FREEDOM of PETITION (undelivered)

8th grade/ LA

TEK(s):
§110.24. LA(15) Writing/purposes. The student writes for a variety of audiences and purposes and in a variety of forms. The student is expected to:
(A) write to express, discover, record, develop, reflect on ideas, and to problem solve
(B) write to influence such as to persuade, argue, and request (4-8);
(C) write to inform such as to explain, describe, report, and narrate (4-8);
(E) select and use voice and style appropriate to audience and purpose (6-8);
(H) produce cohesive and coherent written texts by organizing ideas, using effective transitions, and choosing precise wording (6-8).

§113.24. SS (16) Government. The student understands the American beliefs and principles reflected in the U.S. Constitution and other important historic documents. TSIET:
(D) analyze how the U.S. Constitution reflects the principles of limited government, republicanism, checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, popular sovereignty, and individual rights.

Objective(s) -
~ TSWBAT contribute at least one school or community issue of importance to their group’s brainstorm.
~ The group will be able to then choose one to submit to a class vote.
~ TSWBAT generate five reasons as a group to support the change of their selected issue.
~The group will be able to argue the importance of their issue to the class, with each student presenting at least one reason.
~ TSWBAT vote to select one issue to attempt as a class to reform.
~ TSWBAT write a 1 page position paper supporting his opinion.
~TSWBAT summarize his position to at least 12 individuals or however many is necessary to obtain 10 signatures.
~ TSWBAT revise his paper to conform to standard rules of grammar.

Teacher materials needed:
~ Ideas of school/community issues to “toss out” to the kids if they get stuck

Student materials needed:
~Writing utensil
~Paper for petition signatures
~Paper guidelines

Focus or anticipatory set:
1) Alright, so tell me what is democracy?
- Discuss demo = people, cracy = rule by
- How does that look in our society? Do we all vote on every little law that
gets made? Why not? What do we do instead? Discussion of republic= electing officials to represent us/ vote in our interest
~ [Use a real student as an example… bring him to the front and have him pantomime everything.] What happens if So-and-so from Longview south side runs a big election, speaks in a whole bunch of shindigs, goes knocking door-to-door to get your vote, kisses a trillion babies and gets elected to Congress. However, while he’s there, he gets a little bit comfy in his nice office, drinking good coffee, driving a nice car, and he forgets his roots… when it comes to voting on issues, [eg: tearing down homes on the south side to build a new mall] he votes with his new friends, the ones who take him out to lunch all the time, and he forgets where he came from… He forgets that he’s supposed to be the VOICE for the people back home. What do you do with this apparent two-face. Do you just throw up your hands and start hollering about dirty politicians?

- Hint: complaining is never the answer unless it accomplishes something.

- Or do you grab the phone book, pick up the phone, and dial a certain congressman? Say, “Uh, yes, secretary, I’d like you to tell your boss something. I represent District 1, specifically the south side of Longview, and I voted for Mr. So-and-so. I even put a sign up in my yard. HOWEVER, he seems to forget that we here in Longview can’t STAND the side he just took on the last issue. [eg: We are NOT happy that he would sell-out to let people tear down our homes and build a mall.] This is why we are not happy. Reason X [We are a bunch of families raising our children, and it would hurt them to have to move.] Reason Y [Not only our children grew up here, but we did too! So did our parents. Our grandparents moved in here when they were first starting off.] Reason Z [Congressman So-and-so grew up here, and he SAID he would support community values. If he cannot do that, we will find someone else to take his place come reelection time.]”

-You are not going to be disrespectful. You are not going to rant. You will explain. But say you don’t have time to call. Or everytime you call, you get a voice mail. What’s another option?

~You could visit him, and maybe take him out to lunch yourself. You could write or email him. You could talk to his Mother if you know her. But, quick question, how much good do you think it does for one person to call a busy, distracted Congressman and tell him what’s what? You think the Congressman will say, “Gee, that’s right… Didn’t think of that. I’ll change my decision right away.”? Probbbbably not. How can you get him to pay attention?

- How about if you got your mom to call too? And your brothers and sisters? And your cousins and aunts and uncles? And your grandparents and their friends? And all your co-workers? And the people at your church? And the parents of your kids’ friends? And anybody else you can find until that poor secretary is going crazy trying to take calls and the phone lines get jammed… that’s a possibility.

- If you don’t want to call, what’s another way to reach him? Will a single letter do a lot of good? What if you get everybody you can find to write the dude? That’s commonly called a “letter writing campaign,” and it’s another way to make your voice heard.

- But, letter writing takes about how long? Half an hour? More to mail it? And something you might have noticed about people is that they are LAZY. It’s hard enough for a teacher to get kids to do work, imagine how hard it would be to get someone off the street to sit down, write a letter to a person they don’t know, walk all the way to their mailbox and mail it…

- It’s harder than you think.

