Materials newspapers and news magazines writing supplies Procedures 1. In groups of 3 to 5, students brainstorm and generate a list of Alaska issues based on news articles, television news, or other sources. Different students act as facilitator, recorder, etc. Each group posts a list of topics on the wall. The class reassembles to examine and discuss the group lists.
Students note frequency of topics, diversity of topics.
A class topic list is generated which includes all topics, prioritized by frequency. From the list of topics within the domain of state and local governments, and with guidance from the teacher, the students discuss and select the 3 or 4 topics the class will investigate during the semester. All other topics remain available to students for a community project or annotated bibliography. Teacher and students assess group work processes. Teacher assesses prior knowledge of students.