Running Head: HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD ENGAGED LEARNING PROJECT 1

How to Change the World Engaged Learning Project

Megan Lockridge Rucker

Kennesaw State University

21st Century Teaching and Learning

HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD ENGAGED LEARNING PROJECT 2
Title of Project: How to Change the World

Subject(s): 9th Grade Literature

Grade Level(s): 9

Abstract:

This project calls for students to identify an area of need at the local, state, organizational, national, or

international level. Each student will then become an advocate for change in that area of need. Students

will identify the area of concern, research and develop ways in which this concern could be addressed,

and finally become an advocate for change. The main skills addressed in this project will be writing for

different audiences, research, and listening and speaking skills. Students will write a blog entry, create a

P.S.A., produce a podcast, and argue for change at the personal level. The project will culminate with

two authentic tasks. The student will write and mail a letter to a person with the ability to affect change

in their area of concern, and students will give a mock presentation advocating for change to a group

such as the senate, U.N., board of directors, county commission, etc. Throughout the project, the teacher

will model each task, and facilitate students in creating their own. Technology will be used at every level

of the project to generate authentic products.

Learner Description/Context:

Rockmart High School is located in Polk County with a largely rural population. Rockmart High School

is a Title 1 school with 84% of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch. A large portion of our

students are in poverty and/or are protected under McKinneyVento. Living in a small town, this project

will appeal to students because they often have more opportunities to make a difference than students

living in a more populated area. Because their town, school, school district, and municipal districts serve

a smaller population, my students have a greater opportunity to affect change. Because of Title 1 funds,

students in Polk County have 1-to-1 Ipads, so despite poverty concerns, our students are familiar with

the technology we will be using.

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Time Frame: This project will take five weeks to implement because each writing task will be

modeled, discussed, created, and peer-evaluated. Lessons taught during this project will break down and

reinforce skills needed for the project, but students will only spend two days a week actually creating

their project.

Standards Assessed:

Because of the nature of English standards, many standards will be addressed throughout the project.

All informational reading standards, all persuasive and expository writing standards, and all listening

and speaking standards will be addressed and assessed; however, this project focuses on four main

standards.

ELAGSE9-10W4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization,

and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

ELAGSE9-10W8: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital

sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering

the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas,

avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

ELAGSE9-10SL6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of

formal English when indicated or appropriate.

ELAGSE9-10SL4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and

logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development,

substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.

Learner Objectives: As a result of this project, students should be able to look at non-fiction writing

from any genre and assess what audience the person is writing for, what persuasive strategies the writer

may be using, the writers purpose, and the conventions they are using to write.
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Students should also be able to adapt their writing to fit the conventions of any particular genre and any

particular audience. Finally, students should be able to adapt their writing skills to further the larger

purpose they have of affecting change.

The hook or Introduction: To begin our unit we will watch a Ted Talk by Natalie Warne entitled

Being Young and Making an Impact:

https://www.ted.com/talks/natalie_warne_being_young_and_making_an_impact. As a class we will then

begin to brainstorm different areas where an impact needs to be made. Students will be divided into

groups to focus on local, state, national, international, and organizational areas of concern. Students will

be able to pick an area of concern that interests them and become an advocate for that concern.

Process and Product:

The nature of this project is such that a number of products will be created, each addressing a different

audience, using different formats, and having a slightly different purpose. The end product will be a

portfolio of different types of real-world writing tasks that are designed to affect change.

1. Annotated bibliography: Students will research their area of concern, and create an annotated

bibliography. Students will evaluate each source and pull information from each source in order

to prepare for their writing tasks. The annotated bibliography will be assessed with a rubric that

evaluates research skills.

