Part 1 

Lesson Objective: I will be able to define civic engagement and discuss the reasons why members of the Hmong community have engaged in political activism.

1. Welcoming Ritual and Cultural Energizer (Hook) 
   • Prompt: Who is a transformative figure you admire or look up to and why? How have you been inspired or influenced by this person or these individuals? 
   • Have students share in writing or orally with a partner and then have a whole class share-out.

2. Interaction with the first source 
   • Project the image from Txhawb magazine (42) and discuss the following: 
     • What do you notice or wonder about these images? 
     • What do you know about them?
     • What do these images tell you about? (have students take a guess if they are unsure) 

3. Shared Learning - Interaction with the second source

   • “A New Chapter: Hmong in Politics 2017” from Txhawb magazine written by Chelsey Xiong (43 & 46) https://ucdavis.box.com/s/qqfyiqj59ktxaw554gq57guzqbahbtto. 

     • Have students look at the cover title and ask: What might the title “A New Chapter: Hmong in Politics 2017” suggest? Does anyone recognize these people? What do you know about them?
     • Have students read independently or with a partner; annotate the text by circling unknown words, boxing names of Hmong candidates (Charles Vang, Blong Xiong, Pao Yang, and Brandon Vang), and underlining the reasons why they ran for office. 
     • Students can take that information to complete a three-column table with the three labels at the top: Candidate Name, Office Running For, and Reason(s) for Seeking Office.
   • Checking for Understanding/Comprehension Questions:
     • Have students share their table responses with another pair of students.
     • Define the unknown words students circled and review their table responses together as a class.
     • Comprehension Questions:
       • Why was asking for support from people an uncomfortable experience for Charles Vang? (Answer Key: Asking for money outside of one’s family to run for public office was not common in the Hmong community and he had never asked before; it was a new experience.)
       • Who was the first mayor of any city in the United States? (Answer Key: Steve Ly)
       • What offices did Noah Lor and Dr. Tony Vang sought and won?
       • Which office was Blong Xiong successful in seeking and which ones was he not? How did he use his political experience to give back to the community?

4. Community Collaboration - Interaction with the third source with multiple reads
   1. First read: Watch video: What is Civic Engagement? (1:50 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6bNwmrBPXI&t=28s by Presidential Precinct. 
      • Ask students to think about the main ideas of the video as they watch.
   2. Second read: Watch the video again. Have students capture notes that would answer the questions below. Record class responses on a chart paper (titled: Examples of Civic Engagement) and continue to add to it with succeeding lessons and class discussions to generate ideas for possible student projects later on (end of lesson). Have students also record the responses to continually add more ideas throughout the lesson. 
      • What is civic engagement? (Answer Key: actions of local leaders and resident to improve their community and the lives of community members)
      • What are some examples of civic engagement? (Answer Key: volunteering, joining local organization, raising $ for causes you care about, using your voice to advocate)
      • What are the two big ideas in the video?
      • Once completed, discuss the questions together as a class.
   3. Third read:
      • Discuss and answer the questions posed at the end of the video - Who can be a civic leader? What does this source tell us about civic engagement?
      • Connect the video discussion to the text previously read. Pose the following question: Is running for office another form of civic engagement and why? (Teachers should lead students to make the connections that it is a decision to improve the community or lives of community members).

5. Assessment for Part 1
   • Answer the lesson question in your journal and share out: Based on the reading, video, and class discussions, define civic engagement and list reasons why members of the Hmong community have engaged in political activism.

Part  2 

Lesson Objective: I will be able to define social action and describe how members of the Hmong community have engaged in political activism.

1. Welcoming Ritual / Cultural Energizer (Hook) 
   • Pose the following question: How do you feel when you see injustice (or people being treated unfairly) in class, on campus, or in the community?
   • Have students share with a partner and then have a whole class share-out.

2. Interaction with the first source 
   • Project this image and discuss the following: “General Vang Pao Trial: California Hmong Community Rally Together” from California Phase https://ucdavis.box.com/s/t2v5b502do1n5ozqg8c9hj5fpp9a479h. 
     • What do you notice or wonder about these images? 
     • What do these images tell you about? Why do you say that?

