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    Activities
                
                    Resources
                
                    Standards
                
                    About
                

                Activities
                    
                        Resources
                    
                        Standards
                    
                        About

                  
                
                    Activities Overview
                        
                            Math
                        
                            History/Social Studies
                        
                            Geography
                        
                            Sociology
                        
                            English
                        
                            Home and Distance Learning Activities
                        
                            Grades K - 2
                        
                            Grades 3 - 5
                        
                            Grades 6 - 8
                        
                            Grades 9 - 12
                
                    Apportionment Resources
                        
                            Constitution Day
                        
                            Data Access Tools
                        
                            Fun Facts
                        
                            Games
                        
                            Historical Documents and Images
                        
                            Kahoot! Games
                        
                            Learn About the Decennial Census
                        
                            Maps
                        
                            Monthly Highlights
                        
                            Videos
                        
                            Visualizations
                        
                            Warm-Up Activities
                
                    Overview
                        
                            Math
                        
                            History
                        
                            Geography
                        
                            Sociology
                        
                            English
                
                    About Us
                        
                            Program Benefits
                        
                            Census 101 for Students
                        
                            Teacher's Guide to Tools
                        
                            Newsroom
                        
                            Partner with SIS
                        
                            Contact Us
 
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            Writing for Change
 Writing for Change
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 Writing for Change
 Activity Description
 How the U.S. government classifies race and ethnicity

		Students will learn about how the U.S. government classifies race and ethnicity. The teacher will play a video of students at Park East High School in New York City who contacted the U.S. Census Bureau to start a conversation about the way race and ethnicity are identified in census surveys. Students will also read a blog post explaining how the Census Bureau has changed the way it collects data on race and ethnicity. In the last part of the activity, students will write a letter that could be sent to a leader in their community with the goal of sparking some type of change.
 Suggested Grade Level
 8
 Approximate Time Required
 120 minutes
 Learning Objectives
 Students will cite evidence from a video to explain how students at a high school in New York City got the attention of a government agency.
Students will use persuasive writing skills to write a letter to a leader in their community with the goal of sparking change.
 Materials Required
 The student version of this activity, 25 pages
Teacher computer with Internet access and speakers and a projector to display Web sitesThis activity uses the following online resource:
Stats in Action: Park East High School Videowww.census.gov/library/video/sia_park_east_hs.html
 Activity Items
 The following items are part of this activity. The items and their sources appear at the end of this teacher version.
Item 1: Race and Ethnicity
Item 2: 2010 Census Questionnaire
Item 3: American Community Survey Questionnaire
Item 4: Measuring Race and Ethnicity Across the Decades: 1790-2010
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 Teacher Notes Blooms Taxonomy 
 Students will **understand**the impact of Park East High School students’ letters. Students will **apply**lessons learned from the Park East High School example to their own persuasive letter.
 Subject English
 Topics Persuasive writing techniques
Race and ethnicity
Roles of young adults in society
 Skills Taught Analyzing primary sources
Comparing and contrasting surveys
Writing persuasively
 
 
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