Ideas for Citizenship and Civic Education Lessons through collaborative projects

Donatella Fitzgerald

Sempre più insegnanti stanno affrontando situazioni in classe che non rendono sempre semplice mantenere forte il senso di comunità di una classe. Vediamo allora con Donatella Fitzgerald alcuni progetti per mantenere vivo il senso di comunità tra gli alunni e avere l'occasione di introdurre tra i ragazzi il concetto di cittadinanza.

“Talent wins games…. But intelligence and team work wins championships” — Michael Jordan

Back at school after the winter holidays and many teachers are looking for ideas for collaborative projects to use in the English lesson for Citizenship which can help students perform research or solve problems as a team, allowing them to learn the skills necessary to work together in an efficient and productive manner. Collaborative projects can be a way of keeping the class community together and maximise out of class time too as an opportunity for learning. Collaborative projects ensure that students are given the opportunity to work together in ‘virtual’ groups outside the classroom presenting their projects in class. Technology can help here and also be a vehicle to improve digital literacy. To help teachers involve all students Pearson has developed special projects which can be a motivating way also to introduce the topic of citizenship.

Celebrate UN International Days

The United Nations designates specific days, weeks, years and decades as occasions to mark particular events or topics in order to promote, through awareness and action, the objectives of the Organization. Usually, it is one or more Member States that propose these observances and the General Assembly establishes them with a resolution.

Giovanni Rovelli has produced Pearson UN International Days and Special Days Calendars. They are a practical way to introduce students to citizenship and civic education themes with practical ideas and ready made worksheets by Sarah Gudgeon on specific United Nations International Days eg International Day of Commemoration of Holocaust Victims, World Water Day, World Day of Social Justice or Special Days e.g. the publication date of Pride and Prejudice 28 January . There is a calendar for each school Sector, Primaria, Secondaria I Grado and Secondaria II Grado. Teachers can use the ready made lessons with a project for the special days of each month

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Agenda 2030

“All the SDGS come down to education…” — Malala Yousafzai

On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force.

Over the next fifteen years, with these new Goals that universally apply to all, countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.

To introduce the UN Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda students can watch the introduction to the (SDGs) by Malala

Teachers can find resources to use in class here

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are:

Collaborative Group Project: Prepare a Factfile about a UN Global Sustainable Development Goal

Students work in groups. Each group chooses one UN Global Sustainable Development Goal. They can do research online to find out about the goal and answer these questions.

Students prepare a poster or a presentation then present it to the class.

  1. What is the Goal?
  2. Find out more about the goal on the internet https://www.globalgoals.org/
  3. What problems does the goal intend to face?
  4. Why is it important?
  5. How can we contribute as a class to achieve this goal?
  6. What can I do to help achieve this goal?

Speakout for sustainability

“The poetry of the earth is never dead.” ― John Keats

With the environment being such a large focus of the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals, the Speakout for Sustainability project offers an engaging learning journey through five environmental themes. It can help your lessons have a greener focus, helping students become more aware of sustainability.

Get involved and have a voice to use in the fight against the climate crisis.

Speak Out for Sustainability, is a ;project run in collaboration with BBC Studios. In 2022 It won a Commendation for Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action by the British Council in the ELTON awards Together, we will help learners and educators around the world speak out for a more sustainable future and inspire action around key environmental issues. The website offers ready made projects with worksheets and videos and a teaching guide on how to teach about the environment in English and use the resources in the project by Harry Waters combining Pearson learning materials with BBC Studios content

The themes are : Deforestation, Digital Footprint, Water waste, reduce, reuse and recycle, Plastic and litter.

To use the resources with your students

Amazing Readers Reading Circles

“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking makes what we read ours.” ― John Locke

Amazing Readers Reading Circles is a collaborative project for students which works perfectly as a way of enhancing digital literacy and can be a way of introducing the themes taught in Citizenship lessons. Through the project you can help your students deepen discussions about books, create lifelong readers and build a respectful classroom community. A reading circle is a strategy where the teacher puts students into groups that will read one or more chapters of a book, or even the whole book. Students in their reading circle group work on an individual task then put their work together to create a presentation to deliver to the class. It is a way of helping students to work collaboratively and think about and discuss what they have read. Students are guided towards deeper comprehension and are encouraged through active learning to take and interest in other students ideas. Reading Circles help students schedule their reading time and are a great tool to engage reluctant readers and are an excellent strategy to help shy or dominating students to have/take turns.

You can create your reading circles by forming groups of 4-7 students and decide which Pearson Graded Reader the students will read. Groups can be formed with students at the same reading level and also with similar interests so they are a very good tool for inclusion. Reading circles can be used to reinforce listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in a supportive and collaborative environment and they encourage students to deepen their understanding of a chosen text, as students are encouraged to talk about the book they are reading with their classmates, discuss plots, specific language used, and personal experiences, think about the characters and make connections to the outside world and citizenship. It may be an idea to get different groups to read a different book so you have variety. Within the group each member has one or more roles. The objective of each ‘circle’ is to read the book and prepare a presentation to share with the whole class. Each student in the book takes a role and prepares that part of the presentation.

How does the group activity work?

