teachers invite local volunteer and philanthropic
organizations (ex. United Way) to share how to
become involved and how the organization
supports the community.
● Volunteer Activity
○ Teachers, students, and community members
work with a local organization to volunteer.
● Teacher invites the County Auditor and/or School
Business Manager to review how the election process
works.
○ Students are able to meet a local government
official working directly with the election
process.
● Teacher invites a local state legislator into the classroom
to talk about how they have been influenced by
constituents.
○ Students get real world examples of how citizens
can influence government policy.
● Students prepare all aspects of a mock election within
their class or school.
○ Students understand the process by which an
election needs to take place based on processes
● Letter to the editor
○ Students can write a letter to the editor to
demonstrate another way students can
participate in their society.
● Volunteer activity
○ Students work together or as individuals to
volunteer for a business or cause in their
community
● Volunteer pamphlet
○ Students compile a pamphlet of the volunteer
opportunities available in their community or
state to be shared with their school and/or the
state.
● Present on a changing law
○ Students research and present on a law that has
changed based on a need in society (racial,
economic, gender-related, etc.).
● Looking for change
○ Students determine a need in their society that
they feel needs changing. They can create a
presentation, infographic, or poster to justify
their reasons and create a plan for change.
● Students can track price differences between different
stores/markets in their surrounding communities.
○ Students will learn how supply and demand
affects the prices that different goods require in
their community.
● Teacher reaches out for community financial experts to
come in and talk to the class.
○ These activities show connection beyond the
classroom how money is a key component in the
community.
● Teacher reaches out for community financial experts to
come in and talk to the class.
○ This activity shows connections beyond the
classroom for how money is a key component in
the community.
● Teacher reaches out to business/ entrepreneurial
entities for support in the classroom.
○ This activity shows connections beyond the
classroom for how money is a key component in
the community.
● Review local newspapers for want ads and determine
what employment needs there are in the community.
○ Newspaper “want ads” will help students to
understand employment opportunities and how
certain jobs will cause underemployment based
on the wage and/or hours available.
● Teacher reaches out for community financial experts,
business owners, and various corporations, to come in
and talk to the class.
○ This activity shows the connection beyond the
classroom how money is a key component in the
community.
● If in a rural area of South Dakota, teachers could reach
out to elevators, farmers/ranchers, or commodity
brokers to discuss their role in the production and
distribution of goods as an institution of the local
economy.
○ A rural South Dakota connection to the
standards.
● Students practice the role of trading.
○ Students practice the role of trading with
modern items. They can compare how trade
would look different in current day compared to
trading in the past. Students can also examine
why trade isn’t as effective in our current
society.
● Invite in the Register of Deeds or Director of Equalization
to explain the use of maps for county business.
○ In a rural area, South Dakota landowners have
township and range maps. These maps show
direct connections to where students and their
families live. These maps are essential to county
business.
● Invite a surveyor to discuss how they take precise
measurements and use them to create maps.
○ Surveyors come in and take precise
measurements, and use the data for map
making and construction projects.
● Invite a local meteorologist to explain how they use
different types of maps to help with weather forecasts.
○ Meteorologists use maps in their work to help
make weather predictions. This offers students
real-world experience of how these maps are a
part of a visible career.
● Invite in a local farmer that uses GPS and maps for their
planting and harvest to explain the importance of maps
to their career and long term planning.
○ Local farmers will be relatable for students in
rural areas.
● Create a map of the school using latitude and longitude
coordinates.
○ Students can create maps of the school using
latitude and longitude coordinates for new
students or staff in the school.
● Bring in a farmer or rancher or other local producer to
talk about how their products are shipped and where
they end up across the region/nation/world.
○ Local producers can explain what means of
transportation is used and why when shipping
their products across the region/nation/world.
They can explain why their products are needed
in other areas.
● Invite in your local or city museum staff or museum
volunteers to discuss your community’s origin.
○ Students will have the opportunity to see how
the community was formed and what natural
resources helped support the first settlers.
○ This can also be turned into a research project
for students.
● Invite a rancher or farmer who uses irrigation into your
classroom.
○ Agriculture can be largely impacted by irrigation,
both for farmers and ranchers. A local farmer or
 rancher can explain to students how irrigation
affects their land and allows them to be more
productive.
● Students explore and apply different technological
changes to an area.
○ Students research different types of
technological changes and determine how an
area would be different if that change took
place.
● Invite a local telecommunications representative or
Public Utilities Commissioner to speak to the class about
their role in increasing internet and telecommunications
services and its impact on populations.
○ Students will relate to the careers which support
telecommunications to connect the cultures of
our world.
● Research presentation
○ Students research their own community or
another area in the state to see how it was
shaped by cultural activities.
● Invite a local meteorologist in to discuss natural
disasters.
○ Have the meteorologist come in and discuss
historical natural disasters and how they
affected the region.
● Organize a fundraiser to donate money or food to a
cause in their community, state, or nation.
○ Students in the class can work together to
organize a fundraiser to donate money, food, or
other items to organizations in their community,
state, or nation. This shows students the impact
they can have as citizens.
● Invite a tribal member/ official in to talk about the
culture and history of local tribes.
○ Students will have the opportunity to meet with
and learn about local American Indian tribes.
● If you have a local museum you can try to find exhibits
from early local settlers that reflect pieces of their
culture that was carried over from where they originated
before settling in the area.
● Students explore their own cultural heritage
○ Students can share their own family traditions
with their classmates and discuss how this
shapes their lifestyle. This could also promote
students to explore new traditions.
● Class discussion/debate
 ○ Students can choose simple topics (such as
pineapple belonging on pizza) to have a debate.
Teachers should review the aspects of what a
respectful debate looks like before students
begin. When students begin their debate, they
will understand how people can have differing
viewpoints on topics, but still be respectful to
one another.
● Explore family or community history through featured
artifacts
○ Students research a past event in their family,
school, or community and use a historical source
they’ve researched (such as a primary document
or artifact) to tell the story. This emphasizes the
importance of using reliable, historic sources to
tell a story.
■ This could also be a great exercise to
have students use multiple objects to
include several viewpoints of the event.
● Explore multiple perspectives
○ Students can be given a topic, whether current
or past, and look at multiple perspectives to
check the credibility and bias of a source. This
will help students understand that sources may
differ in what they say on the same topic. This
activity will also get students used to examining
multiple perspectives.

6th Grade ● Various ancient governments depended on societal

beliefs, economics, and leaders. Students will research
the ancient civilization structures, including societal
beliefs, economics, and leadership, and how various
ancient civilizations compare to our own.
○ At the end of the year students could create a
slideshow presenting their research. This meets
the grade level standard by having students
research and analyze the historical principles
and philosophical purposes (societal beliefs)
while working to understand those aspects in
their own society.
● Students research decisions made by their district’s
school board and how those decisions affect them
personally.
○ Have a school board member speak to the class
about what they do and decisions that the board
has made that impact the school. Students can
 write an opinion response for a particular school
board decision.
● Compare and contrast how previous societies handled
similar problems that we face (e.g. food shortage)
○ Students could learn how local, state, and
federal agencies and organizations help people
get food that they need. An example would be
funding for local food banks and food assistance
programs. Students would work to find an
example in previous societies that either helped
their citizens meet their basic needs or did not.
Students can put this knowledge into practice by
volunteering in their local organizations (such as
the food pantry).
● Using primary sources from today to understand an
event.
○ Students choose an event from today (e.g.
Covid-19, Black Lives Matter) and research
primary sources that describe the event (tweets,
photos, news coverage, eye-witness accounts,
etc…). Students must have a number of
resources that have competing views. Students
then “reconstruct” what happened and give
detailed explanations.
● Students influence their society
○ Looking at past ways that people have
influenced (changed) their society, students will
come up with a topic and research ways that
they could affect change in their society. This
could be an individual or collaborative group.
The issue could be classroom, school, or local
society. Students will create a plan to affect that
change and implement their plan.
○ This could be done by presenting information to
the teacher, principal, school board, city council,
etc. or by doing a public service announcement
(information campaign).
● Trading Post
○ Kids exchange goods and services with one
another at a “trading post” to help them
understand the value of goods and services of
both today and that of the ancient world. Make
sure that there is a mix of goods and services
from today as well as the ancient world.
● Compare past and present
○ Students look at past maps or images of their
community to determine how it has changed
 and been adapted to citizens’ needs. Students
can also examine the impact these changes had
on their community.
● Debate on various countries' economic systems.
○ Students are randomly given a country, research
their economic system, and create an argument
for why their economic system was the most
successful.
○ After the debate, give students the opportunity
to write and/or discuss what they learned and
address any new ideas that would benefit or
inhibit our system of economics in the United
States.
● Corporate/Business Speaker
○ Have a local corporate/business representative
speak to the class to discuss where they acquire
their goods (local, regional, global) and why.
Explain the chain of production to produce their
goods or provide their services. What impacts do
they see that they make in their local
communities?
● Town History
○ Create a timeline/slide show of the history of
your town. Note major events that took place in
the past and when the students became a part
of the town
● Community Calendar
○ Create a calendar of events that contains regular
and important events that students can attend
to be involved in their community.
● Analyze history of current problems
○ Students pick a topic on a problem that they see
in our world today and trace the events through
history that they think have caused that
problem. Students then write a persuasive
paper, with evidence, showing how this current
problem came about and describe possible
solutions to the problem.
● Modern Cave Art
○ Students create their own “cave art” to depict
what life is like now (important locations,
lifestyles of people, etc.). This helps students
build the connection that the events they
experience and contribute to now will be
remembered in the future.
● Agriculture in Your Community
 ○ Take a map of your local area, label various
water areas, and highlight the agricultural areas
or lack thereof. Describe the connection
between the local freshwater sources,
agricultural areas, and communities.
● World Religions Infographic
○ Collaboratively create an infographic poster for
the school explaining major religions of the
world. This promotes inclusion to students in the
school who may not share the same religions.
● Impact of economics on quality of life
○ Bring in local leaders to describe their economic
philosophies and policies.
○ Debate how leaders and economic choices
impact citizens’ quality of life.
