Assuming a role, each student either presented a clean up plan to the town meeting, or represented a constituent in the audience who had a particular and strong opinion about what should be done to protect the town wells from the pesticide contamination.  The discussion was heated– and mostly very serious.

Writing a monologue in the voice of the role about to be assumed was important preparation for this empathy building role.

The town meeting is always a hit.  And, the teacher gets to rest her voice for a whole two days!