~ Another option is to have one group get together a really impressive presentation of why the Congressman should go their way. Then, they take it upon themselves to go to everybody they know and present the issue. BUT, instead of having everybody write their own letters, they just sign yours. It’s called a petition.

-Actually, all these are examples of ways to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Ever heard that before? What’s it mean? The government grieved you; you want them to fix it… and in democracy, there’s power in numbers.

-But yall remember that back in the day, you could your head chopped off for “petitioning the king for the redress of grievances. The king was like a little god and you were NOT allowed to tell him he was mistaken or aggravating you.”

-What document changed all that for the Americans? Remember: they were tired of all that king rot, and they decided that if the people needed to complain they could. If they needed to speak, they could. What else could they do? IF they needed to assemble, they could. If they needed to write in their newspaper their frustration, they could. Where do we find these rights?

~Guess what: we’re practicing to become good citizens, and I vote that we CHANGE something using a petition. And since in the class I’m like the king, let’s do it.

Activities
2) The students will get into groups and brainstorm CONCRETE ideas of how the school or community needs to improve/ change. Each group member must propose at least one idea to the group list.

- The group will then choose one idea as the strongest to submit to a class vote.
- They will come up with at least 5 reasons as a group to support their position.
- The teacher should be monitoring group progress to make sure all ideas are feasible.
~ After each group has presented their idea and defended it against attackers , the class will vote to select an issue the whole class will promote.

2) The class will then discuss and decide on which official/ authority to address the petition to. The individual must have real power to change the matter. They will also discuss how many signatures they believe they can realistically obtain and how many will be needed to be convincing. Possibly, one student can be appointed to discuss the issue with the authority and ask how many signatures would be convincing.
~ Each group will come up with a concise topic sentence to sum up their desire for their change.

3) That night, the students will talk to others to compile 5 new reasons to support the change.
* They will also write down possible reasons it should not change to discuss in class.

~ The next day, the students will meet in different groups (JIGSAW!) to discuss their new input. They will eliminate weak arguments and number the most convincing ones.
* In groups, the students will discuss the oppositions and figure out how to combat them.
*Each group will then present to the class their strongest 2 arguments for the change. HOWEVER, every group must present a different argument, so if one group presents another group’s #1, the 2nd group must go to their #2.

4) The students will then independently write a one page letter to the authority selected using what they feel are the strongest reasons. They will self-evaluate using the following guidelines:
[from other websites... i dunno whose!]

* Is the main idea of each paragraph stated in a topic sentence?
* Is the evidence in each paragraph exact, specific, and related to the topic?
* Have exact words and words with appropriate connotations been used?
* Does the argument have a persuasive opening and closing?
* Are the paragraphs indented?
* Are all words spelled correctly?
* Are capital letters used correctly?
* Are punctuation marks used correctly?

Always
1. Be courteous and respectful without "gushing."
2. Clearly and simply state the purpose of your letter. If it's about a certain rule, identify it correctly.
3. Say who you are. Anonymous letters go nowhere. Include your correct name, address, phone number and email address at the top. If you don't include at least your name and address, you will not get a response.
4. State any professional credentials or personal experience you may have, especially those pertaining to the subject of your letter.
5. Keep your letter short -- one page is best.
6. Use specific examples or evidence to support your position.
7. State what it is you want done or recommend a course of action.
8. Thank the member for taking the time to read your letter.
Never
1. Use vulgarity, profanity, or threats. The first two are just plain rude and the third one can get you disciplined seriously. Simply stated, don't let your passion get in the way of making your point,
2. Fail to include your name and address.
3. Demand a response.

5) They will then be charged to ORALLY summarize their position to at least 20 people and gain at least 10 signatures ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER fin support outside of the class.
* In class, they will get into pairs to proofread each other’s papers.
* In groups, they will vote for the best one. They will then pass their best on to the next group. At the end, the class will vote for the best one to represent the class on the actual petition to the authority. Once the desired amount of signatures are accumulated, the letter will go through a final proofread by the teacher, and the class will go to present the document to the authority.

Questions
~ What is a petition?
~ Where do we find our right to petition?
~ What is the exact wording in the 1st amendment?
~ What are other ways to petition besides accumulating signatures? What are boycotts, protests, marches, and demonstrations, lobbying, freedom of association, access to information, testifying at a public hearing, writing letters to public officials, circulating formal petitions, and what do they have to do with our rights? [all ways to get the government/ powers-that-be to redress our grievances] What other rights do they represent? [freedom of assembly, speech, etc.]
~ Which do you think is the most effective means of petition?
~ Why is it important to come up with logical reasons in support of your change? Why not just say “because” or relate a personal experience?
~ Why is it important to think about the other side to your issue?
~ What would be some good ways to get people fired up about your issue besides just signing the paper?