● Analyze Current Events
○ Part of being an informed citizen involves the
use of analyzing primary sources about an event.
Students will pick any current event and create a
description of what happened, citing primary
and secondary sources from differing
perspectives.
● Prove your point
○ Communicate a position on an event happening
today and provide evidence to support what you
think will happen in the future (what will be
history). This can also work with a past event
and how the outcome could’ve been different
due to a differing piece (this would require
student research).
● Ideals and current events
○ Create a chart showing the current predominant
philosophies of the country and how those
ideals affect how people view a current event of
your choice.
● Technology debate
○ Pick an invention of the present day and
describe how it impacts people positively or
negatively. Develop a debate with evidence
supporting your position.
● Community forum
○ Have a community member (political figure,
national guard, police officer) speak to the class.
Have students create compelling questions that
they want to have answered, concerning their
community, then develop supporting questions
 to get the information they need to answer their
compelling question.
● Choosing relevant sources
○ Have students develop a compelling question
that deals with topics of today that can be
researched. Choose multiple, modern news
sources and have students complete the
evaluating matrix (in example strategies), and
describe if the news source they have is
appropriate/relevant for answering their
question.
● Current Event Analysis
○ Provide a first hand account or evidence of a
current event of a topic that is disputed (origin
of Covid-19, removal of statues, etc.) and discuss
the credibility of the sources for the event in
class.

7th Grade ● Hold a debate on the purposes that the government can
serve.
○ Pose a debate question to students for example:
“You are going to start a new country. Which
government do you want to use.” Students will
debate their government choice and support it
with evidence to see how that foundation would
be beneficial to their new country.
● Research on uprisings and Constitutional amendments.
○ Students will research events where the
government did not work for its citizens. They
will analyze what went wrong, and how it was
resolved.
● Socratic seminar
○ Hold a socratic seminar in the classroom to
discuss countries and if their governments are
working for them and why.
■ Students will analyze and identify the
government structure of their local
community by identifying the leaders
and current projects they're working on.
■ Students could also research how their
local government has changed over time
and reasons for that change.
● Students can choose a country to research the ways in
which its economic and government systems are
intertwined. Students can present their information.
○ By completing this activity, students are proving
that they can describe the relationship between
 government and economic systems in different
countries. This leads to a better understanding
of foriegn affairs and how the world market is
intertwined.
● Census data
○ Instruct students to look at census data to see
the average income levels in various areas. Have
students create charts and graphs to analyze and
present this data. This will meet the standards
when students describe how economic activity
affects standard of living. This activity promotes
students to be aware of the world around them
by understanding the socio-economic status of
those who live around them.
● Student research advocacy project
○ Students could do a research project to
determine how adding or upgrading technology
in a specific area of the world could have an
effect on a social issue (ex: clean water) in that
area, and how that effect would relate to
economic development for the area.
● Trade affairs
○ Students can research how the US interacts with
and trades with the economies of other
countries. The teacher could hold a similar class
to model UN focused on trade. This activity will
help students reach this standard by applying
their in class trade strategies to what is currently
happening in the world around them.
● Pose a central debate question
○ Students participate in a debate, using evidence
of resource availability, the responsibility, if any,
of areas with many resources toward those
areas with few resources.
● Create an advocacy presentation
○ Students create and present a campaign
requesting additional resources for a particular
region or area, supported by the predicted
changes for the area if resources were to
become available.
○ Students can choose a country and research how
it could progress over time with the same
resources that the U.S. has.
● Ask students to create a map of a city in America using
census data.
○ Create a map of their city and create a new map
of another city and then compare the two. This
 activity meets the grade level standard by
showing that the student can create a map.
● Navigating the school
○ Students will make a map of the school and
school grounds. Teacher will hide treasures and
students will have to use the map to find the
treasure.
● Research the history of the land
○ Choose a map of a current physical location with
political divisions, as well as a historical map of
the same location. Research how the possession
of land has changed over time, and use evidence
to support how this could be attributed to the
resources and/or cultural traits of the land.
Emphasize the Oceti Sakowin Nations to help
students make the connection to their own lives.
● Students could craft a proposal for a new park or any
outdoor area in their community.
○ Ask students to craft a proposal for a new
park/outdoor area in their community. Ask
students to explain how each of the Five themes
of Geography would be used in their proposal.
● Voting with the Five Themes of Geography
○ Students would take a region of the United
States and research and explain how the five
themes of that region may affect, positively or
negatively, a person’s possible participation in
civic duties, such as public voting. (Ex: Voting for
state representatives in a sparsely populated
state such as Wyoming vs. a highly populated
state such as California)
● Debate/ Socratic Seminar
○ Introduce students to a world where they are in
charge of setting up a new country. Inquire
which government system and economic system
they would want to use. Ensure students back
up their statements with evidence.
● Vote
○ Hold an election where students vote on which
government and economic system they chose.
Ask students to write a reflection to defend their
decision.
● Compare and contrast
○ Have students compare and analyze the U.S.
economic/political systems with other countries.
● Regional Destruction Research and Advocacy
 ○ Students will research a region that has human
characteristics that may be detrimental to the
physical characteristics. Students will advocate
for how the physical region could be protected
for future generations.
● What would you do?: Political Scenario
○ Put students in the role of a previous world
leader. Present them with the same issue that
was faced. Have the student evaluate the issue
and determine how they would handle the
situation.
● Awareness Flyer
○ Students will create a flyer to show how the
destruction of physical attributes and
characteristics of a region would have a direct,
negative effect on the culture of people of the
region. Ex: Rainforest deforestation affects
tribal medicine creation or food harvesting
● Survey
○ Take students on a walk through town or a
nature walk. Ask students to point out landforms
and characteristics of the environment. Ask
students to inform the class of the processes
behind these landforms. This connects students
to the world around them through research.
● Global Warming Research, Presentation Project, and
Debate
○ Students will research the concept of
atmospheric global warming and present
findings related to how this issue affects various
regions of the world differently. Included could
be issues that exacerbate global warming, as
well as steps taken to reduce it.
○ Students will engage in a classroom debate on
whether there are civic responsibilities related
to this issue.
● Lakota Culture
○ Instruct students to research the various Lakota
tribal nations and their cultures. Ask students to
compare and contrast the tribal nations’ cultures
to each other and to the larger South Dakota
culture. This activity promotes civic engagement
by allowing for students to expand their
knowledge of the culture of a sect of the
population of South Dakota.
● Laws and regulations due to overpopulation
 ○ Research how overpopulation of a region could
affect the population and culture of the people
living there. Present findings, including laws and
regulations that have been put in place due to
the increased population, and the effect of these
laws on the people.
● Students can research when the political system has
seized land from its citizens due to events or processes
through eminent domain.
○ Students can research an event and debate
whether they agree or disagree on how it was
handled and explain what happened to the
landowners after this decision. Examples: Black
Hawk Gypsum Mine, Gold rush, building
malls/etc, natural resources, roads.
● Public Flyer for licensing for hunting and fishing in the
natural environment
○ Students research the current licensing
restrictions placed on the harvesting of living
organisms (i.e., hunting and fishing) within a
particular natural environment. Students will
create a public flyer to address the reasoning for
such limitations and the possible effects of not
having restrictions.
● Follow the money
○ Research how states use the money from the
purchases of hunting/fishing licenses to
replenish the natural ecosystem.
● Research and present information on this topic to help
others understand the issue.
○ Evaluate how Lakota culture has changed
because of broken treaties, appropriation, loss
of land, life on a reservation, assimilation, and
boarding schools.
● Town Brochure
○ Students could research the physical
characteristics and natural resources of their
town/city and create a brochure for the
Chamber of Commerce highlighting the
economic activities of the town based on these
resources.
● Environmental issues
○ Evaluate how industrialization and globalization
has positively and negatively impacted groups of
people throughout the world. Students will
compare and contrast which regions were
 negatively impacted and which positive and
make inferences as to why this might be.
● Choose a country
○ Students can choose a country that has
negatively been impacted by industrialization/
globalization. They can identify an issue that this
country has faced because of it. Students can
research solutions and create an advocacy flyer
for their research. (Examples: deforestation,
pollution)
● Document and share oral histories
○ Students research and share the history of
human conditions, and how those human
conditions changed the present/future.
(Examples: choose a person or condition from
your city or the state of South Dakota).
○ Students choose a person in history who has
influenced or created change for humans in the
present day or the future.
○ Students can interview an older relative and ask
how certain conditions and events have changed
the present

8th Grade ● Mock Constitutional Convention

○ Students will research European governing
models and democraic beliefs to prepare for a
classroom dialogue. Collectively, students will
develop a list of European beliefs and models of
governing that influenced the American
Congress. Once the list is completed, students
will describe in their own words how this will
shape a discussion about a classroom
constitution which will govern their conduct in
the classroom (classroom procedures and rules).
Students will participate in deliberations where
they reach consensus on the shape and function
of classroom rules and procedures. This
constitution will be drafted and posted inside
and outside of the classroom. It can also be
amended throughout the year.
○ *Civic Engagement Activity aligns with 8.H.4.5
● Determining the impact of government on the local area.
○ Students will generate a list of questions that
they will use to poll their class, school, district,
and/or community. The question will focus on
how the government (local and beyond) has
benefited and neglected local needs. A poll can
 be done using Google Forms or other answer
collection software. Students will create
infographics (digital or non-digital) that
communicate the results to the wider school
and/or local community.
● Create a community pamphlet/community survey
○ Students will analyze the Articles of
Confederation, the United States Constitution,
the South Dakota State Constitution, and/or
local charters and constitutions. Students will
determine how successful the United States and
their local area has been , both historical and
present day, in meeting the goals of these
founding documents. Students will develop lists
of successes and areas of improvement. Based
on these lists over areas of improvements,
students will form committees to create
pamphlets that will inform the wider school
district and local community over their research
and findings. With these brochures, students will
advertise a survey poll, utilizing Google Forms,
to ask their classmates, school community, and
local area to identify what people want in “their”
government.
● “Fake” bills activity.
○ Students will demonstrate knowledge over
checks and balances and separation of powers
through participation in a classroom wide mock
government. The classroom is separated into
the three branches of government. The teacher
will read “fake” bills and the branch that
“checks” the bill stands and explains their
reasoning for checking the bill.