  • Students read the book
  • Choose a role
  • They talk about their findings
  • Make a slide for their role
  • Put the slides together
  • Present to the class
  • Make a poster

Some suggested roles for students in a Group Reading Circle Project are:

  • Slides master: Creates the slides for the presentation
  • Presentation master: helps with the presentation to the class
  • Artistic master: looks at the illustrations in the book
  • Film master: finds information about the film version if there is one
  • Word master: finds new or key words
  • Group leader: Organizes the group and keeps time
  • Discussion coordinator: makes sure everyone has the opportunity to speak during the discussion
  • Culture master: finds connections to history or culture
  • Summary master: writes/creates a summary/visual summary of the plot
  • Sentence master: finds important quotations, sentences in the book
  • Character master: list/description of characters
  • Places in the book master: finding out about symbolic locations in the book
  • Global Sustainable Development Goals/ Citizenship master: Find connections between the UN Global Sustainable development Goals and themes in the book.

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Students can present their Reading Circles project in a power point presentation, or making a poster or a video or even a Padlet interactive notice board where they can each post their comments, files pictures and audio and video recordings.

While students are watching the presentations they can complete a ‘Peer Response Feedback form’ so they are participating actively. They are encouraged to praise what works well, think about what isn’t working so well and write down any questions they have. Students can then give feedback to the groups presenting.

Reading circles are a valuable learning experience as they are fully student led and students are empowered and supported by their peers as they all have a specific and important role to play. Through the project and preparing the digital responses students learn digital skills and improve their digital literacy and critical thinking.

@Peer Feedback form the Pearson On the Go Training Module Effective Feedback
For more information about the Pearson Amazing Readers Reading Circles Project

Lessons on Citizenship and Civic Education in courseware

“It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.” ― Aristotele

Using materials and resources from your courseware you can introduce lessons on Citizenship. Some themes can be Health and wellbeing, digital citizenship, the environment, EU institutions, Road Safety and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Thinking Routines by Project Zero can help develop critical thinking and scaffolding of the motions and enable students to engage with the topics and work as a group and develop a project about the topic as an extension activity to the debate. Video lessons on the United Nations Global Sustainable Development Goals introduce each topic. Billy Bot, Rise and Shine, Go Kids, iDiscover, Right On Target, My Voice & Global Voices, On Topic, Speakout 3rd Edition all include activities for Citizenship lessons.

To download instant lessons on citizenship from Pearson courseware go to the UN International Days by Pearson.
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A Citizenship project in Scuola secondaria secondo grado

Students can work in groups to prepare a project on Civil Rights and Civil Duties. Activities and suggestions can be found on the link below. Students are guided through a variety of activities, including Dictogloss, Debate, Listenings, and writing through topics including Ghandi’s speech at Ahmadabad, JF Kenedy’s inaugural address, Martin Luther King’s speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. After doing the activities students can connect the topic with an article from the Italian constitution and also a UN Global Sustainable Development Goal.

Explore resouces for the world's largest lessons

Citizenship and Debate

“Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace...  If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation...” ― Martin Luther King, Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1964

Handy Little Guide to Debate by Letizia Cinganotto @ Pearson

In Her guide to Debate Letizia Cinganotto shows the importance of the ;power of speaking for a better society. Debate can be defined as a technique for peaceful conflict resolution. Debating means fighting orally in favour or against a certain “claim” or “motion” launched by the teacher, supporting one’s position through effective and solid arguments.

The power of debate consists in overcoming anxiety and fear linked to public speaking, controlling one’s own emotions and feelings, developing critical thinking skills, performing persuasive and solid arguments to support one’s own position. Debates can be introduced in class around topics of Citizenship as either formative debates debating ideas as language practice or as competitive debates.

For more information on how to introduce debate into your classroom please ask your Pearson/Sanoma representative for the Handy Little Guide to Debate by Letizia Cinganotto.
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My Voice, Pearson

Edexcel International GCSE Global Citizenship | Pearson qualifications

For further information, visit the website

In Upper Secondary prepare your students for the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Global Citizenship. Students develop knowledge and understanding of the role of citizenship in relation to current issues that impact on modern society, engaging them with what it means to be an active citizen and preparing them for their next steps in today’s global world.

In the curriculum students are reintroduced to core concepts such as sustainability and development, in addition to new theories, ideas and concepts which will stimulate intellectual curiosity developing active citizens. Students will develop:

  • Knowledge of key issues and changes affecting societies across the globe;
  • An understanding of how communities interact locally, nationally, regionally and globally in response to change;
  • Skills of enquiry, analysis and evaluation of different perspectives in relation to global issues and change.

Students and centres have free choice of topic for the Community Action Project, so students can engage with topics close to their hearts while they develop skills in research and investigation, problem solving, advocacy and campaigning.

To prepare your students you can use the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) Global Citizenship Student Book.

To find out more about the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Global Citizenship

“Our biggest challenge in this new century is to take an idea that seems abstract - sustainable development - and turn it into a reality for all the world's people” ― Kofi Annan

Referenze iconografiche: oneinchpunch / Shutterstock

Donatella Fitzgerald

ELL Sales Manager Pearson in Italy. She is a teacher, teacher trainer and trained to teach dots (pre-primary) paws b (young learners) .breathe and .b (secondary) Mindfulness in Schools project and is currently on the Teacher Training Pathway of the Mindfulness Network in collaboration with Bangor University. Her specialist interest areas are CLIL, Young Learners, Mindfulness, Debate, Assessment, SEN, Extensive Reading and Plurilingualism. She helps teachers and learners in Italy each day meet their goals through learning.