Government · Week 18 · Participation, Media, and Comparative Government
Gratitude for a Shared Republic
Students write thank you notes to a classmate who disagreed with them respectfully and to a person who serves the community.
- Students will
- Students describe the obligations of civic mindedness, including voting, staying informed, volunteering, and public service, and express thanks to people who sustain democracy.
- SEL skill
- Express specific and sincere gratitude in a short written note
- What it looks like
- Students practice communicating gratitude clearly and sincerely.
- Content focus
- Gratitude for a shared republic
- Format
- Partner exchange
Relationship skills
Relationship skills mean building and keeping healthy relationships by communicating clearly, listening, cooperating, and working through conflict. More relationship skills activities
What you get
A teacher guide with what to say, step by step, plus student pages and a supports page for students with diverse learning needs, including those with IEPs. Print or Project it, or assign it in Google Forms and Google Docs for Google Classroom. Your first 10 activities are free.
Standards
- 12.2.4: CA History Social Science Content Standard, Grade 12: Principles of American Democracy (standard 12.2, item 4)
- CA HSS Analysis Skill: CST1 Compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and the activities learned. (Chronological and Spatial Thinking)
- C3 Framework (national): D4.8.9-12 Apply deliberative and democratic strategies to make decisions and take action in classrooms, schools, and civic settings.
- Literacy in history: WHST.11-12.2 Write informative and explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events.
Fits these textbook chapters
- Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You, Chapter 18: Confronting Global Issues
- Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You, Chapter 19: Civic Resources
Textbook names are used only to help you find activities that fit what you teach. RoseThread Connect is not affiliated with these publishers.
More relationship skills activities for Government
- Rights That Belong to Everyone Relationship skillsExamining the freedoms in the Bill of Rights and practicing how to speak up for a right while listening closely to someone who interprets it differently.
- How a Bill Really Becomes Law Relationship skillsFollowing a bill through committee, compromise, and vote, and practicing the give and take that turns a group idea into a shared plan.
- Democracy Compared Relationship skillsComparing how civil society works under constitutional democracies and authoritarian regimes, and practicing the respectful disagreement that free societies depend on.
RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.