● The three branches of government in action
○ Students will demonstrate knowledge over
checks and balances and separation of powers
by following a historical bill through the process
of becoming a law (ie. the 13th Amendment).
Students will examine the procedures, the
political action, and the voting process that were
used to help or hinder the passing of the bill. At
different stages of the process, students will
judge how well checks and balance and the
separation of powers was upheld (ie. Lincoln’s
support and distribution of political job to
ensure the 13 amendment being passed, two
houses of Congress voting on the 13
 amendment, the Supreme Court’s deliberations
on the meaning of the 13th amendment). This
Civic Engagement Activity is especially powerful
if students reach decisions based on consensus
with the entire class or small groups.
● Revise the Constitution (State or National)
○ As a class, students will brainstorm amendments
that they believe should be added to the
Constitution. As a class, students will brainstorm
different perspectives and peoples with unique
experiences in the United States (white middle
class, black women, LGBTQA, Hispanics, asian
immigrants, Lakota, etc). Students will then form
committees and be assigned a group of people
that they must adopt the perspective of.
Committees will design posters that prove the
amendment is important through illustrations,
evidence, and rationale. Posters will be
displayed for the wider school community to
review.
● The Bill of Rights at School
○ Students will identify certain rights that are
limited at school. Students will then review court
cases that investigate the rights that students
have. For instance, students who want to
examine freedom of speech issues can examine
resources that focus on Tinker v. Des Moines,
Bethel School District v Fraser, Hazelwood v
Kuhlmeier, and Morse v Frederick (students can
search for cases themselves and the teacher
should assist where needed). After reviewing
cases, students will then examine their
classroom, team, school, and/or district
education culture to determine if their rights are
being limited. After students have a list, they will
form committees over whether or not the school
climate is promoting necessary freedoms and
create arguments to challenge one another (the
teacher may need to assign pro and con
committees to ensure different perspectives are
being considered. Another option for
committees is for the students, teacher, and
administrators to create a list of perspectives
that students should consider (minority
students, parents, principals, teachers, coaches,
ect.). After students participate in some kind of
discourse (online Google Classroom discussion,
 in-person classroom discussion), students will
create some type of illustration or writing in
order to share their opinions to the wider
school-district community. One such idea might
be that students will write administrators letters
asking why their rights are limited citing
evidence as to how those rights are limited
(these letters should be focused on the
arguments that students had in class).
● Mock Election (Pair with Student Council or 8th grade
council if possible)
○ Students will create a list of issues and solutions
to those issues that they would like a student
representative to work for. Students will then
form groups (political parties) around those
issues. One way to do this is to tell students that
their party may only choose a few issues to work
toward. Another way is to ask parties to write
the issues they think are the most important. A
teacher may also create hypothetical parties to
ensure different perspectives are being
considered. The political parties will choose a
candidate(s) that run for office(s). Students
create a platform, campaign slogan and posters
to represent their candidate. The teacher will
introduce the two ways of voting for a
presidential candidate, the popular vote and the
electoral college. Students should read historical
documents about the electoral college and
modern day perspectives on whether or not it
should stay. Electors from the school will be
chosen, they will make up the electoral college.
These people should represent different
perspectives around the school (different grade
levels, administrators, teachers, ect.) and will
hold a popular vote. After the students
campaign, both the electoral college and
popular vote will be held. Before the results are
announced, students will discuss whether or not
the popular vote or the electoral college should
be used to choose a leader. Students should also
discuss how voting for a local representative
(like their student representative) is different
from electing a state or national leader. This
project will work best if these elections are real
and actually lead to student representatives.
● Using citizen rights to support and challenge
 government policies
○ Students will examine recent decisions made by
their local and state government and determine
how it will impact their family, community, and
school. Students will collectively create a list of
these government actions and a brief summary
of why the action was deemed necessary by the
government. Students will then form
committees around whether they want to
support or challenge a decision that was made.
Students will then review what they are allowed
to do as citizens in order to support or challenge
the action that the government has committed
to (ensure that students have completed
activities where they know their rights as US
citizens). Based on their analysis, students will
develop a campaign that articulates exactly how
they will support or challenge the government
decision
● Soft Civic Action versus Critical Civic Action
○ As a class, students will create a list of the
volunteering, fundraising, and philanthropy that
they have completed during their time at school
or using their time outside of school. Based on
this list, students will determine what problems
that their volunteering actions are trying to
solve. After these lists are completed, students
will discuss whether or not their actions have
solved the issues that their volunteering actions
are trying to solve. For instance, if students have
a recycling campaign, they should discuss
whether or not the problem of pollution has
been solved. Another popular topic is whether
or not food drives are solving the problem of
people being unable to afford food.
○ After students have this discussion about the
effects of their volunteerism, introduce them to
the idea of critical civic action. Students should
think about the problems that society faces and
determine how these problems can be
permanently solved. Students can also use their
previous lists of volunteering, fundraising, and
philanthropy and develop research on how the
issues that those campaigns mean to help can be
permanently solved. After completing research,
as individuals or in groups, students can create
presentations, newspaper articles, class
 websites, and/or letters to campaign their
solutions to be seriously considered. Students
can also create their own school campaign
and/or petition their students council and/or
school board to take their campaign seriously by
requesting funding and resources.
● Public forum with city council/mayor.
○ Students will read local newspaper articles about
their local elected officials. Students will discern
what these officials promote, what their
accomplishments are, how they have handled
problems, and areas in which students believe a
more critical investigation is warranted. For
instance, if a local official does not support a
public project, students should investigate why
that is. Or, if local officials are going against each
other, or if a specific group is challenging them,
then students should complete research. Once
students investigate local officials and their
actions, students will create questions to ask
them. These questions will be collected and
students will debate which ones are the most
important (the most important questions should
be at top of the list). Local officials will be invited
to answer student questions, whether through
an online video chat, letters, or in-person
speaking engagement.
● Become involved in an organization you believe in.
○ As a class, students will create a list of all of the
school related and community groups that are
involved with citizenship or work to improve the
community. Once a list is completed, students
will speak of their experiences with these
groups, or if known experience is present in
class, complete cursory research to what the
group does. The teacher will then invite these
groups to speak about how students can
become involved with their work and how their
actions can benefit their community. Since this
work involves students meeting groups outside
of school, parents should be notified and be a
part of the process as much as possible.
● Create a campaign poster
○ Students will create a campaign poster for
George Washington’s hypothetical third term.
These posters will display George Washington’s
ideas regarding foreign policy. Students can also
 create posters displaying the foreign concept
policies of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James
Monroe and James Madison. These posters can
include concepts such as Embargo Act, Monroe
Doctrine, etc. Once students complete these
historical posters, they can then review modern
policy that is similar to the topics that
Washington and other presidents were focusing
on. Students should complete a compare and
contrast of the modern and past policies and
determine whether or not the past policy has
influenced the present day one
● Create a public service announcement on the Cotton Gin
and why it should have been banned.
○ Students will use research skills to study the
effect the cotton gin had on the number of
slaves. Students will record PSAs calling for the
ban of cotton gins that demonstrate their
knowledge of the social and economic effects of
the invention.
● Create a public service announcement calling for the ban
of the Steam Engine
○ Students will use research skills to identify the
effect steam engines had on air quality.
Students will record PSAs for the ban of steam
engines that demonstrate their knowledge of
the economic consequences of a ban.
● Murals of Economic Standing
○ Students will examine the economic standing of
specific individuals and groups during the
Reconstruction era. The goal is for students to
possess a deep understanding of the human
struggles and successes during Reconstruction.
Students can choose their own individuals and
groups, but we encourage the teacher to have a
list ready made. For instance, students can
choose Eddie Lewis, the father of recently
deceased Representative John Lewis. Eddie
Lewis was a sharecropper in Alabama and his
history is told by his children. We recommend
individuals come from the following groups:
ex-enslaved, Black sharecroppers, Southern
migrants (moving to the North), Civil War
veterans, disabled veterans, Civil War nurses,
ect. We chose these groups because they have a
unique perspective and many of them found a
radically changed economic standing, sometimes
 worse than before the Civil War. If the teacher is
having a difficult time finding individuals,
contact museums that specialize in these groups
and ask for help (you could Google “Civil War
nurses museum” and find many results). Once
students have an individual they should
complete reading and analysis of any materials
their individual left behind. Students will then
complete a mural on poster paper that
creatively illustrates that person's economic
standing. Once the murals are done, they should
be hanged in a gallery walk format and other
students, teachers, parents, and community
members should be invited to look at them.
● Create a Community Education Pamphlet
○ Students will identify current organizations and
countries that the United States supports (ex.
WHO) and create a community education
pamphlet displaying what type of support is
given.
○ This can also be used at the local/state level (ex.
Federal funding of public schools.) The
pamphlets will also contain the consequences of
what “could” happen if funding was taken away
from the organization.
● Set up a meeting with an agricultural specialist (FSA,
State Secretary of AG) to discuss the impact we have on
the country.
○ Students will research and identify the impact
South Dakota ranchers and farmers have on our
national economy. The teacher will set up a
meeting (virtual/in-person) with an agricultural
specialist to identify the impact we have on the
United States’ economy. Students will apply
that information to the need for Westward
Expansion.
● Identify the significance of the National Park Service in
preserving our nation’s history.
○ Students will evaluate the National Park
Service’s website and choose one of the battles
from the American Revolution. Students will
create flyers over “their” national park to
distribute throughout the school that contains
not only information regarding the battle but
also information regarding the United States’
National Park Service.
● What does it mean to be a state?
 ○ Students will examine the 10 years Texas was an
independent nation and identify the
issues/threats they faced during that time.
Students will then examine what happened
when Texas became a state. Next, students will
examine the areas that the United States
controls, but are not states (Washington D.C.,
Puerto Rico, ect.) and determine whether or not
they should be granted state status. Students
should use examples from their Texas research
to frame their argument. If the teacher wants to
add South Dakota history, this could also be
used as a supplement for South Dakota
annexation in 1889.
● What political party are you?
