About This Lesson
Overview of Unit: This unit and lessons are part of the AFT’s Civics Fellows Initiative entitled Educating for Democratic Citizenship. In addition to focusing on the important content knowledge and dispositions that are necessary for active participation in democracy, these lessons also emphasize pedagogical approaches to teaching civics: questioning and discussion, using controversial statements, and engaging in inquiry with student-generated questions.
Students learn about civics and local government against the backdrop of the largest expansion project undertaken by New York City (NYC) in 50 years--constructing four phases of the Second Avenue Subway. The project is ongoing and will take approximately nine years to complete only the second of four phases of the project.
This unit builds upon the local collaboration between their school, a NYC public school, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) Community Outreach office in East Harlem and the students’ class visit two years ago when they were third graders. Engaging with local government officials by asking questions and writing formal letters to them is one way of introducing civics to students. Consequently, this unit and the four lessons make connections with local government officials with an emphasis on the question: How can schools use local government projects to engage students in learning about civics?
Additionally, two social studies themes dominate the learning experiences as they construct a new subway line: 1) Continuity and Change of the NYC Subway Line and 2) Transportation and Urbanization.
