📚 Unit Plans → 🌍 Community Action Project → 📖 Lesson 1: Choose an Issue
Years 9–10 Social Studies

Choose an Issue — What Matters in Our Community?

Lesson 1 of the Community Action Project — ākonga move from personal gripes to a real local issue worth acting on.

🕘 Lesson at a Glance | Te Hōtaka

Do NowHook — parks, libraries, water, transport⏱ 5 min1 · What countsGripe or community issue?⏱ 15 min2 · Map our haporiFind real local issues⏱ 20 min3 · Weigh it upSignificance and perspective⏱ 25 min4 · CommitChoose our kaupapa⏱ 20 minExitName the issue⏱ 5 min

Lesson Overview | Tirohanga Whānui

This is where the Community Action Project starts: not with an answer, but with a real issue worth the mahi. In this lesson ākonga move from "things that annoy me" to a genuine community issue — one that affects a group of people and turns on a decision someone made, or could make. They test what actually counts as a community issue, map the issues alive in their own hapori, weigh them by who is affected and who decides, and each rōpū commits to one kaupapa to carry through the next five lessons. Everything they choose here is grounded in evidence they can point to, not just opinion.

Learning Intentions | Ngā Whāinga Ako

  • Explain what makes something a community issue — that it affects a group and turns on a decision someone made or could make.
  • Identify and map real issues in our own hapori, using evidence we can point to rather than opinion alone.
  • Weigh issues by significance and whose perspective they touch, and choose one kaupapa that matters and that we can realistically act on.

⚡ Do Now

⏱ 5 min

On the board, four words: parks · libraries · water · transport.

  1. Spot the change (2 min): In your book, list any of these that have changed near you in the last year — a bus route moved, a pool or library cut its hours, a new pump track went in, a boil-water notice went out.
  2. Star and name (3 min): Star the one you'd change if you could. Next to it, write who you think actually decides it.

Teacher: don't resolve who decides yet — that's the thread you pull all lesson. Collect 3–4 starred changes on the board to return to in Activity 2. The point of the four words is that each one is a local government decision that affects daily life — the curriculum idea this whole lesson sits on.

Activity 1 · Gripe or Community Issue?

⏱ 15 min

What it is: Before a class can act, it has to agree what a community issue even is. Ākonga build the test themselves, then sort real examples against it.

Run it

  1. Sort (5 min): In pairs, ākonga sort eight cards into personal gripe, community issue, or not sure. (Card examples to write or print: "the wifi at my house is slow"; "our street floods every winter and the drain never gets cleared"; "my bus is always late"; "the town skate park has no lights so it's unusable after 5pm"; "I didn't get the timetable I wanted"; "the awa by the marae isn't safe to swim in anymore"; "the library closed on Saturdays"; "my little cousin's playground has broken equipment.")
  2. Find the test (5 min): Ask each pair: what do the community issue cards have in common? Land the test together — a community issue affects a group of people and turns on a decision someone made or could make.
  3. Re-sort and confirm (5 min): Pairs move any "not sure" cards using the test, then write the test in their own words in their book.

You'll need: one set of eight sort cards per pair (write the examples above onto cards, or list them on a slide and have pairs number them). No printed handout is required.

Activity 2 · Map Our Hapori

⏱ 20 min

What it is: Now the issues get local and real. Ākonga move from the sample cards to their own hapori — school, street, marae, town.

Run it

  1. Brainstorm solo (4 min): Each ākonga lists every community issue they've seen or heard about near them. Quantity first — no filtering yet.
  2. Build the map (10 min): In rōpū, pool the lists into one table with four columns — Issue · Who's affected · Who decides (council, school, government, a business, no-one yet) · Evidence I've actually seen. Push on that last column: a photo, a notice, a closed door, something a whānau member said.
  3. Gallery walk (6 min): Rōpū post their maps. Everyone walks and puts a tick next to any issue on another group's map that also affects them. Notice how many trace back to a local decision about parks, libraries, water, or transport.

You'll need: A3 paper or a shared class doc, one per rōpū. Teacher: the ticks matter — an issue several groups tick is a strong candidate because it already has a coalition.

Activity 3 · Weigh It Up — Significance and Perspective

⏱ 25 min

What it is: A long list isn't a decision. Ākonga now weigh a shortlist so the issue they choose is significant and workable.

Run it

  1. Shortlist (5 min): Each rōpū picks the three strongest issues from their map.
  2. Significance scan (10 min): Score each issue 1–3 on four questions — How many people are affected? How much does it affect them? How long has it gone unfixed? Can we realistically do something about it? Total the scores and rank the three.
  3. Perspective map (10 min): For their top issue, ākonga list everyone who sees it differently — residents, the council, a local business, rangatahi, kaumātua, mana whenua — and what each group might actually want. The goal is to understand the issue in the round before choosing to act.

🪶 Mātauranga Māori and tikanga boundary (local handoff required): if an issue touches whenua, wai, or a wāhi tapu, the mana whenua perspective is not something ākonga or the resource should guess at. Reserve that voice — invite a kaiako Māori, a local hapū representative, or a mana whenua guest to speak to it, or park that issue until you can. Naming this gap honestly is part of the mahi, not a detour from it.

You'll need: the significance grid drawn on the board or a slide (four questions, 1–3 each). Teacher: the "can we realistically do something" score is what keeps the project from stalling on an issue that's too big to move in a term.

Activity 4 · Commit — This Is Our Kaupapa

⏱ 20 min

What it is: The lesson lands on a decision. Each rōpū chooses one issue and writes the case for it — the artefact Lesson 2 (Research) builds straight on.