○ The teacher, or a team of students, will create a
large political spectrum illustration (poster that
runs along a wall in the classroom) that goes
between conservative and liberal ideologies. The
teacher can also elect to use a different
spectrum as well, but we encourage the teacher
to be clear on what each side of the spectrum
means. Next, students will take a series of
political identification tests and complete
activities that help them frame who they are
politically. We recommend to use a variety of
activities and examples to ensure a well rounded
characterization of students. Students will then
create a name tag that will be placed on the
political spectrum. Throughout the year, the
spectrum should be used to frame American
political writers, past national policies, local
policies, and anything else that can be
connected to the spectrum. Students should also
have the opportunity to redefine themselves at
different points during the school year.
● Reservations of South Dakota research project
○ Students will identify the nine reservations
found within South Dakota. Students will
choose one reservation to present on. Students
will research the tribe(s) located on the
reservation, the culture and identify the effect
the Louisiana Purchase had on their way of life.
Students will then present their research to their
peers. Research could include guest
speakers/interviews whose ancestors were
impacted by Westward Expansion.
● Were the Confederate States of America’s rights
violated?
○ Students will evaluate the 9th and 10th
Amendment of the United States’ Constitution
to determine whether or not states rights were
violated prior to the Civil War. Students will
initiate an informed conversation within the
classroom to discuss opposing viewpoints. Once
students have completed their conversation,
they will examine the claim of state’s rights as
being important when using Confederate
symbols, like the Confederate battle flag, statues
of Confederate politicians, and the naming of US
military bases after Confederate generals.
● Native American Relations-Present Day
○ Students will analyze past and current issues
faced by Native Americans. The teacher should
ensure that both national and local (ie. Lakota)
are used when thinking about important
moments. Students will create a timeline that
will be visible to the larger population in the
school (we recommend using the library,
cafeteria, or hallways). Students will identify
their own important moments for Native
American people (the teacher should prepare a
list for students who are unable to find any, or a
list that shares ignored perspectives). Students
will research the Native and federal response to
the important moment in history and create
informative illustrations, artistic expressions,
poetry, and brief summaries of why the moment
was important. Based on the timeline, students
will determine how these important moments
connect to modern problems. This Civic
Engagement Activity would be especially strong
if local tribal leaders were invited to help
students understand how the historic moments
they identified connect to modern issues and
how students can help resolve prior injustice.
● Ungrateful or No Debate
○ The teacher (acting as a Loyalist) will describe
the Patriots as ungrateful colonists to the class
citing evidence. Students will refute the teacher
with their own evidence taking the Patriots side
essentially starting a debate between the
Patriots and Loyalists. This could be taken
 further with a petition to censure the teacher for
calling the Patriots ungrateful.
● Come to Deadwood, SD ad campaign
○ Students will compare the San Francisco Gold
Rush with the Deadwood Gold Rush. Students
will produce a commercial highlighting
Deadwood and the Black Hills of South Dakota
from an 1849 perspective. The commercial will
be shared to younger students in the district.
(Ex. 4th grade students will especially benefit
since they focus on South Dakota history.)
● Slavery in the Civil War
○ First, anonymously poll the students and ask
them why they think the Civil War began. Create
a pie chart, or have a student do it, that
summarizes the students beliefs. This pie chart
will be posted in the classroom (or somewhere
in the hallway near the classroom). Next,
students will read different historical
interpretations of the main reasons why the Civil
War got started. These interpretations should be
passages from historical accounts (from
different periods), the textbook, history
websites, local historians, primary source
documents (like Confederate state
constitutions), and if applicable, local memorials.
After reading and analysis, students will create
committees around the answer to the following
questions “What started the Civil War.” Working
in their committees, students will create
illustrations, prepare debate candidates, and/or
design a campaign in which they attempt to
prove their interpretation to be correct. After
students finish their project, they will vote again.
The interpretation that wins the most votes will
be declared the winner, and as a class, the
students will draft a resolution that promotes
that interpretation of why the Civil War got
started.
● Role of the Confederate Statues/Symbols in the 21st
Century.
○ Students will identify the major symbols and
figures of the Confederacy and analyze ongoing
debates over their relevance in the 21st Century.
Students will form their own opinions on what
should happen with them and write hypothetical
letters to the editor. Students will read their
 peers’ letters and organize them into different
categories. The teacher or students can decide
on categories, or you can use the following (1)
“support removal of Confederate symbols,” (2)
“does not support removal of Confederate
symbols,” (3) “other.” Students will form
committees around these letters and the
committee will draft a final letter from the
collection. These final letters will be sent to the
school newspaper, local community paper,
and/or local and state government
officials/representatives.
● Shame on you! (extending the Civil Rights era)
○ Students will evaluate the 15th amendment to
the United States Constitution and briefly
examine the Civil Rights Movement of the
1960’s. Students will then research historical
people between the era of the American
colonies and post-Civil War Reconstruction that
also fought for and/or promoted civil rights.
Students will complete research on these
individuals and create summaries as to why they
should be seen as part of the Civil Rights
Movement. These bios can be creatives,
containing illustrations and imaginative artistic
expression. This project will be best if students
hang them on their locals, or make them
available for other students to read and see.
● Government Response to past pandemics and the
Covid-19 Response
○ The students will compare the differences in
responses to pandemics between individual
American states/colonies and the United States
federal government. Also, students will be
comparing the response to a past pandemic
(colonial Smallpox, 1793 Yellow Fever, 19th
century Cholera, and local outbreaks) to
COVID-19. First, two United States maps will
need to be created (ideally, students will hand
create these maps with construction paper, they
will be large, and they will be posted where
other students can see the maps). Second,
students will each be assigned a past American
colony/state, and a modern day city, state, or
territory. Once students have their
city/state/colony, they will research how that
area responded to both the past and modern
 pandemics. Students will create brief summaries
of their research and attach them to the map
(consider using string to connect ideas to
geographic positions). Once students complete
the past and modern map, they need to
compare the local and federal response. For
example, using geographical tools, students will
look at case numbers throughout the United
States and identify differences between the
states. Students will examine Governor Noem’s
response to Covid along with President Trump’s.
Or, students will also examine the stimulus
passage passed in March, 2020 that included
stimulus checks and the ppp program.
Throughout this process, the teacher will lead an
informed discussion over the United States’
response to the Covid-19 pandemic at both the
national/state level, as well as the response to
the past conflict. Students can finalize this
project by writing a hypothetical letter to the
editor of a local newspaper critiquing/praising
the United States’ response while determining if
the government takes care of its people. Since
the editor will have difficulty reading all these
letters, students could work on choosing the
best one in the class.
● Should the government tell us what to do?
○ Students will compare and contrast a historical
event in which the United States government
required something of citizens (ie. the draft,
required to own a gun to be in the militia, ect.),
and the current demands during the COVID-19
pandemic. Students will read information about
both events and then answer the following
questions in whole class or small group
discussions; Should the government require us
to wear facemasks? Should the government
order its citizens to shelter in place? Should the
government shut down public schools? Should
the government require vaccinations against
Covid-19?
● Polarization of political parties, past and present
○ Students could compare and contrast the belief
system of the republican and democratic party
on major issues in the United States today. For
example: Healthcare, gun control, education,
military, large/small federal government,
 business, etc. Students could work to find
common ground between the parties on key
issues. Is there something needed, like the Bill
of Rights in the Constitution, in any of the issues
to create a compromise between the parties?
After students complete this debate, they should
look at the issues between the Federalists and
Anti-federalists. Students will then describe how
the past political parties were similar/different
in their polarization today.
● Examining protests and their connection to the past
○ Students could investigate the events following
the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May
2020 and create a timeline of major successes
and challenges in the lives of African Americans
from the 13th Amendment to modern day
society. Once the timeline is completed,
students should answer the following question;
“How much of the past injustices against African
American people affects the modern issues and
events of today?” Students can talk about their
answers in small groups as the teacher circulates
and records observations. Once students are
done discussing, as a class, they should provide
solutions for racial injustice.
● Why does conflict lead to political change?
○ Students can research, compare & contrast, and
explain arguments for a variety of political
changes that have happened or tried to happen
in the United States and around the world. We
recommend that students choose or be given
some of the following, or allow them to
determine their own political changes that
occurred because of conflict. Ultimately, we
think it is important to understand that past
actors believed conflict was necessary. If the
teacher wants to extend this, they can have
students complete a debate whether they
decide the colonists were justified in declaring
war on England. Based on that conversation,
students should ask what that means for
modern day issues that revolve around conflict.
○ Potential Historic Topics:
■ South Carolina under Andrew Jackson
■ Texas Annexation
■ Creation of the Confederate States of
America
 ■ Conquering of Native Nations
■ Potential Modern Examples:
■ Conquering of Native Nations
■ Washington, D.C.
■ Puerto Rico
■ Quebec, Canada
■ South Sudan
● The Power of Words
○ After studying the Declaration of Independence,
teachers can provide a variety of influential
speeches and writings throughout American
History. (For example: Washington’s Farewell
Address, Journals of Lewis and Clark, Uncle
Tom’s Cabin excerpts, Gettysburg Address,
Articles from the Liberator, Ain’t I a Woman? by
Sojourner Truth, What is the 4th of July by
Frederick Douglass, FDR FIreside Chats, JFK’s
inaugural address, writings by Martin Luther
King Jr, etc.)
○ After reading famous speeches and writings,
students can write, considering example
questions like the following:
■ What motivates a person to write or
speak in such an influential way?
■ How do these writings and speeches
influence people?
■ Why does history remember these
writings and speeches?
■ How do writings and speeches like these
have the power to change a society?
● Alliances with foreign powers
○ Students will research treaties and
organizations, both past and present, to explain
how the United States is involved in alliances all
around the world. Past examples are the Treaty
of Easton (Seven Years’ War), the Nanfan Treaty
(late-colonial), and The Iroquois Confederacy
(pre-colonial and during colonial). Modern
treaties and alliances are like the North
American Free Trade Agreement, The North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the United
Nations. Students will compare & contrast the
past and modern treaties/alliances using graphic
organizers, presentations, and/or writing
outlines to show the relationship between the
past and present. For example, students can
outline how the relationship between the
 French and Patriots in the Revolution created a
250 year tradition of the United States working
with other countries to receive and give
economic support.
