In this unit, students will be introduced to their performance task for this module, a Public Service Announcement (PSA) about the importance of voting. This unit connects students’ study of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Units 1 and 2 to voting in the present day, specifically the issue of low voter turnout among young adults. Students will take their own steps towards being a “leader of change” and “making a difference” by creating a PSA with the purpose of educating young people about the importance of voting.
To prepare for this task, students listen to and read the transcript of a model PSA, in order to identify the purpose and criteria of their task. They also read two articles about youth voting and identify a variety of reasons why voting is important and use these texts to gather evidence to support these identified reasons. Then, students select two reasons to feature in the PSAs and begin to craft their scripts. After practicing the presentation of their PSAs and receiving feedback from their peers, they present their finalized PSAs to an audience.
