Hungry for Change: Student Action Project

Learning Goals & Products

Learning Goals

Students will be able to investigate local hunger issues through interviews, surveys, and community data to build knowledge about food insecurity in their community.

Students will be able to empathize with people affected by hunger by creating accurate character sketches based on firsthand stories and interview notes.

Students will be able to synthesize evidence from multiple sources to define a clear local hunger problem statement for a specific community group.

Students will be able to analyze mentor texts and community examples of brochures, webpages, and digital magazine articles to identify persuasive and informational craft moves.

Students will be able to prototype an individual awareness message that communicates a solution idea for local hunger to a target audience.

Students will be able to test and refine a design by using peer and community feedback to improve clarity, accuracy, and persuasiveness.

Students will be able to justify solution choices for a local hunger awareness campaign using evidence from research and user feedback.

Products

individual

Local Hunger User Research Folder with One-Page Awareness Prototype

Each student creates a research folder with interview notes, a simple persona sketch, and a short evidence summary. They also produce one individual prototype—such as a brochure front page, poster draft, or webpage mockup—that turns their insight into a testable awareness message.

team

Community Hunger Awareness Fair Digital Campaign and Collaborative Prototype

Teams combine individual research into a shared problem statement and build a higher-fidelity digital brochure, webpage, or mini magazine for the Community Hunger Awareness Fair. The final campaign includes a revised prototype, action steps, and a presentation narrative that shows how user feedback shaped the design.

Rubric

Competency Progression Rubric Competency-first rubric

Category	Learning Goal	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4
Deeper Learning Competencies	Critical Thinking & Problem Solving	I can ask focused questions about hunger in my community and choose one aspect to investigate, using information from a class source and my interview notes to learn what is happening.	I can plan a short research investigation by identifying 2–3 related aspects of hunger and selecting multiple sources (including community/interview information) to build my understanding and explain how the evidence connects.	I can compare and connect ideas across several sources to identify patterns and possible causes/effects of hunger in my community, and I can use that evidence to propose a realistic next-step idea for solving a problem.	I can evaluate the strength of my evidence across sources, refine my investigation questions, and justify a solution-focused approach using clear reasoning about how the proposed action addresses the aspects of hunger I researched.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Effective Communication	I can share what I learn from my research by using clear sentences that connect interview stories and community facts to the topic of hunger I can speak or write my ideas in an organized way for my project audience.	I can listen to interview responses with care and use what I hear to improve my research-based writing and presentations I can explain how different sources (stories and data) add to my understanding of hunger in my community.	I can communicate with empathy by accurately summarizing someone’s experience and choosing language that respects their perspective I can present research findings and evidence from multiple sources to support my ideas about hunger and solutions.	I can actively engage an audience by delivering polished, research-based presentations that connect multiple sources to different aspects of hunger I can use feedback to strengthen my message and ensure my communication is clear, persuasive, and considerate of community voices.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Collaboration	I can work with my team to plan roles for our hunger research project and follow shared group norms during collaboration I can listen to my teammates’ ideas and contribute at least one suggestion or piece of information that helps our project.	I can collaborate with my team to investigate different aspects of hunger by sharing questions, notes, and source findings in a way that everyone can use I can make shared decisions with my teammates (with teacher support if needed) and help revise our plan based on feedback from the group.	I can co-design parts of our research and final products by organizing information from multiple sources (including interviews) and connecting it to specific questions our team is investigating I can resolve disagreements by using respectful communication, taking on a leadership role when appropriate, and ensuring all teammates participate.	I can independently drive effective teamwork by setting clear goals, dividing responsibilities strategically, and keeping collaboration organized through check-ins and timelines I can build on teammates’ contributions to refine research and solutions, use group feedback to improve our work, and help the team sustain shared decision-making and positive relationships.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Content Expertise	I can conduct a short research project on a local hunger topic by asking focused questions and investigating one aspect of the issue using information I collect from interviews or provided sources I can record key facts I learn and explain how the information connects to my topic.	I can conduct a short research project on local hunger by investigating multiple aspects of the issue using several sources (such as interviews, community data, and text) I can compare the information I find, choose relevant details for my questions, and summarize what the sources show.	I can conduct a short research project on local hunger by using several sources to build my knowledge across different aspects of the topic I can synthesize facts (not just copy), identify patterns or differences in what sources say, and use that evidence to support my ideas for solutions.	I can conduct a short research project on local hunger by independently selecting and using multiple credible sources to investigate different aspects of the issue I can synthesize information into clear, original claims, explain how each source helps my understanding, and apply evidence to propose actionable, empathy-driven next steps.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Self Directed Learning	I can use a simple research plan (who/what I will ask or look up) and choose from teacher-provided sources to gather facts about hunger in my community I can record what I learn and tell how it connects to my research question.	I can refine my research question and follow a step-by-step plan to investigate different aspects of hunger using multiple sources (including interviews and community data) with guidance I can explain how the sources help me build knowledge and I can adjust my plan when my questions change.	I can independently manage my short research project by selecting and organizing sources that best answer my question and by tracking notes and evidence I can use feedback from my teacher and peers to improve my research quality, such as adding missing information or correcting my understanding.	I can take ownership of my research process by setting goals, monitoring my progress, and making thoughtful decisions about which sources and investigation methods to use I can synthesize information across several sources, reflect on what I still need to learn, and revise my work independently to strengthen my final claims.