● Articles of Confederation Simulation
○ Students can participate in a simulation that
focuses on the flaws of the Articles of
Confederation. Students can be divided in
groups, representing states, and tasked with
creating their own state constitution. While
students are creating their constitution, the
teacher begins making comments:
■ “Virginia and Massachusetts have quite
a bit of war damage. Anyone willing to
help?”
■ “New York Harbor appears to have
English ships moving in. Anyone willing
to help?”
● Mock Constitutional Convention
○ Students can participate in a mock
Constitutional Convention. Students can
research the men in attendance at the
Constitutional Convention and reenact their
stance on the plans and the chosen compromise.
For example, teachers can have students
represent Edmond Randolph and James Madison
while they introduce the New Jersey and Virginia
Plans.
● 15 Amendments in Current Events
○ Teachers will provide students with articles,
research, events, and news outlets which focus
on the first 15 amendments to the Constitution.
Teachers must ensure that for each amendment,
there are at least two perspectives from the
articles. For instance, students should have
access to materials that discusses why people
should be allowed to bear arms, and another
● Strengthening the Relationship between the U.S.
Government and Native Americans in South Dakota
○ After researching the impact of Manifest Destiny
on Native Americans, students should research
the tribes present in South Dakota today. What
challenges do the tribes face? What cultural
aspects are present in the tribes? How does
tribal law interact with federal or state law?
○ After research, students should compile a list of
solutions to strengthen the relationship between
 Native Americans and the United States
government.
● Local Reform
○
○ Students will read information about different
reform movements during the 19th century (ie.
civil rights, women’s suffrage, religious equity,
ect.). Students will then write their opinion on
whether or not these reform movements are
still needed today. For instance, a student might
argue that Black American still have voting
inequities and that political action is needed to
ensure they are easily able to vote. Once
students write their opinion, they will give it to
another student, who will then read and make
comments on the argument. Students will
continue to pass around their arguments until
they have several affirmations and/or critiques.
Based on the feedback, students will complete
additional research to affirm the praise they
received, determine the use of the critiques, and
to prepare for any revision they themselves
deem necessary. After research, students will
rewrite their argument. All final arguments will
be collected and shared with the class.
■ This activity is especially powerful if the
teacher encourages it to lead to, or
justify, a reform movement in the school
or local area.
● Inventors of of the 21st century
○ After studying the impact of inventors and
technology of the 19th century, teachers can
compile a list of 21st century inventors and
technology. Students can research the
development of this technology and its impact
on today’s culture and society.
■ For Example: Sergey Brin/Larry Page and
Google, Steve Jobs and smartphones,
Mark Zuckerburg and social media, Elon
Musk and space travel
○ Students could create a digital poster,
demonstrating how these technologies impact
the lives of a middle school student in the 21st
century.
● The Revolution of Warfare in the United States
○ Students can create a timeline of major wars the
U.S. have been involved in under the categories
 of soldiers, civilians, women, and physical
environment.
○ Students can research how the U.S. has changed
and evolved over the course of warfare from the
American Revolution through the War on Terror,
including the U.S. Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea,
Cold War, and Vietnam.
○ Students will see how the preparation of soldiers
has changed from Valley Forge in the Revolution
to today’s Basic Training, the involvement of
civilians as spies in the Revolution and Civil War
to rationing during the world wars and
involvement of Civilian Public Service. They will
also see the involvement of women from the
Revolution to Clara Barton in the Civil War, and
Rosie the Riveter campaign in WWII, and
enlistment of women in the military today.
Students can also take a physical geography
approach to the environment to explain how
land reparations were made through the
Revolution and Civil War, and Germany’s treaty
agreement in WWI.
● We must know our history to know our present.
○ First, students will need to create three large
timelines in a public school space (ie. hallway,
cafeteria, library, ect.). These timelines should
go between the end of the Civil War to present
day. Once students have done this, they will be
divided into three groups: political, economic,
and social. Once students are in these three
groups, they should further divide themselves
into subgroups; for example, “political” could be
divided further into conservative, liberal,
Republican, Democrat, small state, large state,
rural, urban, and so on (even if the teacher has
sub-groups prepared, students should
participate in the creation of additional ones
that they think are important). Students should
then research the major events of each category
between American Reconstruction to the
modern era. As students discover events, they
will create tags with that event's name and place
it on the timeline(we advise creating a color
code for the different groups). Once the
timelines are filled, students will connect events
from Reconstruction to modern day ones using
yarn (again a color code could be useful if you
 want students to make inferences). We wrote
suggestions below of events that could be
included.
○ For example:
■ Political: 10% Plan, Wade-Davis Bill,
Reconstruction Act, 13th-15th
Amendments, Jim Crow Laws, Amnesty
Act, Compromise of 1877.
■ Economic: Veteran’s Affairs for
Confederate and Union military
members, Transcontinental Railroad,
Sharecropping, Homestead Act
■ Social: Jim Crow South, Ku Klux Klan,
segregation, carpetbaggers, scalawags
○ After research, students could compile a list of
legislation, organizations, monuments, and
events that exist today because of the political,
economic, and social effects of Reconstruction
■ For example: Brown vs. Board of
Education, Veteran’s Affairs, NAACP,
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, etc.
○ Through their research and collective lists,
students can begin to see how the events of
Reconstruction shaped a major part of our
culture today.
● Conflicting points of view in middle school
○ Teachers could choose a “hot button” topic for
middle school students to analyze and debate.
Examples could include chewing gum in class,
texting in class, hats in class, food in class, school
start/end time, homework debates, etc.
Students create the essential question around
the topic to be debated with involvement from
students across grade levels in the building,
administration, teachers, paraprofessionals,
custodial staff, and a parent. Students will
consider all points of view from each of the
above mentioned parties and come to a vote on
the issue. Students will see that politicians
should hear and consider all points of view from
their constituents before voting on an issue in
the U.S. government.
● Historical Figures Yesterday and Today
○ As a year end activity, or unit end activity,
students could identify key individuals or groups
from a time period studied in class, and research
similar figures or organizations active today.
 Students could consider what made these
people historically significant and how current
groups are impacting today’s society.
■ Example: What similarities and
differences does George Washington
share with recent U.S. Presidents?
■ Example: Are groups like the Sons of
Liberty active in today’s culture? How
so?
■ Example: How do the
Democratic-Republicans and Federalists
of the first administrations impact the
political culture of today?
■ Example: What successes and
challenges are found in the events
surrounding Manifest Destiny? Are
these successes and challenges still
present today? If yes, how so?
■ Example: How are the actions of the
Abolitionist movement of the Reform
era, Civil Rights movement, and Black
Lives Matter similar? How are they
different?
● Which founding primary document is most essential in
today’s society?
○ After studying the meaning and purpose of the
Declaration of Independence, Articles of
Confederation, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of
Rights, students create an argumentative writing
piece explaining which document is most
essential to our society today with at least three
pieces of evidence cited from the document and
ties to current events.
○ As a supplement to the writing, students could
engage in discussions with students who chose
the same document, and students who chose
different documents.

High School Economics ● Create a family budget for a trip.

○ Students would work with family to prioritize
needs and wants within family budget
constraints.
● Assist in event planning for school and community
activities (i.e. post-prom, 4-H, etc.)
○ Students would work with school or activity
committees to create plans, etc. in order to
meet organizational goals.
● Create and distribute information for a school-wide
public service campaign.
○ Students would create posters, pamphlets, etc.
encouraging time and money management.
● Write a letter to a government leader advocating for
change in how the United States answers one of the
basic economic questions.
○ Students research individual issues, creating
action plans for change and discuss those
possibilities with members of government.
● Research the decision-making process of a governmental
body, local, state, or national, based on the basic
economic questions.
○ Students gain knowledge on current or historical
events and how they relate to specific economic
content knowledge.
● Meet with local business leaders and outline their use of
the factors of production and hypothesize how they
might make changes while using them.
○ Students have the opportunity to experience
business-level decision-making within a small
business. This allows experiential learning
through business operations and
decision-making.
● Document and share the history of a specific business
illustrating its use of the factors of production (i.e.
Amazon, Walmart, etc.).
○ Students demonstrate the successes, and
possible failings, of large businesses. Emphasis
place on their use of the factors of production
(i.e. labor, natural resource use, etc.).
● Create a presentation depicting how businesses in the
community participate in the circular flow diagram of
our nation’s economy.
○ Students link local businesses and community
organizations to the larger national and,
possibly, global circular flow diagram.
● Create an art piece (i.e. model, drawing, painting,
metalwork, etc.) depicting the circular flow diagram.
○ Students demonstrate understanding of
complex economic relationships in artistic form,
ultimately explaining the interconnected nature
of the economy.
● Interview a local business person and report on their
business organization.
○ Students relate content knowledge with
real-world examples from their community.
● Write a newspaper article, for use in a local newspaper
or school newspaper, tracing the decision-making
process for a business based on news reports.
○ Students connect previous knowledge,
decision-making, to business organizations and
link demonstrate that information to the
community around them.
● Based on a production possibilities curve, write a letter
to the editor encouraging a stance on one position.
○ Students analyze reasons for and against current
and historically-based economic decisions in the
United States.
● Create a video public service announcement raising
awareness on the nation’s current position on the
production possibilities curve.
○ Students provide a persuasive interpretation of
economic reasoning to raise awareness of
economic issues within the United States.
● Organize a classroom forum involving local business
leaders and/or government officials discussing the
marginal decision-making process.
○ Students connect with local business and/or
government leaders discussing the importance
of making economic decisions that incorporate
marginal analysis.
● Create and display an infographic demonstrating the
ideal time spent on given topics (i.e. sleep, spending,
study habits).
○ Students research a given topic developing
arguments and then transfer that knowledge to
persuasive infographics demonstrating the
importance of intentional decision-making.
● Create an artist representation contrasting perfect
competition and imperfect competition.
○ Students apply concrete economic reasoning in
an abstract interpretive format for display to
others in their school or community.
