Civil (dis)obedience

The objective

To discuss specific problems students have with where they live and decide what should be done about them

The language

Complaining: (refer to any coursebook for details)

Modals: should

Formal letter writing (again, refer to any coursebook for details)

The set-up

Think of something that bothers you about where you live (see my example just below) and how you would improve measures taken. Then, optionally, write a letter to your mayor about this issue which will serve as an example to students (see "now what?" for conditions).

The low-down

Ask students if they ever participate in local government, such as protesting, voting, volunteering for a political candidate, etc. Tell them that today, they are going to write a letter to their mayor about a problem that bothers them. But in order to do so, first ask them to think of the problems that they see with their city/town and what they could do to IMPROVE the measures already (probably) in place. Give and example. (My example would be that where I live--a suburb of a large city--there are small parks with benches and olive trees but they also have a lot of dog dirt, rubbish, broken bottles, etc. It´s already prohibited but NOT enforced well. I would invest more money in clean up crews and in public-service posters to remind people to clean up after themselves). Students should discuss and brainstorm problems/better solutions for things such as traffic, parking, noise, pollution, rubbish, violence, littering, theft, graffiti etc. After a set amount of time, say 15 minutes, ask them to stop and organize their ideas from most important to least important.

Now what?

Tell students they should draft a letter to the mayor of their town/city regarding the most important issue they decided on. Here you can put up an example of the letter if you think students need it. The letter should be formal, and include a greeting, a statement about why they are writing, an explanation of the changes they thought of, a demand that the change be made and a conclusion with an expectation for action to be taken shortly. When they´re finished, ask groups to pair-up and comment on each other´s letters/ideas. Finish by asking if anyone read a particularly interesting, funny or good letter.

Time to teach

Here you´ll want to focus on either formal letter writing (not everything but that which they could improve or should know) or complaining (grammar, tone, language, etc). Both of which are surely in the coursebook you were assigned to teach--so feel free to teach it if they need more practice.

More talk-time

Do you think your city has comprehensive laws to cover all these issues?

Is the government doing well or badly? Why?

What could your city government do better?

Do you think citizens have enough say in what laws are passed?