3. Interaction with the second source with multiple reads
   • First Read: Read “A New Chapter: Hmong in Politics 2017” (48) written by Chelsey Xiong from Txhawb Magazine  https://ucdavis.box.com/s/qqfyiqj59ktxaw554gq57guzqbahbtto. 
     • Have students read independently or with a partner, using the same text annotation marks: circle unknown words, box names of Hmong candidates, and underline the reasons why they run for office. 
     • Ask students to continue to complete the table from Day 1 Step 3 using the present day’s information for the following individuals: Mai Yang Vang and Lee Lor.
       • Students can take that information to complete a three-column table with the three labels at the top: Candidate Name, Office Running For, and Reason(s) for Seeking Office.
   • Second Read
     • Define the unknown words students circled and review their table responses together as a class.
     • Checking for Understanding/Comprehension Questions:
       • What does the author mean when she said that Mai and Lee “represent a new direction that we can see more of”?
       • How did Mai Yang Vang develop her political consciousness?
       • What factors contributed to the political participation of Hmong Americans?

4.  Interaction with the third source with multiple reads
   • First read: View video: “Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s Unlikely Journey - CBS” (1:39 minutes)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C15_frH3K1U.
     • Ask - What is the main idea of this video?
   • Second read: View video again, pausing at certain points to address the suggested questions below (and where the teacher sees fit). Teacher may want to give students the questions in advance via a digital or physical document so that they can take notes during the video: 
     • Why do you think Hmong people flew from all over America to share in Mayor Sheng’s inauguration?
     • What did Mayor Sheng do about starving students? What does she mean by “You can’t do this work without feeling empathy and you shouldn’t do this work if you don’t have empathy?”
     • What does she mean by “hope is everything”? What is the message Mayor Sheng would like to get across and why would this be important to people?
     • What does this source on Mayor Sheng tell us about civic engagement?
     • What are the two big ideas in the video?
     • Have students add Sheng Thao to the table above completed on Day 1, Step 3 and complete the information for Sheng as well.
       • Students can take that information to complete a three-column table with the three labels at the top: Candidate Name, Office Running For, and Reason(s) for Seeking Office.

5. Interaction with the fourth source with multiple reads
   • First read: Watch video: What is Social Action? (3:30 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg8Apmu-r0s. 
     1. Ask students: What is the main idea of the video?
   • Second read: Watch the video again and have students take notes to answer the following three questions. (Teacher adds responses to “Examples of Civic Engagement/Social Action” chart from previous day).
     • What is social action?
       • What are some examples of social action from the video? (Name at least two and discuss the solution they took to solve it.)
         • Example 1 - Ash’s class wants to reduce food poverty (organize food drive)
         • Example 2 - Sae’s class wants tackle racism (sign petition to buy books for the library)
         • Example 3 - Help people who are impaired or blind (did a performance piece)
         • Example 4 - Address LGBT bully (raise awareness)
         • Example 5 - Human trafficking (crossbar challenge)
     • What are ways to help?
       • Raise awareness
       • Fundraising
       • Volunteering
       • Campaigning

6. Assessment for Part 2
   • Add to your journal response from the previous day and share out: Based on the reading, video, and class discussions, define social action and describe ways members of the Hmong community have engaged in civic engagement or political activism.

Part 3 

Lesson Objective: I will be able to discuss how Hmong civic engagement has changed in the last 40 years and why the Hmong community is ready to shape the government.

1. Welcoming Ritual and /Cultural Energizer (Hook) 
   • Pose the following question: Have you ever been appointed to do something? What does appointed mean?
   • Have students share with a partner and then have a whole class share-out.

2. Interaction with the first source 
   • Project the following images: 
     • The Six Hmong American judges in the United States  https://ucdavis.box.com/s/owx6ylenr4t72zhucsz2g8xd30fv1504
     • Judge Paul Lo (31) https://ucdavis.box.com/s/g96lh5bmzr7yvkyesurbi4yv871y5e4l 
   • Discuss the following questions:
     1. What do you notice or wonder about these images? 
     2. What do you notice about the word next to the year in their pictures? (appointed versus elected). Is an appointment the same as being elected? Why or why not?
     3. What do these images tell you about? Why do you say that?