● Meet with a local business leader, document supply
factors, and create a supply schedule and curve for a
specific product.
○ Students connect with local business leaders and
apply economic knowledge to issues in their
community.
● Meet with a local business leader, document demand
factors, and create a demand schedule and curve for a
specific product.
○ Students connect with local business leaders and
 apply economic knowledge to issues in their
community.
● Write an article for the school newspaper stressing the
price of a current good or service as a result of supply
and demand.
○ Students connect course concepts with
economic phenomena in the world around
them.
● Create a cartoon strip demonstrating the importance of
the equilibrium point.
○ Students connect coursework with a story arc
and demonstrate it in such a way that others can
follow the depiction.
● Meet with a local business owner and discuss changes in
their market environment, consumer choice, etc.
○ Students connect content knowledge with real
world phenomena while connecting with the
public.
● Create a collage of advertisements, news stories, etc.
that illustrate causes for changes in supply and demand.
○ Students take abstract course content and
present it in an original work, thereby
demonstrating the concepts they have
internalized.
● Write a letter to a government official about a locally
produced good or service noting the need for
implementation or removal of price ceilings, price floors,
and/or subsidies.
○ Students connect course content with logical
persuasively formatted arguments while linking
them to decision makers in the community.
● Write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper
advocating for the U.S. to reevaluate an economic goal
or goals.
○ Students relay information they have
internalized and take action promoting change
in their community.
● Create posters advocating for one of the economic goals
of the United States and post them around the school.
○ Students demonstrate course knowledge while
displaying understanding to their school
community.
● Meet with local business owners and discuss the
importance of economic resources (i.e. human capital,
labor, etc.) as they attempt to produce goods and
services.
○ Students tie information learned in class to local
 community and business structures.
● Create a poster demonstrating local examples of the
circular flow diagram and post them throughout the
school.
○ Students portray class content to the greater
school community and raise awareness of the
interconnected nature of the economy.
● Research a given economic indicator and write a letter
to a state or national lawmaker voicing concern or
appreciation for the treatment of that indicator.
○ Students connect course content with historical
evidence to advocate for continuation or change
in current legislation.
● Participate in a round table discussion with business
leaders (small and large) about an essential question (i.e.
what is the optimal way to decrease labor costs, etc.)
○ Students demonstrate an understanding of the
content while sifting through difficult questions
while receiving insights from experts in their
field.
● Volunteer to clean roadways, ditches, or other public
spaces.
○ Students relate service to government agencies
and the services they provide to demonstrate
the positive externalities they provide.
● Debate, contemporary or historical, government
expenditures based on their negative and positive
consequences.
○ Students discuss the merits of government
programs and expenditures based on economic
merit.
● Write a letter to a state or national lawmaker supporting
or refuting current fiscal policy.
○ Students identify key attributes, positive and
negative, of a fiscal policy in hopes of persuading
others and thereby demonstrating their
understanding of the course content.
● Invite representatives from local financial intermediaries
to join together in a forum explaining their services.
○ Students will gain insights into professionals in
this field and perhaps contacts for future
financial planning.
● Create poster, or digital presentation, demonstrating the
needed fiscal policy changes from a historical time
period (i.e. Great Depression, U.S. Housing Crisis, et.c)
and present it.
 ○ Students demonstrate course content through
depictions intended to educate others about the
challenges faced by past generations and the
subsequent actions of the Federal Reserve.
● Create artwork (i.e. music, collage, mural, photography,
sculpture, etc.) illustrating a positive or negative aspect
of communism, socialism, or capitalism.
○ Students internalize content information and
form depictions to present to others in order to
communicate the key concepts of that content.
● Collaboratively write a resolution for implementation in
a mock legislative session based on the level of
government in the economy (i.e. environmental
concerns, minimum wage, etc.)
○ Students describe and advocate for change
based on current events and sensibilities.
● Present emergent technologies to local business leaders
and demonstrate the positive impact on their business.
○ Students demonstrate content-specific
knowledge and create a discourse with local
experts in their field.
● Create infographics demonstrating economic changes
based on technology changes between distinct eras AND
circulate the infographic via social media.
○ Students present information in a clear format in
order to illustrate the changes the economy has
experienced based on shifts in technology.
● Present to lower grades student-created businesses and
how the government interacts with them.
○ Students demonstrate their understanding while
teaching others, thereby providing sound
assessments of their learned skills.
● Invite a representative from a non-governmental
organization to meet via video conference and speak on
that organization’s role in fostering economic
development.
○ Students are allowed to interact with an entity
much larger than their local community and
participate in a dialogue as a global citizen.
● Invite a representative from a non-governmental
organization or an international economic organization
to meet via video conference and speak on that
organization's role in fostering economic development.
○ Students will be able to interact with an entity
much larger than their local community and
participate in a dialogue as a global citizen.
 ● Bring local leaders (i.e. business owners, community
leaders, and state representatives) together to discuss
the possibility of utilizing local resources on a global
scale.
○ Students connect classroom content to
large-scale thinking, while networking with local
experts, producing possibly viable economic
growth options.
● As a class or individually, students can write letters to
government officials in favor or against a protectionist
action
○ Students demonstrate an understanding of
content material and the consequences of such
actions by advocating and attempting to
persuade government leaders.
● Initiate an informed conversation with a knowledgeable
adult face-to-face, via video conferencing technology, or
blogpost and document the conversation.
○ Students are encouraged to evaluate meaningful
and accurate source material while participating
in an informed conversation, thus engaging in
higher order thinking.
● Write an editorial promoting or refuting the
implementation of a trade agreement.
○ Students must research and formulate
arguments in a logical order and advocate for
the creation of dissolution of trade agreements
based on those standards, thus promoting deep
content knowledge.
● Create an infographic demonstrating sources of
contemporary value for a country’s currency (i.e. U.S.
dollar and the health of agriculture, etc.) and display it at
school.
○ Students connect content from various
economics standards and display it in a logical
and explanatory fashion.
● Design a marketing campaign or strategy (i.e. bumper
stickers, etc.) that encourages or discourages global
interdependence.
○ Students research interdependence and
illustrate their perspective through carefully
planned design choices, in order to persuade
others.

High School Government ● Attend a board meeting

○ Observe the operation and function of
government.
● Discussion of the purpose of government
○ Use a current event or reference article that
inspires an informed conversation to develop an
understanding of the relationship between the
people and the government.
● Analyze an elected official’s social media account
○ Use the elected official’s social media account to
identify a purpose of government and explain
how it impacts citizens.
● Initiate an informed conversation
○ Use a current event or reference article that
inspires an informed conversation about various
forms of government.
■ Develop an understanding of the
relationship between the people and the
government.
● All three of the following activities will let students take
a deeper dive into the British history that had a direct or
indirect impact on the origins of the United States
government.
○ Write a mock newspaper editorial
○ Initiate an informed conversation
○ Document and share oral histories/narratives
● The following four activities would enable students to
educate their fellow students/citizens on religion's role
in shaping western political thought.
○ For example the guests (2nd bullet point) could
be local religious or political leaders that you
invite to have a large group discussion with your
class.
■ Create art to advocate (music,
photography, murals, etc.)
■ Deliberate essential question with
invited guests
■ Initiate an informed conversation
■ Document and share oral
histories/narratives
● The following activities work well to help students
expand on the ideas of political ideologies and
corresponding economic ideologies and determine the
impact both of these elements play on governments.
The activities allow students to expand on their thinking
and questions.
○ Create short public service announcements
○ Work collaboratively to write a resolution
○ Create a class position statement
○ Create a community education pamphlet
● The following activities are excellent methods for
exercising one’s rights in a limited government. Each
activity can be completed by a student’s own research
and choice or as a whole class or group activity.
○ Circulate a petition
○ Organize a rally
○ Champion a boycott
● All three of the following activities will let students take
a deeper dive into history and be able to evaluate the
claims made in the Declaration of Independence to
justify our independence from England.
○ Write an article for the school newspaper
○ Initiate an informed conversation
○ Create a class position statement
● All three of the following activities will allow students to
dive deeper into history to help them explain and
evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation
○ Write a mock newspaper editorial
○ Create and circulate an infographic (meme)
○ Present to another class
● Write a newspaper editorial
● Create and circulate an infographic
● Make and circulate a video
● Deliberate essential question with invited guests
● Initiate an informed conversation
○ As suggestions for the five activities listed above:
Your class could engage in a classroom
discussion on this issue that could begin with
students and then culminate in a discussion with
outside community members.
■ Your class could create posters,
infographics, or videos that all the
students to showcase how the
Preamble’s goals resonate within society
today.
● Write a letter to a government official
● Write an article for the school newspaper
● Create art to advocate (music, photography, murals,
etc.)
● Work collaboratively to write a resolution
○ As suggestions for the four activities listed
above: Your class could make their voices heard
through writing by having them write about the
 need for compromise within our government.
While our nation’s founding relied upon
compromise, it seems to be missing today. An
editorial piece or a letter to an elected official
can highlight this key component to our politics:
national, state, and local.
○ Your class could tap into their artistic side
through the creation of artwork that highlights
the various compromises within our
Constitution. This could be a culminating end
product for the students as they learn about the
compromises and various groups that advocated
for the provisions within the Constitution.
● Contact an organization with whose platform you agree
and see how you can get involved
● Organize a “flyer” campaign to raise awareness
● Organize fundraising event for a cause
● Form a club
● Create a community education pamphlet
● Organize a rally
○ As suggestions for the six activities listed above:
Your class could reach out to organizations that
seek to protect our civil liberties found within
the Bill of Rights to see how they can help to
support their efforts. This could be in the form
of community service, fundraising, or
informational pamphlets that can be distributed
to parents or community members.
○ Your class could seek to develop a club
(permanent or temporary) that could seek to
raise awareness on these issues and organize
some form of community outreach to raise
awareness on our civil liberties.
● Present research to decision makers
● Write a newspaper editorial
● Make a press release
● Start a social media campaign
● Create and circulate an infographic
● Make and circulate a video
● Write a letter to a government official
● Work collaboratively to write a resolution
● Create a class position statement
● Circulate a petition
○ As a suggestion to the ten activities listed
above:Your class could have students develop a
position statement that either affirms our
current system of checks and balances or
advocates for changes to the system. This could
be presented to elected officials, written as an
editorial in the local paper, or for ambitious
students this could result in seeking to have the
state push for an amendment to the US
Constitution.
