Grade: 2/3

Critical Task: To collect and classify community information in order to analyze the community prides and the community problems. Does the article make you happy or sad for your community?

Overview: The students are to collect community information from local newspapers. The information will then be classified on the basis of being a community pride or a community problem. The students will be required to make a justification or judgement for the classification of the community issue. A note to parents should be sent home prior to this activity to inform them and invite them to assist students in selecting an article.  

Requisite Tools:

• Knowledge of the community
• Acknowledgment of appropriate behaviors in society
• Understanding of how to read newspapers
• Understanding of how to classify information

• Evaluation of local community issues (positive & negative)
• Justify the classification through analysis and judgements about the issue

• Classify/Classification
• Justify/Justification
• Judgement

• Discussion - Talk "through" a problem (Justification)
• T-Chart - Community Pride or Community Problem

• Fair-mindedness
• Willingness to discuss issues & consider alternative points-of-view
• Independent-mindedness
• Intellectual work ethic (justification of pride or problem)

STEP A: Collection of Articles

• Students bring articles from local newspaper that present community pride or problem

STEP B: Introduce Critical Thinking Challenge.

• T-Chart - students offer criteria for "Community Pride" vs. "Community Problem"
• Discussion of Classification and Justification

STEP C: Forming a judgment

• Students Justify reasoning and post written justification underneath posted article (bulletin board)

STEP D: Evaluation of critical thinking:

• Ask students to form an opinion on the various aspects of their local community - They are to offer reasoning on whether they should be proud of their community or not. Write a paragraph about their judgement and reasons

• Individual students can write about the article in their journal or community book (theme) and record their personal classification and justification.
• Create solutions to the community problems and brainstorm ways to create/continue community pride.
• Bring in newspapers from larger or smaller communities (than their own) and compare/contrast your community - Develop a "Pride Rating Ratio" for both a larger and a smaller community.
• Watch a news broadcast - Bring a "Community Pride" or "Community Problem" to class to discuss.

Grade 2/3

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