In the summer of 2019, the Illinois Legislature passed a bill requiring a semester of Civics Education at the Middle School Level. The civics instruction would focus of four areas:

• Government Institutions

• Discussion of current and societal issues

• Simulations of the democratic process

• Service learning

Within my instruction of the Constitution during 7th grade, the first three areas were more than covered. However, service learning was not. Service learning is more than just volunteering for an hour or so. Service learning involves students conducting sustained research, and taking informed action on public policy. I had about a half a year to figure out how to create a project that would meet the requirements of service learning.

It was while I was teaching 8th grade about World War II that I realized a good avenue for students to explore a meaningful service learning project. During WWII Americans at home helped with the war effort in many ways, some required and some voluntary. Rationing was required during the war. However, it was the effort and sacrifice that many Americans chose to do in order to help the Allies win that really stands out. They planted "victory gardens" to grow extra food, and voluntarily participated in "Meatless Mondays" and "Wheatless Wednesdays" in order to conserve food to send to the troops overseas. Women filled roles in the workforce, and Americans were encouraged to work hard.

When people sacrifice for the greater good, it benefits society. It is amazing to see what people can do for others, and for their country. That was my inspiration for this Civic Responsibility Project.

7th grade students began the Civic Responsibility Project in mid-September when we discussed what it means to be a civically responsible citizen and engage in activities that are beneficial to society as a whole. We looked at examples of posters created to persuade people to help with the war effort during WWII and encourage others to vote. Students then chose a civically responsible activity as the topic for their project and decided whether to work with a partner or work individually.

Students began researching their topics in history class. As they learned about their topic, they recorded information on notecards that they would later use to assist them in the paper writing process.

As students researched, they identified quality sources to use. Interviewing people who had expertise about the topic was encouraged.

Through their research, students discovered background information as well as identifying two specific reasons why people should engage in the activity they chose as their topic. The background information became the first body paragraph of their essay and the reasons became the second and third body paragraphs to their essays. Students wrote their essays in Language class.

As students prepared to work on their projects in Computers class, in History we went over the three persuasion techniques of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. We viewed examples of posters and videos that use these techniques. Students were instructed to use persuasive techniques on their poster and video that they created. Their goal was to persuade other people to engage in the civic responsibility they chose as their topic.

In Computers class, students had a variety of platforms to choose from to create their poster and video. Creating even a 1-2 minute video is very time intensive. Students demonstrated their advanced technological skills during the creation of their projects.

Finally, students took all of the work they had done and created a webpage to showcase their work for you. Students have worked very hard for months within many classes on the work you will see on this webpage.

This project could not have been possible without the help and instruction of my wonderful colleagues: Mr. Zarbock (Language), Ms. Nelson (Sped. Language), and Mr. Sienza (Computers) and Mrs. Kohr (paraprofessional). It was truly a group effort.

I hope you enjoy the work you see and can find a way to commend the students for their efforts.

Mrs. Kassie Myer

History Teacher