● Write a letter to a government official
● Work collaboratively to write a resolution
● Create a class position statement
● Initiate an informed conversation
● Organize a “flyer” campaign to raise awareness
● Circulate a petition
○ As a suggestion to the six activities listed
above:Your class could seek to advocate for
legislation (city, state, or national) that would
benefit society or their community. This could
be through reaching out to elected officials to
present their ideas or by creating specific
legislation to present to them.
○ Your class could also bypass the elected officials
and seek to develop a petition campaign about
the specific legislation they would like to see be
developed.
● Write a newspaper editorial
● Start a social media campaign
● Create a Facebook or Web page on an issue
● Make and circulate a video
● Create short public service announcements
● Write a letter to a government official
● Write an article for the school newspaper
● Create a class position statement
○ As a suggestion to the eight activities listed
above: Your class could extend the learning by
advocating for the current system or for
changing it. This can take the form of
developing awareness in society through
editorials, social media platforms, audio/visual
 creations, or reaching out to elected officials.
This would allow for the student to advocate for
their position and utilize the research they
gained while learning about the Electoral
College.
● Write a newspaper editorial
● Create and circulate an infographic
○ As a suggestion to the two activities listed
above: Your class could create an infographic
that details the historical grounds for judicial
review. This could showcase the length of time
and depth of impact of judicial review in our
nation.
○ Additionally, a student could also write an
editorial piece that advocates for or against
judicial review and utilize historical references to
it from our nation’s history.
● Write a newspaper editorial
● Write a letter to a government official
● Write an article for the school newspaper
● Contact an organization with whose platform you agree
and see how you can get involved
○ As a suggestion to the four activities above:
Students can identify leaders who represent
individuals in the various levels of government
addressed in this standard and write them a
letter, write an article in the school newspaper
about a recent leadership decision, and research
which organizations these representatives
belong to and get more involved if they wish.
● Organize fundraising event for a cause
● Form a club
● Circulate a petition
● Bringing stakeholders together for a classroom forum
● Create a poster and hang it in a public space
● Create a community education pamphlet
● Organize community service
● Organize a rally
○ As a suggestion to the eight activities listed
above: The definition of civic virtue to set aside
personal rights for the good of the whole.
Therefore, several activities can be done to
 encourage individuals to improve conditions for
the community as a whole. These activities
provide a vehicle to exercise virtuous actions
such as a school-wide recycling program.
● Create a class position statement
● Present to another class
○ As a suggestion to the two activities listed
above:Using the basic concepts of a democracy
create a class position statement on a current
event topic. Share this statement with other
classes and defend it. Create a document with a
talking point that may reflect the minority
opinion on your class statement.
● Students can make an infographic, video or public
service announcement about the importance of the U.S.
Constitution and how these constitution principles
impact them.
● Students can identify a list of positive and negative rights
and in small groups or individually take an action step to
draw attention to those rights. If students perceive that
this particular area is a right that is often violated they
can create a product that illustrates that constitutional
right violation. A good starting point is the right to
privacy. The following activities are suggestions of how
this can be illustrated:
○ Write a newspaper editorial
○ Make a press release
○ Start a social media campaign
○ Create a Facebook or Web page on an issue
○ Organize a rally
● Have students identify a “controversial topic (s)”.
Facilitate a classroom debate regarding this topic and
how it affects individual freedoms and how it affects the
common good. Have students take a side and
encourage them to create awareness for the issue or
take action by circulating a petition, organizing a rally or
participating in a boycott. A good example may be
texting while driving or seat belt usage. The following
activities are suggestions of how these ideas can be
demonstrated.
○ Organize a “flyer” campaign to raise awareness
○ Circulate a petition
○ Organize a rally
 ○ Champion a boycott
● Document and share oral histories/narratives
○ Have students research their own personal
histories/narratives regarding their ancestral
citizenship. Have students privately journal their
findings.
● Bringing stakeholders together for a classroom forum
○ Bring together a panel of local experts to
address immigiration in their community. Or
encourage them to attend local panels if they
exist.
● Create a community education pamphlet
○ Create a pamphlet of what it means to be a
citizen.
● Civic Engagement Participation: Encourage students to
act virtuous. This can be as simple as cleaning up their
work space, parking their car legally, following the rules,
and/or actively participating in classroom discussions.
● Write a newspaper editorial
○ The editorial can be about a hot button topic
that engages students in the use of credible
research skills.
● Create and circulate an infographic
○ Creating an infographic on an assigned topic
engages students in presenting information in a
visual manner that relies heavily on the use of
credible research.
● Create short public service announcements
○ Creating a public service announcement can
raise awareness on an important issue and
students must support it with reliable data.
● Contact an organization with whose platform you agree
and see how you can get involved
○ After completing an ideological assessment, the
students can send letters, postcards, or emails to
politicians who have similar beliefs.
● Host a panel discussion
○ Group students together by different political
parties and have them conduct research on 3-4
issues favored by the party. The students would
present the issues to the class in a panel
discussion format and take questions from the
crowd.
● Form a club
○ Students could work with school administration
to form clubs like Young Democrats or Young
Republicans.
● Deliberate essential question with invited guests
○ Invite community and civil leaders to class to
discuss racial stereotypes and possible solutions.
● Organize a “flyer” campaign to raise awareness
○ Teams of students can create flyers to raise
awareness of how minority groups face bias in
the mainstream media.
● Document and share oral histories/narratives
○ Invite community and civic leaders to class to
share examples of how media bias has affected
them in their role as a leader.
● The students can research how these examples of Civil
Disobedience have been used in the United States and
whether they had a positive or negative impact on
government policies. The students could also
brainstorm ways in which they could use Civil
Disobedience to implement change (some examples are
shown below).
○ Organize a rally
○ Champion a boycott
○ Circulate a petition
● Organize community service
○ The students could work with civic and
community leaders to identify possible areas of
need and possible volunteer opportunities.
● Organize fundraising event for a cause
○ The students could work with civic and
community leaders to identify possible areas of
need and organize a fundraising event.
● Host a volunteer fair
○ Civic and community groups could be invited to
the school for a volunteer fair to promote their
cause.
● Deliberate essential question with invited guests
○ Invite federal, state, local, and tribal leaders to
class and ask them to: Evaluate the influence of
media in politics on the local, tribal, state,
national and international levels.
● Bringing stakeholders together for a classroom forum or
work collaboratively to write a resolution
○ Have the students moderate a class forum or to
write a resolution.
● Make and circulate a video
 ○ Using a compelling question and have the
students create a FIVE minute video essay
addressing it. Example: Since 1975, have
American presidents made America safer?
● Initiate an informed conversation
○ Conduct a Socratic Seminar with your class using
a compelling question related to U.S. foreign
policy.
● Create a class position statement
○ The class will collaborate together to create a
mission statement for the United States
outlining the foreign policy philosophy.
● Make a press release
○ Students will create a press release defending
membership of the United States in a specific
international organization.
● Create and circulate an infographic
○ Create an infographic that describes the mission
statement for various international
organizations.
● Work collaboratively to write a resolution
○ Moderate a discussion that addresses this
compelling question: The United States should
recognize the Oceti Sakowin as an independent
nation. The concluding activity will be the
creation of a resolution.

High School Geography ● Use GIS to identify the local voting precinct
○ Reference government (.gov) and other
governmental websites to find information
about local voting precincts
● Sketch a map of your voting precinct
○ This activity allows students to use mental maps
to illustrate information useful to civic
engagement.
● Create and circulate an infographic
○ Creating any document such as an infographic
will allow students to employ mental maps to
organize information
● Create a community education pamphlet
○ Students can create a pamphlet that describes
their community in terms of each of the five
themes of geography.
● Debate a specific human-environment interaction
○ Give students a specific human-environment
interaction and divide the class into two groups.
One group debates how the interaction is
 positive for the environment and the other
group debates how it is detrimental to the
environment.
● Have students identify the five themes of geography
related to a current event.
○ Students are engaged with current events and
can identify those events in geographic terms.
● Create a class position statement
○ Have students plot the location of the various
sports teams in a given sports league and their
mascot name. They then debate whether that
mascot name could be considered offensive by a
group of people in that region.
● Compare and contrast forms of government between
cultures
○ Students can create a poster, write a compare
and contrast paper or create their own compare
and contrast presentation to show the
differences between the governments of
different countries, regions or cultures.
● Create a social media campaign
○ Students create a social media campaign
identifying why their city is suitable for a high
quality of life.
● Create short public service announcements promoting a
particular place or region
○ Students need to provide specific evidence of
physical and cultural characteristics that
promote the place or region discussed.
● Document and orally share histories/narratives of a
place that fits within more than one region
○ Students should use political, cultural, and
physical histories/narratives to explain why a
place may be included in more than one region.
● Organize a “flyer” campaign to raise awareness
○ Students create informational “fliers” to
illustrate how particular regions or places are
connected/interconnected.
● Field trip to museum, zoo, botanical gardens.
○ This is an opportunity for the kids to see what
their communities have to offer, under a variety
of different disciplines. Also gives the kids a
chance to view different elements of Earth’s
elements. Inspiration to be more involved in
their communities.
● Present to another class
 ○ Students prepare a presentation of earth's
physical systems, to be shared with a physical
science class at HS or elementary level.
● Organize a rally
○ Students will need to identify where populations
are distributed so that their rally will gain the
most attention and participation.
● Host a classroom debate
○ Debate the question: How is diversity a positive
thing for your school, city, region?
● Work collaboratively to write a resolution
○ Students will work together to identify cultural
diversity and formulate a mission statement to
encourage tolerance and acceptance.
● Initiate an informed conversation
○ Students should debate advantages and
disadvantages of legal restrictions on
immigration.
● Create short public service announcements
○ Students will create a public service
announcement (advertisement) advocating the
use or adaptation of the environment for a
specific purpose (dams/irrigation, roads,
pipelines, landscaping,...).
