Active Citizenship: Baltimore Community Data Stations
A multi-day station rotation for 7th graders that introduces active citizenship by having students gather population, demographic, and physical and human geography data on Baltimore neighborhoods to form evidence-based hypotheses about community needs. It builds informational writing, research, and map-reading skills through community profiles, walking tour notes, interview preparation, and five-paragraph profiles of community leaders and organizations, designed for a multi-day rotation within humanities and ELA blocks.
“Humanities: Introduce the concept of ‘Active Citizenship’. Explore how active citizens collect data about the community to inform their opinions about what resources the community could benefit from. Deliverable: Baltimore City Community Maps Deliverable: Baltimore City Community Profile (Three Paragraphs (will be continued in their final analysis)) Introduce the community by referencing data points (population, demographics, etc) Introduce the physical and human attributes that already exist in that community Form an initial hypothesis (What additional human or physical attributes would benefit the community I’ve been assigned?) Neighborhood Walking Tours Generating Panel Questions Community Panel Note-Catcher & Exit Ticket Community Profile Final Draft Humanities: Standard 5.0 History: Inquire about significant events, ideas, beliefs, and themes to identify patterns and trends and to analyze how individuals and societies have changed over time to make connections to the present in their communities, Maryland, the United States, and the world. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. Community Needs Assessment Qualitative Data (Survey) Primary Source Interviews/Community Leader Interviews Secondary Source Adaptations Five Paragraph Community Leader Profile ELA: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.2: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. Research Skills Five Paragraph Community Organization Explanation What will students write? How will you scaffold this to support all writers? Community Leader Biographies (Humanities) Scholars will create a five-paragraph (one page) character profile of a Baltimore Community Leader. Introduce the community leader Introduce a problem the community leader recognized (use evidence from the interview with community leaders) Introduce a solution the community leader proposed (use evidence from the interview with community leaders) Introduce the community leader's impact Conclusion Community Organization Profiles (ELA) Scholars will create a five-paragraph (one page) explanation of Community Organizations that exist to aid in community-specific challenges Introduce the Community Challenge Use mathematical and observational data collected to explain the significance of the concern. Introduce a well-researched community organization (use evidence from the interview with community organizers) Explain how the organization aims to help Baltimore City Residents Explain why this organization is significant & call to action Create a plan using this information. This is for Humaniites and ELA Create a plan moving forward.”
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this as a multi-day sequence: Day 1 covers data literacy and Baltimore population trends, Day 2 covers physical and human attributes and interview practice, Day 3 is for the Community Research Data Tracker and first draft, and Day 4 is for revision and peer review, with roughly 45-60 minute blocks in each station rotation.
- Discussion question: Which data point about Berea (population, income, land use, or access to services) do you think best explains a need the community has, and why?
- Scaffold for struggling writers: Provide a paragraph frame for each of the five paragraphs (introduce the leader or organization, the problem, the solution, the impact, and the conclusion) and a word bank of data and civic vocabulary, and allow oral rehearsal before drafting.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to cross-check two sources that disagree on a community statistic, explain the discrepancy, and integrate a map or chart into their profile as evidence, consistent with RH.6-8.7.
- Estimated time: About four class periods total, with 15-20 minutes of debrief at the end of each day to connect stations back to the concept of active citizenship.
What is Diffit?
Teachers use Diffit to get quality materials for their unique classrooms. Adjust difficulty, add scaffolds, or change the topic to get started.
Try Diffit for free“Humanities: Introduce the concept of ‘Active Citizenship’. Explore how active citizens collect data about the community to inform their opinions about what resources the community could benefit from. Deliverable: Baltimore City Community Maps Deliverable: Baltimore City Community Profile (Three Paragraphs (will be continued in their final analysis)) Introduce the community by referencing data points (population, demographics, etc) Introduce the physical and human attributes that already exist in that community Form an initial hypothesis (What additional human or physical attributes would benefit the community I’ve been assigned?) Neighborhood Walking Tours Generating Panel Questions Community Panel Note-Catcher & Exit Ticket Community Profile Final Draft Humanities: Standard 5.0 History: Inquire about significant events, ideas, beliefs, and themes to identify patterns and trends and to analyze how individuals and societies have changed over time to make connections to the present in their communities, Maryland, the United States, and the world. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. Community Needs Assessment Qualitative Data (Survey) Primary Source Interviews/Community Leader Interviews Secondary Source Adaptations Five Paragraph Community Leader Profile ELA: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.2: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. Research Skills Five Paragraph Community Organization Explanation What will students write? How will you scaffold this to support all writers? Community Leader Biographies (Humanities) Scholars will create a five-paragraph (one page) character profile of a Baltimore Community Leader. Introduce the community leader Introduce a problem the community leader recognized (use evidence from the interview with community leaders) Introduce a solution the community leader proposed (use evidence from the interview with community leaders) Introduce the community leader's impact Conclusion Community Organization Profiles (ELA) Scholars will create a five-paragraph (one page) explanation of Community Organizations that exist to aid in community-specific challenges Introduce the Community Challenge Use mathematical and observational data collected to explain the significance of the concern. Introduce a well-researched community organization (use evidence from the interview with community organizers) Explain how the organization aims to help Baltimore City Residents Explain why this organization is significant & call to action Create a plan using this information. This is for Humaniites and ELA Create a plan moving forward.”
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this as a multi-day sequence: Day 1 covers data literacy and Baltimore population trends, Day 2 covers physical and human attributes and interview practice, Day 3 is for the Community Research Data Tracker and first draft, and Day 4 is for revision and peer review, with roughly 45-60 minute blocks in each station rotation.
- Discussion question: Which data point about Berea (population, income, land use, or access to services) do you think best explains a need the community has, and why?
- Scaffold for struggling writers: Provide a paragraph frame for each of the five paragraphs (introduce the leader or organization, the problem, the solution, the impact, and the conclusion) and a word bank of data and civic vocabulary, and allow oral rehearsal before drafting.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to cross-check two sources that disagree on a community statistic, explain the discrepancy, and integrate a map or chart into their profile as evidence, consistent with RH.6-8.7.
- Estimated time: About four class periods total, with 15-20 minutes of debrief at the end of each day to connect stations back to the concept of active citizenship.
Active Citizenship: Baltimore Community Data Stations
A multi-day station rotation for 7th graders that introduces active citizenship by having students gather population, demographic, and physical and human geography data on Baltimore neighborhoods to form evidence-based hypotheses about community needs. It builds informational writing, research, and map-reading skills through community profiles, walking tour notes, interview preparation, and five-paragraph profiles of community leaders and organizations, designed for a multi-day rotation within humanities and ELA blocks.
What is Diffit?
Teachers use Diffit to get quality materials for their unique classrooms. Adjust difficulty, add scaffolds, or change the topic to get started.
Try Diffit for free