Using essential questions to focus scope
Below is an example of how to provide an essential question, theme, guiding questions, and a project purpose statement to help narrow student focus.
Creating A Public Service Announcement
Gretchen Shultz, 2018
Modified with permission by Boise State University Service-Learning Program**
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OVERVIEW:
Public service announcements are messages that are typically created by organizations in order to raise awareness about a cause or topic. They don’t advertise a particular product or service--rather, their goal is to inform the public. PSA’s can take many forms, including videos, radio announcements, and posters or brochures.
The purpose of this project is to create PSA’s in order to raise awareness about how upstanders have changed the world, how they are currently taking action in our communities, and the importance of speaking up and taking action when people see injustices happening. We will be sharing these messages not only within our ELA classes, but with our school, community, and with other audiences who are invested in the topics that we choose.
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STEP 1: Choose one of the following guiding questions that you are most interested in OR write your own guiding question that fits with the theme of “upstanders changing the world” and the essential question, “What is our responsibility to others?”
Guiding questions
How has an upstander changed the course of history? (If you select this option, choose an upstander from the provided list or another upstander you’re interested in learning about)
How are upstanders changing our community?
Where is there a need for upstanders in our community?
When and why do individuals move from being bystanders to upstanders?