Learning Goals
Students will be able to explain how ancient Athenian democracy influenced modern democratic participation, voting, and rule of law.
Students will be able to compare the Roman Republic with modern democratic government to identify separation of powers, representative government, and civic duty/common good.
Students will be able to analyze Enlightenment ideas from John Locke and Charles de Montesquieu to explain their influence on American government.
Students will be able to frame a historical inquiry question and gather evidence from primary sources, class materials, and local historical sources about democracy and government traditions.
Students will be able to synthesize evidence into a How Might We problem statement that distinguishes civic problems from possible solutions and connects historical ideas to modern democratic choices.
Products
Annotated Civic History Research Brief with How Might We Statement and Prototype Sketch
Each student produces a short research brief using evidence from Athens, Rome, British traditions, Enlightenment thinkers, and the Sheffield Resolves. The brief ends with a clear How Might We statement and a simple sketch or storyboard for a podcast/tool idea that responds to a real civic understanding need.
Student-Friendly Civic Ideas Podcast and Decision-Making Tool for Sheffield Middle Schoolers
Teams combine individual research to create a two-minute explanatory podcast or audio guide plus a shared decision-making tool for peers. The final product must show how historical ideas inform modern debates about voting, rights, representation, and limits on power, and it must be ready for testing with authentic listeners.
No rubric has been generated yet.