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 Steps
Introductory Activity:
(one 50-minute class period)
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Ask students to think for a minute about some problems
they see in their communities. Ask each student to write down the
top three problems that they think their communities have.
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Tell the students that you are going to read the beginning
of a short story to them. Ask them to raise their hands when they
think they’ve identified the problem in this story.
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Start reading Brandy Cake aloud to your students.
The hands will probably be up pretty quickly. Ask the students what
the problem in the story is. Does it match up with one of the top
three problems they listed?
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Hang a paper chart in the classroom. Make a list of
the top three problems from the lists that the students made on their
own. Include teen pregnancy (from the story) if nobody has.
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Organize students into cooperative groups of three to
four students. They will stay with these groups for the duration of
the unit. Have students rank the problems that the class has identified
on the chart from most serious (1) to least serious. Then, have the
students work with their cooperative groups to agree on the ranking.
Tell the groups that all members of a group must agree on the ranking.
Homework: Find out when A BROOKLYN FAMILY TALE is playing and have
students watch it for homework. Ask students to watch for what Luis
Castro does as his volunteer work. Have them describe his volunteer
job in their journals. They should first identify the job, describe
it, and then write about what they think of it. Is this job something
that they could do? If not, what would they prefer to do?
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Learning Activities:
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Activity One:
(two to three 50-minute class periods)
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Students read the short story Brandy
Cake. As they read, ask them to write down more problems to add
to the list of problems that you’ve started as a class.
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Ask the students what other problems they
identified in the story. Add any new problems to the chart you started
in the introductory activity.
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Have students fill in the Character
Reactions organizer. They will need to look back at the story
to fill in this organizer. Then, as a class, discuss the reactions
of the different characters in the story. How do people react? What
kinds of solutions do the characters come up with? How does Mira react
to the problem? How does Chuck react? The mother? The father? How
do their solutions help or harm? Who in your view has the best way
of dealing with the problem? Who in your view has the worst way of
dealing with the problem? How would you deal with this problem? Which
character is most like you?
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You have a list of problems in the community,
informed by the class experience and by the story Brandy Cake.
You have also talked about solutions people have. Reassess the list
that was made as a class. Ask students if they see the ranking of
problems differently now. Does one problem create another? Students
may need some help making connections. You may want to start with
“alcohol” or “drugs” if they have been identified
as problems. Do alcohol or drugs lead to other problems? Make a tree
on the board as students discuss this, showing their ideas about how
one problem generates another.
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Activity Two:
(one to two 50-minute class periods)
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Give each member of each cooperative group an index card with
A, B, C or D written on it. Have students look at the sites that
you have bookmarked. Write the following assignments on the board:
Have students answer the questions about the Web site they’ve
been assigned on the graphic organizer Action
in the Community.
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Have students go back to their cooperative groups and
help each other fill in the rest of the Action
in the Community graphic organizer. Each student will have a different
piece of information to contribute, because each student in the cooperative
group has looked at a different Web site.
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Discuss the information the class has collected in the
organizers to close the activity.
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Activity Three:
(one 50-minute class period)
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Have students get into their cooperative groups. Tell them that
they are going to create their own community program in their small
groups. Ask them if any of the programs that they researched online
were interesting. Ask them if there any community programs around
the school or their homes that they know about. Ask students what
they think would be an interesting community program to run.
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Have the cooperative groups brainstorm a list of programs,
including the kinds of things they’ve seen online. Ask one student
in each group to act as a secretary and take notes. Before they begin,
let students know that the program can be anything that they would
be interested in doing. Tell students that the program could be, for
example, one hour on a Saturday or every Wednesday afternoon. Anything
will work, as long as they are interested in it and believe in the
cause.
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After each group has a list, have the groups pick one
project that they are interested in. They may want to do this by eliminating
options that are not doable or too complex. Encourage them to pick
something that is not too complicated. All members of the group must
agree on the chosen option because they will all be working on the
proposal together.
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Ask students to share their project ideas with the class.
Encourage discussion with the following questions: What do you need
to know about this program? How long will it be (a weekend, a week
in the summer, every Wednesday afternoon, once a month)? What will
happen at the program and what do you want to achieve? What are some
possible problems that could arise? What resources do you need? What
is attractive about your program?
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Activity Four:
(two to three 50-minute class periods)
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Hand out the Proposal Outline. This graphic
organizer will help students organize their ideas before doing the
proposal writing. Have the students fill these in with their cooperative
groups. All students should have the same information filled in.
You may choose to have students sign the bottom of these, to make
sure that everyone agrees on what is included.
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Tell the students they are going to write a proposal
for their community programs. Each student will compose a proposal
based on the questions that they answered in the Proposal
Outline. Before they write, model the beginning of the proposal
for them, to show them how to use the information they’ve outlined
on the organizer. The first question on the organizer is: what is
your name and where do you go to school? Elicit from the class how
they would turn this into an introduction sentence. For example, “I’d
like to start by introducing myself. My name is Chris Ortieg, and
I’m a junior at JFK high school in Franklin, New York.”
Write a few sentences you’ve elicited on the board to get the
students started. Then, ask them what they would write about next.
Have them look at the organizer. The second question asks: how did
you get interested in this program? Ask students what they would write
here. Continue the modeling until you feel that the students understand
how they will proceed with the proposal writing. Students may also
want to add information that is not included in the organizer. Encourage
them to do this.
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Students write the proposals, following your model.
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Review each student’s proposal as a piece of writing and
suggest edits.
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Culminating Activity/Assessment:
(two to three 50-minute class periods)
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In cooperative groups, students use the computer and
the phone book to find out where and to whom they can send their proposals.
Each group may find a different person or place to mail their proposal
to.
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Students rewrite their proposals as a letter addressed
to proper person, incorporating edits.
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The class mails out the proposals. Because the members
of cooperative groups will have similar proposals, include all the
proposals from one group in the same envelope.
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Extensions
In creating their projects, students should be encouraged to think
about how they can apply what they’re good at to the community
program. For example, if one group is good at math, they can propose
a tutoring program for younger kids. Or, if another is interested
in art, they might propose a Saturday morning community workshop
to create snow globes with younger kids in the neighborhood. Note:
but if the groups are randomly created, the likelihood of this option
is reduced.
Community Connections:
- If students don’t hear a response to their proposals, discuss
follow-up, such as calling or emailing the person.
- Students go in to talk to the person about their proposal. Is
it doable? Do some of the students themselves want to participate
in any part of it?
- Students choose to help organize, oversee or volunteer in a
program, perhaps of their own design.
- Students apply for a $500 grant for a community project through
www.dosomething.org.
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Tips
- When students in a cooperative group work on a group project,
have them sign a contract affirming that all have contributed
to the project.
- During the unit, have students visit www.dosomething.org
for inspiration and ideas.
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