2. Each of the following tasks will be assessed using a common rubric that evaluates whether that

task is written for the appropriate audience and purpose and uses conventions common to that

genre. Each product should use similar information, but be customized to the audience, purpose,

style, level of formality, conventions, and format that are expected for that genre. Each product

will follow the same method. As a class we will examine an example of each genre, take notes on

audience purpose and conventions, and then students will emulate that genre with their chosen

topic. Each piece of the portfolio should last three days: one day to examine the genre, one to
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draft their writing, and another to publish the writing. The teacher will lead the analysis but act as

a facilitator as students emulate each writing genre.

a. Blog post: After examining a blog, students will create their own blog post, using their

research and copying the conventions, style, and purpose of a blog. Students will post

their blog to a discussion board on our class Schoology page, and each student will be

responsible for reading and responding appropriately to three blogs.

b. P.S.A.: As a class we will examine several short P.S.A.s and analyze them. Students will

use iMovie to make an advertisement calling for change in their area of concern using the

most important information. This should be something that may pop up on social media

as an advertisement.

c. Podcast: After examining the format and conventions of a podcast, students will write and

produce their own podcasts, calling for change from their audience. Students will use the

Bossjock jr. app to record and produce their podcast. Students will then post their podcast

to Schoology, and their classmates will listen to and comment on their podcast.

d. Letter: After examining an effective persuasive letter, students will research the contact

information for a professional that may be able to address their area of concern, and then

write a letter to that chosen professional. This may be a government official or the leader

of a company or organization. This letter should be in a business letter format,

researched, and proofread. The letter should also include a counter claim addressing the

opposing argument. The final letter should be signed and mailed to the professional.

Students return address will be the school and only include their first name for safety

purposes.

3. Presentation: For this assignment, the class will turn into a governing body that must decide

whether to pass new rules/laws, approve funding, or act in a manner called on by the student

lobbyist. The student that will be presenting (lobbying) must tailor his or her presentation to the
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governing body that will be most likely to affect change in his/ her area of concern. The student

will present information to the class using Keynote, Prezi, or another presentation tool. The class

will use a rubric embedded in Google forms to evaluate the presentation and vote on whether or

not to approve the called for change.

Technology Use: The students in Polk County have 1-to-1 iPads, so all aspects of the assignment

will use technology. The platform we use is Schoology, so students will find all of their materials and

publish using Schoology. Students will use Galileo to research their topics. Students will use iMovie

to create their P.S.A. Students will use the Bossjock Jr. app to record their podcasts. Students will

have a choice of apps used to create presentation software for their presentation. The main indicator

of engaged learning is for students to use technology in an authentic way to create a real-world

product.

References and Supporting Material:

Materials to be used

An example blog post with relevant, insightful comments

Short P.S.A. video clips to use as models

A podcast that addresses a social issue

Examples of persuasive letters

Example Ted Talks that reflect the aspects of a good presentation

A rubric the assesses how each piece addresses audience awareness, purpose, and the specific

conventions of the genre

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Criteria Grading Scale
Task 4 3 2 1
Task is appropriate to the specific genre. This includes Excellent Good Satisfactory Needs Improvement
aligning with standard conventions of that genre. W4:
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience
Purpose 4 3 2 1
The writing has a clear purpose and is appropriate to the Excellent Good Satisfactory Needs Improvement
genre. W4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which
the development, organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience
Audience 4 3 2 1
The author writes for a clear audience. Writing is Excellent Good Satisfactory Needs Improvement
appropriate for that audience. W4: Produce clear and
coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose,
and audience

Which indicators of Engaged Learning will be high in this lesson and Why?

Authentic/ Meaningful will be high because of the real-world tasks students will be asked to do

and the fact that students will be able to choose a topic that is meaningful to them.

Standards-Based will be high because this will directly, thoroughly, and extensively address a

number of 9th grade literature standards.

The Performance- based assessments indicator will be high because students will look at model

examples of real-world writing tasks and attempt to produce their own authentic writing.

This project is culturally responsive because it encourages students to address a problem that

directly or indirectly impacts them and take a step to affect change. Students will be encouraged

to make a difference in their own community by bring attention to problems that they may

personally deal with. It also requires students to professionally and respectfully respond to a

perspective that may differ from their own from students in their class.

What LoTI level do you think this lesson would be and Why?
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I think this would be a LoTI level 5 because students will be extending their learning beyond the

classroom by writing a persuasive letter to a person that can impact change in their area of concern.

Technology will also be used in an authentic way to problem solve and address real-world problems.