Aviva Dalin

Discovery High School

9^th Grade Language Arts

asd232@nyu.edu

Introduction:

As a high school teenager in the Bronx you may know someone who has used or will become addicted to illegal drugs. You might know someone personally who has died of a drug overdose or may be familiar with a musician or athlete who has become addicted to an illegal drug. Perhaps you know someone who is serving time in jail for selling drugs.

In Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas, you read about one individual’s experience growing up in New York City. Piri describes what it is like to be a Puerto Rican youth living in Spanish Harlem during the 1940’s and 50’s. His struggles include addiction to heroine and the influence that drugs use and sales have on his life. More than fifty years later, drug abuse continues to plague New York City youth.

You have been asked by the Bronx superintendent to create a proposal and to make a presentation with suggestions for preventing drug abuse among Bronx youth.

Task:

1. You will be working in groups of 3 or 4 to come up with suggestions for preventing drug abuse and sales in the Bronx.

2. You will create a PowerPoint presentation composed of slides to present your proposal.

3. You will be using a tool called the Public Policy Analysis (PPA) that I will help guide you through.

4. The Power Point presentation should include:

· At least 10 slides

· Some graphics

· Some background information on drug abuse in NYC

· Follow the steps of PPA

Like any professional presentation, your visuals should be clear and easy to read. The oral part of your presentation should be more than reading off your slides. The slides are just a visual aid for your audience while they are listening to your speak.

Process:

1. You must follow the PPA Process. For an overview of this process, click on the following link:

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/ppae/ppae1

Follow the links from #1 to answer the questions provided including:

· What is the problem?

· Where is the evidence?

· What are the causes?

· What is the existing policy?

· What policies can you create to correct the problem?

· What is the best policy to correct the problem?

2. Complete worksheets 1-6 on the TIPS PPA website.

a. Define the Problem Worksheet 1

b. Gather Evidence Worksheet 2

c. Identify Causes Worksheet 3

d. Evaluate Policy Worksheet 4

e. Develop Solutions Worksheet 5

f. Select best Solution Worksheet 6

3. After completing the worksheets, use the info you have gathered to create a power point presentation.

Resources- Links that will help with your research:

National Institute on Drug Abuse

US Drug Enforcement Administration

Information on Drug Use in New York

Online Magazine for Teenagers about Drugs

United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime

Parent Brochure for Preventing Their Children’s Drug Use

National PTA Website

Drug Policy Alliance

New York Drug Policy

Or find another website by using search engines like www.yahoo.com

Evaluation

· Title page with a clear title and name of presenters- 5 pts.

· The background color, text, and font are easy to read (not too wordy)- 10pts.

· Pictures/ graphics/ animation/ sound are appropriate- 5 pts.

· Group has come up with clear, specific ideas for the superintendent- 20 pts.

· Slides presented in a logical order- 10 pts.

· Clear Oral Presentation- 15 pts.

o Not reading directly off the slides/ shared speaking time/ eye contact

· Completed print-outs of PPA worksheets- 15 pts.

· Works Cited using MLA guidelines– 10 pts.

o (click here for guidelines: How to site sources from the internet)

· Group work & preparation- 10 pts.

Conclusion:

Upon completing your group work and presentation, you will have gained a greater understanding of the prevalence of drug abuse in urban environments, such as the Bronx. More than just awareness, you will have experienced the challenge of trying to create practical policy solutions to combat drug use.

New York State Educational Standards:

Social Studies

Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government - Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and

responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation

Health, Physical Education, and Family and Consumer Sciences

Standard 2: A Safe and Healthy Environment - Students will acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment.

English

Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas, discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Technology

Standard 5: Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design construct, use and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.

New York City English Language Arts Standards

E1c Reads and comprehends information materials.

E2a Produce a report of information.

E3b Participate in group meetings.

E4b Analyze and subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and effectiveness.

E6a Critique public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse.

E6b Produce public documents.

E7a Critique functional documents with an eye to strategies common to effective functional documents.

E7b Produce functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose.