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| Search more than 3,000 free lessons and activities on PBS TeacherSource! Type in a keyword or words, then click go. |
1. Volunteerism
Grade Levels: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Language Arts, Social Studies, Science
Discuss the importance of contributing to your community with your students. View the PBS broadcasts of "Ben Franklin: An Extraordinary Life, an Eclectic Mind" and/or "The American Experience: Jimmy Carter." As a class make a list of Ben Franklin's reasons and Jimmy Carter's reasons for community involvement. Compare.
Brainstorm why and how people contribute their community. In what ways does your class contribute to your school or local community?
Plan and execute a community service project. Have students visit the Civic Practices Network Web site, where they may read case studies and essays about civic innovation, explore various models and techniques of civic engagement, and discover 50 affiliate organizations involved in local communities.
For a science connection, identify ways in which scientists (especially Nobel laureates) and others devote their lives' work for the benefit of others.
For younger students: Read "A River Ran Wild" or "The Great Kapoke Tree" and discuss how individual people can affect their environments. Brainstorm ways the students can have a positive effect on the local environment. Plan and execute a community service project that will benefit the environment.
Online Resources
PBS Ben Franklin: Citizen Ben
http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l2_citizen.htmlPBS The American Experience: Jimmy Carter
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jimmycarterPBS The Nobel: Visions of Our Century
http://www.pbs.org/kqed/nobel/Civic Practices Network
http://www.cpn.org/
Print Resources
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest
By Lynne Cherry
Published 1998A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History
By Lynne Cherry
Published 1992
2. Citizenship Testing
Grade Level: 11-12
Subjects: Government/Civics, Social Studies, Language Arts
Find out what your students know about becoming a U.S. citizen. Discuss the process with the class. Visit the Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) Web site and show your students the knowledge/information required of someone wishing to become a U.S. citizen. Have students take the test.
Assess the test as a class. Why is it important to know the answers to the questions on the test to become a citizen? Does the test meet the ideals of the Founding Fathers? Why or why not? If you worked for the INS what questions would you ask of someone wishing to become a citizen?
Follow-up:
Online Resources
PBS La Ciudad: Facilitator's Guide
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/thecity/resources3_2.htmlPBS First Measured Century: Trends in Immigration
http://www.pbs.org/fmc/poll/immigration1_vote.shtmlPBS The New Americans: Immigration, America's Story
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/newamericans/3.0/3.0timeline.htmlPBS P.O.V.: Well-Founded Fear: Your Decision
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov1999/wellfoundedfear/frameset.php3?section=yourdecisionImmigration & Naturalization Service: Eligibility and Testing
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/services/natz/require.htm
Ben Franklin
http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/index.htmlThomas Jefferson
http://www.pbs.org/jefferson/Liberty! The American Revolution
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/
AMEX: Jimmy Carter
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/Rediscovering George Washington
http://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/Learning Adventures in Citizenship
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/laic/PBS Kids Democracy Project
http://www.pbs.org/democracy/kids/PBS Democracy Project
http://www.pbs.org/democracy/PBS Democracy Project: Build Your Own Campaign
http://www.pbs.org/democracy/buildyourowncampaign/index.htmlAMEX: Teddy Roosevelt: "The Duties of American Citizenship"
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/nf/resource/tr/primdocs/citizen.htmlNot For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
http://www.pbs.org/stantonanthony/index.html
Don't miss these programs airing in November! Check your local listings for the most accurate air date and time.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Web Site: pbs.org/benfranklin/
Radical. Brilliant. Diplomatic. Scientific. Witty. Driven. Benjamin Franklin was an American genius who revolutionized his times with the scope of his intellect, the charm of his wit and the passion of his belief that ordinary men, and women, could shape their world. Born in obscurity, he became the most famous American of his day, helping to give birth to the modern age and to a new nation. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, airing on PBS Tuesday, November 19-20, 9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings), brings the man and his times to life in a documentary biography that's as lively and groundbreaking as its subject.
KEN BURNS AMERICAN STORIES: "THOMAS JEFFERSON"
Web Site: pbs.org/jefferson/
Actor Sam Waterston provides the voice of Thomas Jefferson in this documentary that tells the story of this remarkable yet contradictory man. Detailed portraits and paintings, original architectural drawings and excerpts from Jefferson's journals, letters, scientific papers and political writings reveal the breathtaking range of his achievements and the challenging paradoxes in his character. The film, divided into four sections, takes viewers to many of the central places of Jefferson's life - Tuckahoe, Williamsburg, Philadelphia, Paris, Washington and his beloved Monticello - to examine the biography of this founding father, political figure, musician, architect, scientist, mathematician, inventor, philosopher and family man. Airing on PBS Monday, November 4, 9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings).
KEN BURNS AMERICAN STORIES: "LIBERTY: THE AGE OF EXPERIMENTS/THE PURSUIT OF
HAPPINESS"
Web Site: pbs.org/kenburns/
The first half of this episode follows Jefferson's tumultuous terms as Secretary of State and Vice President, and the bitter political battle with Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists that culminates in the "revolution of 1800" and Jefferson's dramatic election to the presidency. The second half provides a bittersweet overview of the "sage of Monticello"'s retirement years - a time devoted to grandchildren, books, the founding of the University of Virginia and a rich legacy of correspondence, while the comfort of his lifestyle is gradually eroded by personal bankruptcy. Airing on PBS Monday, November 4, 9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings).
THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: JIMMY CARTER
Web Site: pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/
This biography, the latest in AMERICAN EXPERIENCE's library of presidential portraits, traces the ascent of an ambitious country boy from a peanut farm in Plains, Georgia, to the Oval Office. It examines the failings of Carter's political leadership in the context of the turbulent 1970s and explores the role religion played in his career. Jimmy Carter ran for president as an outsider. He rode into power on the post-Watergate disaffection with Washington politics, but his inexperience resulted in an ineffectual and fractured administration. Inflation, recession and a humbling hostage crisis blew his presidency dramatically off course. The crowning achievement of his one term in office, the Camp David Accords, which established a framework for peace in the Middle East, was the inspiration for his life after the White House. In the years since, Carter has recast himself as a giant of moral leadership. He has struggled to bring peace to war-torn countries, fought for the eradication of life-threatening diseases and dedicated himself to housing America's poorest citizens. Airing on Monday-Tuesday, November 11-12, 9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings)
November 2002: Citizenship 
