Dimitri Syros
Social Studies Teacher
PART II: Letter to Congressperson
As an extension to working with our local government to discuss policy issues, students were challenged to think broader and fine-tune their argument to be presented to their districted Congressperson. First, students needed to utilize prior knowledge from our class to figure out who their districted Congressperson was and how to attain their contact information. This skill will help students throughout their lives if they desire to reach out to their elected officials in Congress. Then, students were tasked with tailoring an argument revolving around a social justice issue in Miami Gardens and use textual evidence from accredited sources to back up their points. The issues that students decided to base their writing process on were the same as in during Part I of this exercise with topics including gang violence, drug abuse and standardized testing. Finally, students drafted multiple forms of their letters and engaged in proofreading, peer-review and the drafting process to tighten up their writing. This skill will help students pay attention to detail and continue to seek improvement in their writing. When students received responses from their Representatives, it showed them that their voice actually carries weight and that they can influence policy decisions even though they are only students.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Student Planning and Research
2. Student Letter Drafts
3. Congressperson Responses
1. Student Planning and Research
The very first step in the letter writing process drew upon classroom content in that students needed to do remedial research to determine who the two Senators and lone U.S. Representative were that they would be addressing their letters to. Given that this activity landed at the conclusion of our exploration into the Legislative Branch of government, this task was very straight-forward. In order to organize students ideas and structure organized letters to our Representatives, it was important to outline the format that letters would take and synthesize research methods for students. Letters were written over a two week period with different deadlines assigned along the way to pace students through the writing process. Students were expected to continue their exploration of the community issue that they selected during the brainstorming and town hall meeting during Part I of the advocacy unit. The three primary components of the letters were the student narrative, research findings and their bill proposal. Students were given the first week of the unit to complete a planning sheet for their letter that would outline all major portions of the letter and had to be be approved by the teacher before the first formal draft of the letter could be written. The planning sheet for student letters followed the structure below:
"Step 1: Issue: __________________
Step 2: Significance of Issue to You
(Why did you pick this issue? How does it relate to you life? [Personal Narrative])
Step 3: Evidence
(Statistics/Quotes/Newspaper Articles, etc...)
Evidence #1: _________________________ Evidence #2: _________________________ Evidence #3: _________________________
Step #4: Bill Proposal(Solution to your issue: Be realistic, consider lawmaking process we discussed and potential constraints [financial, personnel, etc])"
Certain portions of the planning sheet were more difficult than others. For the most part, students remained consistent in their topic selection for both parts of this unit. Determining why issues were significant to students lives came fairly easily to most students as they felt passionate about the topics that they selected. Many students expressed touching personal narratives about how some of the selected topics such as drug abuse and gang violence have played an all-too-real role in their lives. The most difficult portion of the letter writing process for many students would be gathering evidence to substantiate their claims and enhance their arguments around their selected topics. Students were required to gather at least three different sources of evidence. The evidence pieces could include quotes, statistics, news stories, scientific studies and much more. In order to carry out this portion of the drafting process, I enlisted the help of our reading coach to work with small groups of students in the computer lab to build upon research skills that were taking place simultaneously in English Language Arts. A few evidence pieces included in student letters included...
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"There are over 80 homicides a year in Miami-Dade." (http://www.miamidade.gov/police/crime-stats.asp)
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"Over 70% of educators say that standardized tests are not good for students" (National Education Assosciation, 2016))
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"The current definition of bullying acknowledges two modes and four types by which youth can be bullied or can bully others. The two modes of bullying include direct (e.g., bullying that occurs in the presence of a targeted youth) and indirect (e.g., bullying not directly communicated to a targeted youth such as spreading rumors). In addition to these two modes, the four types of bullying include broad categories of physical, verbal, relational (e.g., efforts to harm the reputation or relationships of the targeted youth), and damage to property." (Stop Bullying Now).
The final portion of this planning sheet called for students to propose a bill solving their issue. Students were to draw on the previous lesson on "How a Bill becomes a Law" to construct realistic methods to inspire lawmakers. Student suggestions tended to be very creative and thought-provoking. More elaboration on this portion of the letters can be found in the next section.
2. Student Letter Drafts
After submitting planning sheets for approval and individually conferencing with the teacher regarding their letters, students began the drafting process of the letters. In addition to the critical information included in the planning sheet, students were expected to include a brief introduction about themselves and short conclusion thanking the listener for their time and inviting them to take action. Students were required to submit two rough drafts of their letters before finalizing their draft at the completion of the second week. Various letters at different stages of the drafting process can be found below:
All four of the student letters included in this section highlight important community issues affecting the respective students lives such as littering, gun violence, immigration and police brutality. Students were challenged to create tangible bill solutions that could solve their designated issues. In these letters particularly, students did a strong job of creating targeted goals. One letter highlights the banning of certain types of firearms and imposes specific fines on infractions. Another letter's proposal calls for financially incentivizing people to recycle to decrease the amount of loose plastics in out environment. It is the bill proposal section of the letter that demands action from our representatives and shows students that their voice can actually be translated into meaningful law that can make the difference they wish to see in the world. By structuring a strong argument backed by firm evidence, students practiced their persuasive writing abilities in a real-world context.
After finalizing student letters through the drafting process, student letters were organized by recipient and mailed out collectively as a class with a teacher cover letter explaining our goal as a class. From that point our class awaited anxiously for our representatives to respond to our needs.
3. Congressperson Responses
While students were enthusiastic about the letter writing process and optimistic about their capacity to make a difference, some students expressed doubts as to whether or not they would receive a response to their letter. I informed students that representatives receive thousands of letters per week from constituents and not to be disappointed if they did not receive a timely response that met their liking. At the same time, while completing a similar activity in previous years, I built a relationship with the Congressperson in my former district that I planned on leveraging for this assignment.
Using the relationship that I had built in years prior, I reached out to Representative Ros-Lehtinen to see if she could expedite responses and feedback from our newly districted Congressperon Fredericka Wilson. Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen responded to my concerns via email and informed me that she would pass the word along to neighboring Congresswoman Wilson. Ultimately Ms. Wilson did not respond to our letters directly but reached out to our school's principal with the hopes of organizing a town-hall style meeting (similar to the one that I organized during Part I) in the coming months. While some students were disappointed that each representative did not respond to their letters individually I informed them of the role that they played in the lawmaking process and to be persistent in advocating for themselves and their communities.
Advocacy Part I