Essential Question
- What are the consequences of citizens not participating in a democracy?
Delaware Content Standards Integrated in the Instructional Strategies
Civics Standard Three 9-12a
Civics Standard Four 9-12a
Instructional Strategies
Strategy 1: Gathering Information
Four Corner Debate
A Four Corner Debate allows students to change positions as their knowledge and understanding of a particular topic or concept grows. Teachers should highlight for students that changing your mind is a healthy part of being an active thinker.
Before the class begins the teacher should post in the four corners of the room the words Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree. Once class begins the teachers will ask the question
“Should people call the police if they see someone breaking the law while driving?”
Ask students to stand in one of the four corners, depending on how they would answer the question. In each corner, have the members of the newly-emerged group explain the reasons for their responses to one another.
Ask students to read the introduction of Delaware’s 2006 Annual Traffic Statistical Report.
Highlight the following statistics for 2006:
- There were 620,433 licensed drivers.
- There were 19,351 traffic crashes.
- Traffic crashes resulted in 147 people killed and 8,145 people injured.
- Those crashes were estimated at an economic loss of over $439 million dollars.
Page 62 highlights alcohol involvement in traffic crashes.
Page 67 charts alcohol related traffic crash fatalities by age and gender.
Page 75 graphs alcohol related crashes by day of the week.
Page 76 charts alcohol related crashes by time of day.
Students should answer the question again: “Should people call the police if they see someone breaking the law while driving?” They may choose to move to a different corner or stay in the same corner.
Have students examine a second set of resources from Delaware’s Stop Aggressive Driving Campaign. Students should examine flyers, posters, billboards, and statistics such as:
-
- More than half of Delaware traffic deaths each year are due to aggressive driving behaviors, including speeding, running red lights or stop signs, making unsafe lane changes/cutting people off, and failing to merge safely into oncoming traffic.
- One-third of all Delaware aggressive driving-related crashes are caused by 16 to 19-year old drivers.
- Males are twice as likely as females to be involved in an aggressive driving-related crash.
- Time of greatest risk for aggressive driving-related crashes in Delaware: between noon and 8 p.m.
Again ask students: “Should people call the police if they see someone breaking the law while driving?”
Have students choose a corner for a third time. Then each group (#1 - Strongly Agree, #2 - Agree, #3 - Disagree, #4 - Strongly Disagree) should be identified by number. Knowing this number will prepare students for strategy three.
Check for Understanding
Is it easier to report a crime if you are anonymous rather than facing the person that you are reporting? Why or why not? Explain your answer.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid decision with an accurate and relevant explanation.
1 – This response gives a valid decision with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no explanation.
Strategy 2A: Extending & Refining
Jigsaw
Based upon the numbers determined in strategy one, students should get into groups of four (made up of a one, two, three, and four). In the jigsaw group students should present the reasons for their “corner” and try to persuade the other members to change their position due to the facts or ideas that they’ve presented. The teacher should circulate around the room listen to discussions, intervening when needed. After all groups are finished, the teacher should ask the students for the fourth and final time to move to one of the four corners.
Have students explain why their position either remained constant or what changed their mind to move to a different corner.
- What methods/reasons during discussion were most persuasive?
- Why was or wasn’t the class able to come to a consensus?
Check for Understanding
Under what circumstances can reporting a crime be a controversial issue? Explain your answer.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid circumstance with an accurate and relevant explanation.
1 – This response gives a valid circumstance with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no explanation.
Strategy 2B: Extending & Refining
Think/Pair/Share
If there is little disagreement at the end of Strategy One, causing Strategy 2A to be moot, students should instead participate in a Think/Pair/Share. The question they should independently think about is:
- Why is there so little debate in our class regarding the question “Should citizens call the police if they see someone breaking the law while driving?”
- Why might other classes have trouble coming to unanimous agreement?
After independently thinking about the question, they should pair up with another student, discuss their individual answers, and during a classroom debriefing share some of their discussion.
Check for Understanding
Under what circumstances can reporting a crime be a controversial issue? Explain your answer.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid circumstance with an accurate and relevant explanation.
1 – This response gives a valid circumstance with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no explanation.
Strategy 3: Application
Cubing
Use cubing to lead students to think critically about the consequences of citizens participating vs. not participating in a democracy. Have students view the graphs linked below from the U.S. Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs – Bureau of Justice Statistics.
- The percentage of crimes reported to the police has been increasing.
- Since 1994, violent crime rates have declined, reaching the lowest level ever in 2005.
- Property crime rates continue to decline.
The teacher can use the strategy with the whole class, as small group work, and/or on a one-to-one basis. Cubing requires students to think about a concept in new ways.
The strategy allows students to explore a concept from six different points of view. The name “cubing” comes from the fact that cubes have six sides and students explore a topic from the following six perspectives:
Describe it: Describe each of the charts. Explain in your own words why these three charts are being shown together.
Compare it: Compare changes in violent crime to changes in property crime.
Associate it: What do you think of when you think about a person reporting a crime? Why?
Analyze it: What is the relationship between the percent of total crime reported to police and crime rates between the years 1992 and 2005?
Apply it: Predict types of actions taken by the police or communities which led citizens to increase crime reporting.
Argue against it: Argue against the following statement, “Increasing reporting crime will decrease crime rates.”
Check for Understanding
How do the actions of individuals, such as reporting a crime, potentially affect the larger community? Explain your answer.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid effect with an accurate and relevant explanation.
1 – This response gives a valid effect with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no explanation.