You can also see this video in Spanish.
[Background looks like crinkled paper. At the top text reads ‘Everybody, meet Pa and Jose’. There is an animated yellow sun in the upper right corner.]
Narrator: Hi everybody, meet Pa and Jose!
[Pa and Jose appear in the bottom right corner.]
Narrator: Follow along to see how Pa and Jose made a difference in their school community by solving a public problem using the inquiry process.
[A squeegee slides down the screen making everything soapy white and the soap slides down the screen. The new screen reveals a white background with text reading “inquiry” in the top left corner.]
[Pa and Jose stand at the bottom of the screen.]
[An arrow points to the right from “Inquiry” to new text that reads “made a difference”. A school building appears between Pa and Jose.]
Narrator: How can students use civic inquiry to solve public problems?
[A new green background slides down replacing the white one. “How” appears on the screen in large text with a large exclamation point next to it.]
[Below it pops up text and pictures reading: ‘communities’ with a picture of the Stone Arch Bridge, ‘state’ with a picture of the Minnesota State Capitol building, ‘nation’ with a picture of the American flag, and ‘world’ with an animated picture of the globe.]
Narrator: The inquiry process has four steps to help us take action: ASK, think critically, solve problems, and communicate
[Transition to new screen that looks like a white piece of paper on a wood desk. Blue text reading “Inquiry Process” appears at the top of the screen. An animation of a yellow light bulb appears in the middle. Words circulate the light bulb reading ‘Ask, think critically, solve problems, communicate’ with arrows between them.]
Narrator: Sometimes, students are lonely on the playground during recess.
[A roller paint brush appears and paints over the screen in white.]
[The screen changes to green and text across the top reads “Inquiry Problem”.]
[Below it, more text reads “sometimes students are lonely on the playground during recess”]
Narrator: Before using inquiry to solve this problem, you need to be able to look at things from different viewpoints.
[The texts slide up and out of view. New text appears reading “Look at things from different viewpoints”. Jose appears to the left of the text at the bottom of the screen.]
Narrator: Let’s see how Ms. Adams guided Pa and Jose as they worked together to create a sense of belonging at their school.
[Pa appear above in in the top left corner. To her right, text appears reading “create a sense of belonging at their school”]
Narrator: One of the skills and actions of effective citizenship is respecting diverse viewpoints...
[Pa, Jose, and the text slide out of view to the left.]
[A yellow explosion text bubble appears in the middle of the screen with text that reads “respecting diverse viewpoints”.]
Ms. Adams: We will be listening to one another as we discuss ways that we can work together to solve a problem in our school community.
[In Ms. Adams classroom. Ms. Adams is standing in the right hand corner with her wooden desk to her left. Pa, Jose, and two other classmates stand to the left of the desk.]
Pa: We listened to each other talk about how to help lonely kids on the playground. We talked about WHY this is a problem.
[A yellow explosion text bubble appears above their heads with text reading “listen to each other”]
Jose: We also talked about WHO is responsible for fixing this problem. I learned that my classmates had different ideas.
[Text fades away and new text appears reading “who is responsible?”]
[Two hands appear and pull down the screen revealing the same scene but with different words reading “everyone had different ideas”]
Ms. Adams: Now that you have practiced listening to others, it is important that you know ways people make a difference by working as individuals or groups to address a specific problem or need.
[The text bubble disappears.]
[A figure of a man appears. Then to the right multiple figures of men and women appear forming a group.]
Narrator: This is an exciting journey … our students have learned about some civic skills and now they are ready to solve the problem at their school.
[Classroom scene is gone. Ms. Adams, Pa and Jose stand at the bottom of the screen with text above them that reads “now they are ready!”]
[Two large exclamation points appear on either side of the text.]
Ms. Adams: We are going to create an action plan to solve the problem of lonely students on our playground.
[Back in Ms. Adams classroom, with Ms. Adams and her desk on the left side of the screen and Pa and Jose on the right side of the screen. A white text bubble from Ms. Adams reads “action plan!”]
Pa: We talked about many different ideas, but decided to build a bench for lonely students - we wrote down the steps it would take to get a “friendship” bench on the playground.
[Image of a blue bench appears that reads “buddy bench” on the back.]
Jose:First we talked to our principal
[White paper background on a wooden desk. Jose stands in the right corner and Pa stands in the left corner. A hand appears and writes down Pa and Jose’s narration.]
Pa: Then, we created a poster of our resolution
Jose: Finally, we shared out poster with our school’s parent organization
Narrator: When using inquiry in civics, it is important to communicate what you learned with others. Your community may be affected by something that affects other places. Going beyond your classroom with what you learned using civic inquiry is important!
[Green background appears. An animated megaphone appears on the left hand side of the screen. To the right text appears reading “communicate with others”.]
[Animations of a white envelope, a stack of white paper, a microphone, and a blue film camera appear around the text.]
Ms. Adams: Now that we have worked on a plan, it is important that we share our plan with others. Communicating our work can make a difference in our community and our world.
[Words and animations disappear and Ms. Adams, Pa, Jose, and classmates reappear.]
[The text above their heads reads “share your plan” with an arrow pointing to the right to more text that reads “make a difference”.]
Pa: We shared our action plan at our school board meeting to get support for building a “Friendship Bench”; the school board voted to build a bench.
[Blue background. Text at the top of the screen reads “school board meeting”.]
[Pa and Jose stand on the right side of the screen behind a wooden podium. To the left are three black chairs with figures of men and women sitting in them]
Jose: It was exciting to take action to help all students feel like they belong to our school community.
[Transition to background with the white piece of paper on the desk. Large text across the top reads “help others.” Pa, Jose, and classmates cheer at the bottom of the screen.]
Narrator: Now that you learned about the Civic Inquiry Process, it is your turn to take action in your community.
[Pa, Jose, and classmates disappear.]
[Text reads “your turn! take action!” The same animations from a previous scene appear with the state capitol, the Stone Arch Bridge, the American flag, and the globe.]
[White background with the list of photo citations appear.]
[Screen fades to dark blue with the Minnesota Center for Social Studies Education logo appears in the middle. The lower left corner has the Minnesota Historical Society logo and the lower right corner has the Minnesota Department of Education logo.]