Kylee Manganiello 9th Grade Social Studies Breakthrough 2017

9th Grade Independent *Action*

Research Project

What does it mean to be a citizen in a democracy? What are your rights? What are your
responsibilities? William H. Hastie, a lawyer, judge, educator, and civil rights advocate once said,
Democracy is becoming rather than being. It can easily be lost, but never is fully won. Its
essence is eternal struggle. One of our responsibilities as citizens of a democracy is to strive (and
sometimes struggle) to make our communities and our country better, more democratic places. This
summer, you will not only be exploring what it means to be a citizen, but also developing and
practicing your citizenship skills as you work on a project to make your community a better place. For
your final project, your task is to identify a community issue that is important to you and, after
conducting research, develop a potential action plan to help address the issue. This project will
primarily be completed during class time, but it is expected that you complete some components on
your own as home practice.

Project Objective: To create an action plan that attempts to solve a community issue and
demonstrates thorough research, creative thinking, and civic knowledge.

Project Components:
1. Project proposal/ problem statement: Identify an issue within your community
(your neighborhood, your school, your city, etc.) that you think needs to be dealt with.
2. Electronic Research Portfolio: In order to create an appropriate action plan, you
need to do research to fully understand the problem and proposed solutions. Your
research portfolio should include the following:
a. At least three articles from reliable sources.
Kylee Manganiello 9th Grade Social Studies Breakthrough 2017

b. A one paragraph (3-5 sentence) summary of the main points of each

article you include in your portfolio.
c. Full MLA citations for each of your sources.
3. Action Plan & Presentation: After brainstorming potential solutions to your
community issue and doing research, you will create an action plan (which will be
presented during ASM) using the presentation format of your choice (powerpoint,
prezi, google slides, etc.). Your action plan must include:
a. A title
b. Your problem statement
c. A root cause1 statement
d. A goal that attempts to address the root cause of the problem
e. A description of at least two targets2 and tactics3 used to accomplish your
goal
f. Your why? statement (a brief explanation of why you chose your project
topic)
4. Reflection: Upon completion of your project, you will be asked to write a short
reflection on your experience working on the project and your role as a citizen.

Rubric
Quality: _______ / 35 points
Students project is of high quality. The students research portfolio and action plan
demonstrate effort and careful consideration. There are little to no grammatical or
technical errors and the students presentation is visually appealing.

Completeness: _______ / 25 points

The student submitted all necessary components of the project on time.

Preparation: ______ / 25 points

The student made good use of class time, home practice assignments, and flex bell to
prepare for and complete project.

Reflection: ______ / 15 points

Student reflected on project experience and how, if at all, it impacted their
understanding of citizenship and government. Reflection is written in paragraph format
and full sentences.

1
A brief explanation of the main cause of your community issue
2
People in your community who have the power, knowledge, and/or authority to make or influence
decision to implement policy that relates to your community issue
3
Strategies to gain the support of targets and achieve your project goal
Kylee Manganiello 9th Grade Social Studies Breakthrough 2017

Total: _______ / 100 points