3. Interaction with the second source with multiple reads
   • “A New Chapter: Hmong in Politics 2017” (50–51) written by Chelsey Xiong from Txhawb Magazine https://ucdavis.box.com/s/qqfyiqj59ktxaw554gq57guzqbahbtto. 
   • Checking for Understanding/Comprehension Questions:
     • Who are the ‘zero generation'?
     • Why does Blong say we need to understand and engage in the political decisions being made?
     • What is the backbone of Hmong campaigns?
     • What common theme is Mai and Brandon communicating?
     • What is the most elementary level of a person’s civic responsibilities?
     • How has the Hmong community come a long way?

4. Interaction with the third source with multiple reads
   • First Read - Watch video Fresno County attorney becomes California's 1st Hmong American female judge (2:10 minutes by Channel 30 Action News) https://abc30.com/pahoua-lor-california-first-hmong-american-judge-fresno-county-superior-court/12121174/.
     • What is the main idea of the video?
   • Second Read - Have students read the video script and answer the following questions:
     • How did Pahoua become a judge? (Answer Key: appointed by Governor Newsom)
     • What year was she appointed?
     • What does it mean to be appointed? 
     • What did Pahoua say could be part of why she was appointed and why might this be important? (Answer Key: "I think that I've been doing a lot of community service work through the years. That's part of who I am and my passion is giving back to others so I think that was part of the consideration.”) 

5. Assessment for Part 3
   • Add to your journal response from the previous day and share out: Based on the reading, video, and class discussion, discuss how Hmong civic engagement has changed in the last 40 years and why the Hmong community is ready to shape the government.

Part 4 

Lesson Objective: I will be able to identify an issue affecting the Hmong community that my class and/or I care about, and create an action plan to address the issue. 

1. Welcoming Ritual / Cultural Energizer (Hook) 
   • Pose the following question(s): If you can do something to make changes to an issue you care about, what would you do? What is tugging at your heart or what are you passionate about making a difference in?
   • Have students share with a partner and then have a whole class share-out.

2. Interaction with the first source with multiple reads
   • First read: To my People - you are the ripple in the pond article by Yia Vue (https://yiavue.medium.com/to-my-people-you-are-the-ripple-in-the-pond-6cf5e55ec147). Teacher should print out copies of the article for students to annotate (https://ucdavis.box.com/s/qrgiim25epsr98c7wus31pdl4j06732j). 
     • Show an image of a ripple and ask - What do you notice or wonder about this image? What does this image tell you about? Or what do you know about ripples and what they do? How are they created and what effect(s) do they have? 
     • Have students read and circle unknown words and underline all phrases and sentences with the word ripple in it.
     • Explain the unknown words with students using context clues. 
     • Have students refer to all the phrases and sentences on ripples they underlined and discuss with a partner what they think the text is mostly about and share out with the class.
   • Second read: Have students read the source again with the following questions in mind:
     • What does Yia, the author, mean by “Each of us is a ripple in a pond and the things we say and do reverberates onto others, rippling across society until it dissipates against the shore. Some of us make bigger splashes than others, that’s for sure.” (paragraph 1)
     • What does the author say is her purpose? (paragraph 6)
     • Why did Yia turn away from the Hmong society and what did she find when she came back? What might “flower in the bloom” be referring to? (paragraph 7)
     • According to the author, what is “food for future generations to spring from” and why might this be important? (paragraph 11)
     • What do you think Yia means when she said, “You’ll still leave a ripple, but the distinction is whether or not your ripple will have meaning and how it affected others.” (last paragraph)
   • Third read: What is the author’s message and purpose for writing this text? 

