Launch
Students will notice real community needs through a guided walk, discuss helpful actions from a mentor text and parent examples, and make an initial sketch showing one way they could help their family, classroom, school, or neighborhood.
Day 1
👀 Helping Hands Walk
Launch 45m
Research & Empathy
Students will gather evidence from classmates, families, mentor texts, photos, and observations to identify a real community need, check their assumptions, and turn their findings into a simple How Might We design brief grounded in user needs.
Days 2 - 5
📖 Mentor Text Detail Hunt
Knowledge/Skill Building 35m
👂 Family and Classmate Need Interviews
Community Experience 45m
🧩 Empathy Map and Assumption Check
Research 50m
📝 How Might We Design Brief
Assessment 45m
Prototype & Showcase
Students will turn empathy findings into multiple solution ideas, build and test low-fidelity prototypes or story panels, use classmate and parent feedback to revise, and prepare a clear final version that shows how their work helps a real community.
Days 6 - 9
🧠 Three Helping Ideas
Knowledge/Skill Building 35m
✂️ Cardboard Prototype Build
Project Work 45m
👨‍👩‍👧 Parent Feedback Circle
Community Experience 45m
🖼️ Revised Help Display Check
Assessment 45m
Showcase
Students will present their revised community-helping design or story to families and peers, explain how feedback changed their work, and complete a brief process reflection using artifacts, drawings, and photos.
Day 10
🎤 Helping Hands Expo Talks
Assessment 45m