Personal and Social Responsibility
ASSIGNMENT 2: Community Service
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Task:
Why is Community Service Important?
The following passage is part of a report that the Obama-Biden campaign prepared about service and volunteering.
For Barack Obama, public service has not been just the slogan of a campaign; it has been the cause of his life. Obama began his career by moving to the South Side of Chicago to direct the Developing Communities Project. Together with a coalition of ministers, Obama set out to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued by crime and high unemployment. After graduating from law school, Obama passed up lucrative law firm jobs to head Project Vote, which helped register 150,000 new African American voters in Chicago, the highest number ever registered in a single local effort. Michelle Obama was founding executive director of Public Allies Chicago, a leadership development program that identifies and prepares talented young adults for careers serving the public good. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe public service is transformative, helping both the individuals that serve and the communities that benefit. …
Barack Obama calls his years working as a community organizer in Chicago’s South Side the best education he ever had. He believes that all students should serve their communities. Studies show that students who participate in service-learning programs do better in school, are more likely to graduate high school and go to college, and are more likely to become active, engaged citizens. Schools that require service as part of the educational experience create improved learning environments and serve as resources for their communities.
LEARNING LINK: Read the whole report here
Source: teacher.depaul.edu/Documents/whyiscommunityserviceimportant.pdf
Goals: Clarify the main/central idea of a passage; analyze a passage to identify relationships; support important ideas with examples.
Answer the following questions in a Word document before writing your final paragraph on public service.
1. What is the main idea of this passage?
2. Identify three statements in the passage that support that idea.
3. Decide if you believe this is a good plan. List three reasons for your position.
- My Position:
- My Reasons:
4. Based on what you have read, what are your thoughts on the value of volunteering? Use information from the reading and examples from your own experience in your response. Describe your own volunteer experiences. Or you could describe areas where you would be interested in volunteering.
5. Paragraph Response: In a coherent, well written 200 word persuasive paragraph, respond to the following question. Do you agree or disagree with the statement ..."Public service is transformative." Make sure your opinion is clear in the topic sentence. Practice persuasive writing as it is explained on the next page. Watch the videos.
Here is a Persuasive Mapping Organizer.(Note: This link is to an insecure server which means that your browser will probably provide a warning and ask you to approve accessing this material. This site uses FLASH) You could use it to plan your argument. Don't forget about the graphic organizers at the top of the course, as well.
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Student demonstrates exemplary active reading skills to comprehend and respond to text in personal, creative, and critical ways. All activities are complete. Ideas generated are thoughtful and unique. Student demonstrates exemplary persuasive writing to communicate an opinion with evidence using relevant, accurate, and reliable text.
Written Expression: Exemplary (6/6): Sentence structure and vocabulary are varied, skillfully written, and carefully chosen. Work has been proofread and there are few or no errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Content contributes to the central idea and makes insightful connections with logical organization.
Submission:
Use the "4.2 Community Service" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.