Americans Making a Difference
​                                     By:  Jim Warren

Project at a Glance :

This project is designed for 11th and 12th grade students in World Cultures or Current Events classes.  The project allows students to explore possibilities for improving the lives of people living in Developing Countries.  Project duration:   3 weeks
       
Driving Question:

How can American citizens improve the lives of people in Developing Countries?             

Standards:

• CG3 Patterns of Global Interactions
• CG4 Conflict, Cooperation, and Security

​Team / Culture Building:

• Hopes/Fears/Norms 
• Values Cards
• Creative DNA

​Entry Event:

• Share emotional music, photos, and video clips of struggles and successes in developing countries narrated by teacher.
• Invite guests from International Aid - ask them to share how they interact with foreign governments and people to make change. This event is designed to open doors for students to creatively come up with all possibilities of outreach on their own.

Stakeholders:

• People in need from Developing Foreign Countries
• Foreign Governments

Empathy Building:

• Analogous Empathy Map is a protocol that could help with students gaining empathy for the stakeholders

​Inquiry / Need to Knows:

•  Students will arrange INTERVIEWS with someone who is part of a Foreign Aid organization and, if possible, a government official who will help with knowledge of what is allowed in different areas of the world.

Incubation:

• Brainwriting protocol - invite students to silently brainstorm ideas on whiteboards​.

• ​Brainstorm 100 ideas in 15 minutes using the Idea Quota protocol - while considering a wide variety of perspectives and solutions. 

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Solution Building:

•  Use the  6 Thinking Hats  Protocol -acting out roles in specific ways to look at the proposed solutions from a variety of perspectives. 
• Seeking Skeptics protocol combined with the NUF Test to test the feasibility of solution ideas. Polling stakeholders and asking them to rank solution ideas will also help students narrow down ideas and improve their final pitches.
• The initial protocol to begin the narrowing of solutions will be the $100 Test. 

Critique and Revision:

• The 5 Whys will help students consider what are key components of a good solution.​

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 Authentic Audience:

• Representatives from a variety of Foreign Aid organizations
• Government officials 
• Spring Lake Schools administrators ​

Final Presentation:

• ​Students will pitch their ideas to a panel of experts (via Zoom if necessary).​

Project Template:
Click here to see the teacher's plan.
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Reflection and Feedback:

• Students will be graded and given feedback given on their organization, meeting the  time requirement, including all group members, visuals, and overall effectiveness of ideas.
• Fellow students will complete evaluation forms during group presentations.

Click here for the teachers Journey through PBL on Trello . . .

Meet the Educator:
Jim Warren teaches World History, Current Events, U.S. History, and World Cultures at Spring Lake High School.  

     "Letting students' creativity influence real-world questions is education at its best. This is phenomenal preparation for any
​career.​"