In a previous post, Community Helpers, Leaders, and Primary Sources we highlighted a new primary source set as a resource for teachers and students to explore different aspects of community, with attention to civic concepts such as the roles and responsibilities of community members and identifying helpers and leaders in a community.
Several items in the set show young people working as helpers and leaders.
Children’s school victory gardens on First Avenue between Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Streets, New York, New York
Chicago, Illinois. Ida B. Wells Housing Project. A meeting of the Cub Scouts in the community center
Meeting of the editorial staff of the school paper. Lakeview Project, Arkansas
These three images offer an opportunity for students to consider how young people belong to, participate in, and can act as helpers and leaders within a community.
Before introducing the images to students, allow time to discuss what “community” can mean. Teachers might want to borrow ideas from the set’s background essay or invite students to construct their own definition. As part of defining community, help students think about different types or levels of community, such as family, classroom, school, neighborhood, and so on.
Next, distribute or show the three images: Children’s school victory gardens, Meeting of Cub Scouts, and the Editorial staff of the school paper.
Ask: What types or levels of community do they see? What makes them think that? Encourage students to describe details from the photographs that stand out and look for similarities and differences among the three images.
Students might have noticed that all three images feature young people. Ask: What are the young people doing in each of these photographs?
Students may observe that the young people are:
- helping (in a garden)
- working, talking, or writing together
- maybe trying to solve a problem or plan an activity
- listening
- supporting one another
- creating something
Encourage students to think about leaders and helpers. What behaviors, traits, or qualities come to mind? Students might identify characteristics that go beyond what they observed from the three images, however, it’s likely there will be overlap. Bring students’ attention back to the images and ask: How are these young people being leaders and helpers?
Close by inviting students to think about the different communities to which they belong. Challenge students to brainstorm ways that they can be helpers and leaders in those places and spaces.
If you are interested in more images that show young people active in their communities, take a look at some of these “lots” (groups of pictures), that the photographs used in this activity come from. Each lot shows everyday actions that give definition to the ideas of belonging to, participating in and leading communities.
- Lot 1781 Children’s School Victory Garden
- Lot 151. Ida B Wells Housing Project
- Lot 216 Washington D.C., activities in black elementary, junior high, and technical high schools
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