3. Interaction with second source with multiple reads
   • First Read: Watch video Hmong Innovative Politics (3:48 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_4cITkAmdE.
     • Write down vocabulary words you may not understand (e.g. sustainability).
     • What is the main idea of the video?
   • Second Read: Rewatch the video and consider/answer the following questions:
     • What community issue inspired HIP to organize and take their position and why? (Answer Key: Summer 2012 - 12 schools to close down, HIP felt that teachers and students’ perspectives were not being heard)
     • What were some efforts they organized? (Answer Key: Going to school sites, flyering, getting parent to attend meeting)
     • How did HIP pivot and why was it important to do so? (Answer Key: Pivot to “Saving our schools” (needed to outreach to a much broader base, given the diverse communities in that school area - Connect our shared struggles together) 
     • What impact did this have on the school closure? (Answer Key: Delayed school closure to after summer school instead of before that because saw faces of students, parents, teachers turned out stand against it)
     • What big lesson did HIP learn from these organizing efforts? (Answer Key: Needed an organizing infrastructure to build relationship with elected official and build our base and sustain HIP’s work)
     • What drew HIP to connecting with ACCRE - Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality - and what did that result in? (Answer Key: The transformative piece - shared same dreams, find seed funding to hired staff and have grown)
     • What makes HIP unique? (Answer Key: Creating space not seen in the current landscape of leadership development, Hmong women majority-led org/who get to be at the table, having staff buy-in & making decisions collectively, empower folks to speak up when they feel something that is not right.)
     • What does the speaker mean by “Our progress can’t be at the expense of other communities of color”? (Answer Key: e.g. networking, collaborating to advocate on shared struggles)

4. Interaction with the third source with multiple reads
   • First watch - Video - Stages of Service Learning (3:30 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFd-yiAfrmE. 
     • What is the main idea of the video? 
   • Second watch: Watch video again, pausing at appropriate points for students to take notes in their journal or on a note-taking tool. Teacher captures student responses on chart paper for ongoing class reference.
     • What is service-learning? (Answer Key: Process of connecting your learning to needs to the community)
     • How does service learning work? (Answer Key: Create a plan, follow a process, and make a positive impact for others and for you)
     • Involves five steps:
       • Start with investigation: Think like a detective. What are the issues I care about? What are some community needs - what can be improved?
       • Preparation: Have a plan to address the needs. What do we need to achieve our goals? Who can help us and how?
       • Take action: Direct services, indirect services, advocate, or research (research first)
       • Reflect: Before, during, and after; What went well? What could be done differently? What would happen if..
       • Demonstrate what you learn & share findings

5. Cultural Production (Final Assessment)
   • Have students consider all of the learnings from the resources and class discussions. Ask them to review the list of concerns/issues that the Hmong community faces.
   • Introduce the final assessment to the class, and give them time to create their Social Action Project answering one of these two questions: 
     • What issues are the Hmong community facing?
     • How can I engage in making change in my community? 
   • All students’ projects must do the following:
     • Identify an issue that you care about or an issue the Hmong community is facing.
   • Students will create an action plan outline to address the issue.
     • Teachers can frame this assessment as an outline of ideas. It is up to the teacher if they want students to create a detailed outline only, or create an outline of the action plan and execute the project as well.
     • The teacher can decide whether this is an independent/partner/group project.
     • It is ideal to have action plan outlines typed up. Students can also use organizational templates found on online platforms, such as Canva. 
     • Suggested items to include in the outline of the action plan: project overview, timeline, budget, roles and responsibilities, partnerships, resource allocation, communication plan, evaluation plan, why this action plan is suitable to address the issue.
     • Examples of action plans/projects: e.g.: health education campaigns, language access initiatives, community history preservation projects, youth empowerment programs, political advocacy and representation.

6. Circular Exchange and Reflection
   • Students will share their action plan outlines to their peers. 
   • Sharing can look like the following:
     • Small group share to students with similar community issues or sharing to students with different community issues
     • Give One/Get One - Students will find four people with different projects to share their outline 
     • Video Recording - Students will record and screen share their project outline. Then will be tasked with viewing three or four other student projects and engage in discussion through a forum or commenting application (students can use Screencastify, FlipGrid, or other equivalent websites).
   • Optional additional reflection questions: 
     • What personal/cultural/linguistic/socio-political connections did you make or resonated with from today’s reading, discussion, presentations, etc.?
     • What were some of the things you learned or were inspired by from today’s class?
     • What changes, if any, did you experience in your attitudes, beliefs, or values?
     • How might you apply today’s learning in the real world?
     • What action/next steps will you take, moving forward? Or what are you inspired to do?