Minority Civic Participation

General Overview

The Center on Congress and the Close Up Foundation partnered in a video series in which legislators, civic leaders, and political scientists address questions from young people in a studio audience on questions about minority civic engagement. This module takes the best of those programs and presents them in a web-based, easy access format. Examples of the issues addressed include "Civic Mentors," "Minority Voices," and "Getting Minority Youth Involved." As Janet Murguia, President of La Raza, and one of our panelists, states, "Our system cannot succeed unless everyone is involved."

Lessons and Assessments

The lessons listed below are self-contained. You may complete them in any order you wish.

Civic Involvement (Grades 5 – 8)
In this lesson students will consider what it means to be civically involved. They will then conduct a survey and find out what types of activities students and adults are most likely to participate in.

Media and Minority Involvement (Grades 5 – 8)
In this lesson students will look at different news sources and examine how minorities are portrayed. Students will consider how the media discourages minorities from becoming civically involved.

Civic Mentors (Grades 5 – 8)
In this lesson students will watch a video in which political leaders discuss why they became involved. They will then consider what would encourage them to become civically involved. Students will also think about what qualities would make a person a good civic mentor. While keeping these qualities in mind, they will select one person from their family or local community to be their own civic mentor and create a trading card that describes this person.

Foundational Ideas (Grades 9 – 12)
In this lesson students will examine founding-era documents and consider why it is important for diverse individuals, groups, and communities to make a common commitment to foundational ideas and values of American democracy. Students will then reflect on why all citizens should participate in civic activities and examine ways they can become civically engaged.

How Representative is Congress (Grades 9 – 12)
In this lesson students will examine the demographics of the United States and compare these demographics to the make-up of Congress. Students will consider the value of having different backgrounds, genders, and races among Members of Congress. They will then informally debate whether Congress is sufficiently representative.

Making Voting Easier (Grades 9 – 12)
In this lesson students will investigate what types of barriers to voting may currently exist. They will compare how local citizens vote to the way other areas in the nation vote and consider ways to increase voter turnout.

Rubric:
This section contains performance assessment rubrics for students who have completed all of the lessons in the Minority Civic Participation Module. These rubrics may be saved and used "as-is," or you can modify the rubrics in any way that is appropriate for your students.

Other Resources

Glossary: The glossary provides the definitions for key terms that students should know in order to complete this module.

Web sites: This section includes Web sites that will help students learn more about how citizens can get involved with government.

Print Materials: This section lists resources for both teachers and students about civic engagement.