The students will write an effective paragraph using the CREW method. They should rely on the “best practice” guides they have created throughout the lesson. 

You may want to give your students a chance to collect peer and/or teacher feedback before turning in their final paragraphs. 

The students’ paragraphs should include all of the following elements: 

• A claim
• A reason
• At least 3 pieces of evidence
• A warrant

If your students are completing the Solution Plan Project in their science and/or civics class, they should use what they have already learned about water quality to write their paragraph. If your students are completing some other project, either in this class or another class, they could also write about that project. Otherwise, you may allow your students to choose what they want to write about. 

The students will work together to write a “classroom constitution.”

First, they will discuss and debate each of the democratic solutions they previously came up with. Then, they will vote on which ideas to include in the classroom constitution. 

During future lessons, the students should continually reference their classroom constitution; as they complete activities, they should be striving to uphold democratic principles.