Run it

  1. Decide (5 min): Using their ranking and perspective map, each rōpū chooses the one issue to carry through the project.
  2. Write the case (12 min): On a case card, the rōpū writes: the issue in one clear sentence; the group most affected; who holds the decision; the evidence they already have; and one line on why it can't wait.
  3. Say it out loud (3 min): Each rōpū reads only their one-sentence issue to the class. Hearing them said aloud tests whether they're sharp enough to act on.

Teacher: keep every case card — they're the starting point for Lesson 2, and comparing them now surfaces any two rōpū who could join forces on a shared kaupapa.

Exit · Name the Issue

⏱ 5 min

Before they leave, each ākonga finishes these three sentences in their book:

  1. Our issue is… and the group most affected is…
  2. The person or body who makes decisions about it is…
  3. One thing we still need to find out before we can act is…

Teacher: a quick read tells you which rōpū have a workable issue (a real group affected, a nameable decision-maker) and which need a nudge in Lesson 2. Sentence 3 is the bridge into the research lesson.

🎯 Curriculum Links | Te Hononga ki te Marautanga

This lesson's focus: Ākonga learn to recognise a community issue as something that affects a group and turns on a decision — grounding the project in the idea that the decisions closest to us (parks, libraries, water, transport) are local and reachable.

Civics and Society — Core Connection (Phase 4 | Years 9–10)

"Local government decisions affect daily life (e.g. parks, libraries, water, transport)."

📑 See the Community Action Project unit overview for the full curriculum alignment → — Social Sciences · Civics and Society · Phase 4 · Years 9–10 (statement pulled verbatim from the live Te Mātaiaho curriculum).

📦 Materials & Resources

Everything in this lesson is teacher-prepared or student-generated — nothing needs to be bought or printed from a handout.

  • Issue sort cards (Activity 1): one set of eight per pair — write the examples in the activity onto cards, or list them on a slide and have pairs number them.
  • Hapori map (Activity 2): A3 paper or a shared class doc, one per rōpū, with four columns (Issue · Who's affected · Who decides · Evidence).
  • Significance grid (Activity 3): the four scoring questions on the board or a slide.
  • Case cards (Activity 4): index cards or half-sheets, one per rōpū.
  • Student books for the Do Now and exit ticket.

There is deliberately no video in this lesson — the material ākonga work with is their own community. If you want a stimulus, a short clip of a recent local council decision from a regional news site can work, but source and check it yourself before showing it.

📊 Assessment Framework

This is the opening lesson, so assessment here is formative — reading whether each rōpū leaves with a workable issue. The project's summative assessment sits across the whole six-lesson arc, not in this lesson.

What to look for, mapped to the learning intentions

  • What counts as an issue (LI 1): in Activity 1, can ākonga state the test in their own words and use it to move a "not sure" card? A personal gripe still on the community pile is the tell.
  • Evidence, not opinion (LI 2): on the hapori map, is the "Evidence I've actually seen" column filled with something concrete — a photo, a notice, a closure — rather than "everyone knows"?
  • Significance and perspective (LI 3): in the Activity 4 case card, does the chosen issue name a real affected group, a nameable decision-maker, and survive the "can we realistically act" score?
Quick exit read: the three exit sentences tell you at a glance which rōpū have an issue with a decision-maker attached and which need steering before the research lesson.
🚀 Extension Activities
  • Follow the decision: for their chosen issue, ākonga trace exactly which body decides it — a specific council committee, a school board, a government agency — and find one real name or role attached to it. This is a running start on Lesson 2.
  • The counter-case: ask a rōpū to argue honestly for why the decision-maker made the call they did. Understanding the other side's reasoning makes their later action sharper, not weaker.
  • Widen the map: compare a local issue with the same issue in another town or country — is it a local problem or a pattern? A quick search for how another community handled it can seed ideas for the action lesson.
🔗 Unit Progression & Next Steps

This lesson produces the one thing the rest of the project needs: a chosen issue with a case behind it. The six-lesson arc builds straight from here.

  1. Lesson 1 — Choose an Issue (this lesson): find a real community issue worth acting on.
  2. Lesson 2 — Research and Understand: get the full picture — evidence, sources, and the perspectives mapped today.
  3. Lesson 3 — Design a Response: turn understanding into a realistic plan.
  4. Lesson 4 — Take Action: do the mahi.
  5. Lesson 5 — Reflect and Evaluate: did it work, and how do we know?
  6. Lesson 6 — Share and Advocate: tell the story and push for the change to stick.

Carry the case cards straight into Lesson 2 — the "one thing we still need to find out" from today's exit ticket is where the research begins.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

  • ✅ I can explain what makes something a community issue, not just a personal gripe. (LI 1)
  • ✅ I can name a real issue in our hapori and point to evidence I've actually seen. (LI 2)
  • ✅ I can help my rōpū choose one issue that matters and that we can realistically act on. (LI 3)

Differentiation for this lesson

  • Sorting and mapping: pair confident and developing students in the rōpū; offer a sentence frame for the case card ("Our issue is ___. It affects ___. The people who decide are ___.").
  • Language / ELL: allow the brainstorm and kōrero in a first language before writing; the everyday kupu (hapori, rōpū, kaupapa) are introduced in use, not pre-taught as a list.
  • Care with heavy issues: real community issues can be personal — housing, safety, a sick awa near home. Keep the framing on agency (what could change and who decides) rather than blame, and let any student sit out an issue that's too close.

Broader differentiation and the unit-wide framing live on the unit overview.