What Does It Mean to be a Good Citizen?

Display slide 6. Explain to students that, to begin answering those essential questions, they are going to read an article titled “Responsibilities of U.S. Citizens.” Pass out a copy of the attached Document Analysis Packet to each student. Ask student groups to read through the first article in the packet, “Responsibilities of U.S. Citizens,” once. Then, distribute highlighters to each student. Ask students to read through the article again, using the Why-Lighting strategy to highlight important information that helps them answer the question “What does it mean to be a good citizen of our democracy?” Tell students that, for any information they highlight, they should make notes in the document margins explaining their reasoning. If you think it would be helpful to provide your students with additional structure for this activity, consider asking them to have at least three (or a different number of your choosing) Why-Lights with annotations.

When students finish Why-Lighting the first document, bring the whole class back together and display slide 7. Call on several groups to share some of the ideas that they highlighted and why.

Next, display slide 8 and direct students to the second article in the document packet, “President Obama’s Farewell Address.” Explain to students that it is tradition for presidents to give a farewell address or to speak to the nation one last time and offer insight based on their experiences serving as president. Point out to students that this tradition goes back to George Washington, noting that students previously studied his farewell address. You might choose to review some of the main ideas from Washington’s Farewell Address, such as avoiding foreign alliances, keeping the national government strong, limiting the power and influence of political parties, promoting education of the nation’s citizenry, etc. 

Ask student groups to read through the farewell address once. Then, as students read through the farewell address again, ask students to use the Why-Lighting strategy to highlight important information that helps them answer the question “What does it mean to be a good citizen of our democracy?” Tell students that, for any information they highlight, they must make notes in the document margins explaining their reasoning. If you think it would be helpful to provide your students with additional structure for this activity, consider asking them to have at least three (or a different number of your choosing) Why-Lights with annotations.

When students finish Why-Lighting the first document, bring the whole class back together and display slide 9. Then call on several groups to share some of the ideas that they highlighted and why.

Display slide 10, and transition the discussion to the final page of the handout, “Comparing the Texts.” This final section contains questions based on the New York Times’ Comparing Two or More Texts handout. Ask students to consider both texts and choose one of the four questions that are listed both on the page and on slide 10. When students have decided which question they want to answer, use a modified version of the Four Corners strategy, and invite students to take their Document Analysis Packets with them and gather in the four corners of the room with others who chose the same question. For example, all students who chose to answer question #1 should gather together in one corner of the room next to the sign that has question #1 printed on it; all students who chose to answer question #2 would gather in another corner of the room next to the sign that has question #2 printed on it; and so on.

Display slide 11. Give students a few minutes to discuss how they would answer their selected question. Have a representative from each group summarize what their group discussed for the whole class. Summarize this discussion by reviewing and synthesizing major points that students have brought up in discussion throughout this part of the lesson. 

At this point, you might choose to move to the next section of the lesson. Alternatively, if you would like students to record their responses on the handout in addition to discussing their answers, have students return to their seats to do so. Students can use the space provided in the document packet to record their responses. It is recommended that student responses be at least four complete sentences; however, you may wish to adjust these expectations. Communicate clearly with students about what you expect their responses to look like. 

Summarize this discussion by reviewing and synthesizing major points that students have brought up in discussion throughout this part of the lesson.