● Initiate an informed conversation
○ Compare and contrast how different groups of
people have altered their environments, during
various acts of protest.
● Champion a boycott
○ Students will need to take a position against the
use of a resource that a culture has been
dependent upon.
● Organize fundraising event for a cause
○ Students will organize (possibly hypothetical) a
campaign to raise funds to purchase or rent the
equipment needed to alter the landscape at
their school or somewhere in the community.
● Contact an organization with whose platform you agree
and see how you can get involved.
○ Students research and contact an organization
working toward the issue of global climate
change.
● Organize community service
○ Students organize a blood drive in collaboration
with the American Red Cross, or other
organizations to help victims of natural
disasters.
 ● Start a social media campaign to bring about awareness
of an environmental issue affecting a student’s
community.
○ Students will use social media to organize and
coordinate a campaign aimed at community
environmental issues.
● Bringing stakeholders together for a classroom forum
○ Students will invite assess the validity of expert
opinion regarding human impact on the
environment; invite those experts to discuss a
local environmental issue.
● Create a class position statement
○ Students will evaluate the varying degrees of
human systems impact on the environment.
Make a statement about the continued use, or
cessation of use, for a specific system.
● Host a debate
○ Debate the question of whether the United
States should do more than what we are
currently doing to protect our environment.

High School U.S. History ● Research American Indian Movement (or other native
rights groups)
○ Students will make connections between
treaties, ideas of tribal sovereignty, land
ownership, the Bill of Rights/U.S. constitution,
and/or other negotiated agreements to see the
effects and connections of current day Native
American tribes. This helps students understand
the tribal citizenship Native American students
have.
● Classroom Debate
○ Compare current and past societal problems and
have students argue their case with supporting
evidence (Look at how they worked towards
their goals, how public support evolved, etc.)
● Investigate the expansion/contraction of Presidential
powers (ex. WWI gov’t took over telephones)
○ Compare the prompt to the powers of modern
legislation/presidential powers. Students could
write a letter to the editor regarding the powers
of government versus individual rights.
○ Students could also investigate the relationship
between war and civil rights
● Investigate voting rights in America where students will:
○ Commonalities of those groups that could vote
vs. those that couldn’t
 ○ Mechanisms that kept certain groups from
voting
○ How voting rights look in America today
■ Contact voting advocacy groups to get
an idea of how this work to promote
voting rights continues today
● Connect with local government on a local issue in order
to try to bring about a resolution
○ Email a local government official or government
office to discuss a local issue and ways to solve
it. Through this email, students will learn the
process of how a resolution is designed and can
be brought about.
● Look at modern systems of slavery
○ Contact groups that work to abolish modern
slavery and make a PSA
● Researching a local or national company
○ Research or visit, if possible, a business and
further research their business practices. Then
write a letter to the editor about business
practices, create a mock plan to entice a
business to come to your area. Students can
research the potential impact (positive and
negative) of having a specific business come to
their area.
● Research local memorials and their history
○ Create a presentation regarding why the
memorials exist for some events and not others.
● Identify minority groups and research their role in the
community
○ Students can research minority groups (races,
ethnicities, religions) to see the impact their
community has on the broader community.
Students could create PSAs about the diversity
of their local areas.
● Have students research current foreign policies and the
countries that are involved in these policies. Reach out
to foreign embassies to get their viewpoints on
events/global relations. (Group project preferrable)
○ Email an embassy regarding specific policies.
Have students create a multimedia project or
posters for a gallery walk to display what they
have learned.
● Meet with/contact local or state government officials to
examine how a bill becomes a law
○ Students could email government officials to
gain insight. They could also examine/predict
 based on research they have how incorporating
elements of other state constitutions could
change/ impact South Dakota
○ Invite a state or local lawmaker to address the
class about pending legislation that he or she is
sponsoring and the process by which it is passed
(or not).
● Compare state constitutions to the U.S. Constitution or
other states
○ Students can create a presentation comparing
and contrasting state constitutions. Invite a local
or state government official to address the class
regarding how the lawmaking process works at
the corresponding level.
● Investigate voter data as it relates to religious affiliation
○ Religious affiliation changed due to the Second
Great Awakening. By investigating religious
affiliation in their own communities, students
will be able to also investigate their own
communities for evidence of how the Second
Great Awakening directly affected their own
communities.
● Media literacy - show students the bell curve of media
outlets (can be found through an internet search) and
discuss.
○ Analyze local media sources to evaluate media’s
influence on local government/politics. Students
could create their own bell curve of local media
outlets. Students could also examine what
perspectives are represented (or
under-represented) and create an ad campaign
based on their findings.
● Debate
○ Students could debate the merits of more (or
less) regulation for a given industry. Choose a
local industry if possible.
○ Students can research state
representatives/Senators’ voting records on
recent financial relief packages and email their
office to determine the reasons for his or her
votes.
○ Students can also see what types of financial
assistance is available to both individuals and
businesses at the state level. They could work in
groups and brainstorm ways to improve these
programs.
● Past and current veteran and homefront support
 ○ Have students look at how those on the
homefront lived/what they gave up to support
soldiers in WWII as compared to more recent
conflicts. Students could build on this idea and
get involved in a local effort to support veterans.
● Write an editorial both past and present
○ Students could write a letter to the editor from
the perspective of a colonist (or a loyalist) and
advocate for their position. Students could then
write a present day editorial regarding an issue
they feel passionate about. Students can analyze
similarities and differences in their letters and
writing styles as they write past and present.
● Deliberate an essential question with an invited guest
○ Students could create essential questions to
deliberate with a local historian as many of the
universities in our area are excited to work with
high school students. Begin by having students
create essential questions regarding the
successes and failures of Reconstruction.
Teachers can contact the history department of
any university by using the university website.
● Create art to advocate
○ Create propaganda posters. Students can create
propaganda posters that compare Cold War
policies to modern policies (ex: MAD,
containment policy etc) OR that compare the
Civil Rights Movement to more contemporary
rights movements. These posters are designed
to bring awareness to past and present events.

High School World History ● Write an article for the school newspaper
○ Students will inform readers of the origins of
religious denominations located in South Dakota
connecting back to the Reformation.
● Infographic utilizing a theme of continuity and change
with topics such as the evolution of the U.S. relationship
between countries such as Russia and China throughout
history.
○ Students will identify and describe examples of
continuity and change in World History eras in
relation to U.S. foreign relations and how that
impacts the average American in today’s society.
● Create a poster, depicting how John Locke’s views
impacted America’s Enlightenment experience.
○ Connect Locke’s ideas of natural rights, social
contract theory, separation of powers, and life,
 liberty, and property to American ideals,
matching that evidence to American historical
documents and examples of how those concepts
are used today.
● Compare/Contrast
○ Have the Students use a method (T-Chart, Web
Diagram, Venn Diagram) to show the similarities
and differences between the French Revolution
and the protests of 2020. In addition, reflect on
what possible outcomes could be expected
through history.
● Champion a (Civil) Protest
○ Have students research a civil protest and
explain the significance and the changes the
protest brought forth.
● Create a (Civil) Protest
○ Pick something you feel is an injustice in your
community and suggest ways to properly change
it.
● Reflection on the Industrial revolutions
○ Using evidence, students will connect elements
of the Industrial Revolution and/or agricultural
revolutions to daily life then and now, answering
one or both of the compelling questions using
historical and contemporary examples.
■ Did the Industrial Revolution improve
daily life? Or Did the Agricultural
Revolution improve daily life?
● Create a product (infographic, podcast, flyer…) that
connects present ideologies in a current event with
positive changes in society
○ Students will use informed action to
communicate their understanding of the impact
of differing ideology in their world.
● Class debate on a social topic
○ Students will be put in pairs and debate a social
issue. Students will use perspective,
propaganda, etc. to explain their side. This
meets grade level to stand for a topic with
factual arguments.
● Students write reactions to a primary source document.
Several documents with various views are used
○ .Students discuss the bias and worldviews of the
documents, explaining how different
perspectives emerge from a single event.
■ Students conclude on how to reach the
facts through the various perspectives.
● Examples: Christopher Columbus, colonization, growth
of 19th Century Empires
○ Extension of the activity - choose a current topic
and interpret the bias or differing views of
media outlets that cover the story
■ Students fact-check the information of
the various articles
● Identify and describe examples of young people who
took on contemporary issues thereby becoming role
models.
○ Students will analyze various forms of citizen
action that influence public policy decisions.
● Identify a current issue/theme and create a piece of
propaganda.
○ Students will employ effective propaganda
techniques on an issue or theme of their
choosing.
● Present research to decision makers: When is war
justified? (Exhibit, Essay, etc.)
○ Students collect information to answer the
inquiry question. With a mix of information and
pictures, students defend their position based
on the explanations of the information
discovered.
● Write a claim
○ Write a claim about an economic issue seen in
your community. Explain why the issue should
be changed or stay the same. Back up by facts
from history and current events that show
relevance to the claim. Encourage students to
share to the school or community.
● Write a newspaper editorial describing with a position of
whether the United States should use or maintain
atomic weapons.
○ This will create discussion on the necessity of
nuclear weapons, both during World War II and
in contemporary times. How does this view
affect foreign policy and government funding?
● Write a resolution to global problems
○ Students identify global issues, then split into
groups, offering solutions.
■ Students discuss HOW to address the
problems and the cause and effect
relationships of those solutions.
■ Student groups present to one another,
offering suggestions and feedback on
the solutions that are developed.
● Research a topic
○ Take a topic that is debated in society and find
multiple primary and secondary sources to
support the claims you make. When completed,
share with school and/or the community.
Amount of sources needed may be determined
by topic and grade level.
● Students utilize a variety of sources on current events
through the lens of reasoning questions:
○ Who’s behind the information?
○ What’s the evidence?
○ What do other sources say?
■ Students learn why the source of
information is so important and practice
analyzing information based on who
created it.
● Civic Learning/Expressing (Spreading Civic Awareness)
○ Finding multiple sources to support or protest a
political issue (party, candidate/politician, social
issue, etc.) support your claim with the
“according to’s. . .” of multiple, credible sources.