This is Problem-Based Learning. Students don't answer questions about communities — they step inside the problem as stakeholders, and the teacher guides rather than tells. The whole phase runs the problem-solving process named in §113.14(c)(16)(B).
Read the narrative aloud. Read it once for the story, then again for details students will need.
First reaction (not answers yet): what did you notice? What do you wonder? Keep it open — the point is to pull students into the problem.
📚 Sources: Ben's Guide · Why do we have communities? ↗ · Ben's Guide · How local government decides ↗
Assign or let students choose a stakeholder. Each will reason from that person's point of view. Every role wants something real for the lot.
You want a park where children can play safely and neighbors can meet. Why does the town need one?
You want a market stall so more people can sell goods and shoppers can buy. How would it help the town's money?
You want a small fire station so help arrives fast. Safety is a need — how do you show it matters most?
You must weigh the budget for the whole town. What can the town afford, and what serves the most people?
You want a quiet library corner to read and rest. How does a calm space help a busy town?
You speak up for kids. What do young people in town need most from this one lot?
Build three shared columns on chart paper. This defines the problem and plans the inquiry — the first moves of §113.14(c)(16)(B).
| 💭 Hunches | ✅ Know (from the text) | ❓ Need to know |
|---|---|---|
| Our guesses about what the town should build and why. | Facts we can point to in the story (one empty lot; limited money; five different ideas; a town meeting will decide). | Questions we must answer — What does each option cost? How many people would it serve? Which are needs and which are wants? How does the town usually decide? |
Turn "Need to know" into the H of KWHL: How will we find out? (which sources, whom to ask). Record it — this is the class's research plan.
Groups pursue their "Need to know" questions using vetted sources (see the facilitator guide for suggested free sources). Students gather and compare information: What services does a community need? What would each option cost and whom would it serve? Keep filling the Learned column of KWHL as answers come in.
Teacher-as-guide moves: answer a question with a question; point to a source, not the answer; ask "How do you know?" and "Is that a need or a want?"
📚 Investigation sources: Ben's Guide · Local government ↗ · iCivics · Counties Work ↗ · MyMoney.gov · Budgets ↗ · Ready Kids · Safety services ↗. Full list + how-to in the facilitator guide.
From their stakeholder's point of view, each group builds a recommendation for what the community should do with the empty lot — and defends it with evidence. Assessment happens throughout the process, not only here (the reasoning is the point).
Groups present an 8-part problem/solution brief (poster, slides, or spoken):
Hold a class town meeting. Each group makes its case. Then the class votes — just like real citizens do. Voting is a job of good citizens (§113.14(c)(9)(E)), and it shows how a community chooses and implements a solution when it cannot have everything.
Fair-vote moves: everyone hears every side first; one person, one vote; count out loud; accept the result even if it isn't your first choice. Talk about compromise — could the town phase in two ideas over time?
📚 Sources: Ben's Guide · Citizenship ↗ · iCivics · Counties Work ↗
Close the loop — the evaluate step of the problem-solving process. Discuss across roles so students hear how the same lot looked from every side.
Connect to today & to the standards: communities everywhere weigh needs, wants, and scarce resources, then decide together. Name the six steps students just used — that is §113.14(c)(16)(B).
Aligned to (not reproduced from) 19 TAC Ch.113 §113.14; effect sizes from Visible Learning MetaX. This scenario is a teaching fiction.