CIVIC DEMOCRACY BADGE GUIDE

Troop Leader Guide on Hosting a Virtual Troop Meeting on Zoom

Are you a Troop Leader hosting your first Zoom Meeting and don’t know where to begin? Are you a Troop leader hosting her second or third meeting and want to bring in new perspectives or activities to make your meetings more engaging? If so, this guide will help you do just that!

Steps to Creating a Virtual Meeting on Zoom1. Go to https://www.zoom.us/ to create a free account or you can sign up for a $36/annual account that

allows your troop(s) to meet for an unlimited time here. If you sign up for free account, you will receive an email from Zoom to activate your account and create a password.

2. After signing in, click “Schedule A Meeting”.

3. Fill in the details about your meeting: topic, description, time, etc. The Zoom Basic plan has a 40-minute time limit on meetings with 3 or more participants. However, you can reset your time by having everyone leave the meeting and then re-join.

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4. Once finished, click “Save”.

5. To send the Zoom meeting link to your Troop, click “Copy the invitation”.

6. Once you copy the invitation, you can paste it into an email or text to your Troop. Attendees can join by desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Check out our Girl Scouts of Greater New York Virtual Troop Orientation here on some tips and tricks on hosting your next Virtual Troop Meeting.

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Before Your Meeting 1. Send a welcome email to your Girl Scouts instructing them to do the following for their first

Zoom Meeting.

o Put on your favorite Girl Scout t-shirt. o Choose a quiet area in your home with a plain wall to utilize as your background

*If you do not have a plain background at home and/or your computer has the capabilities to utilize Zoom backgrounds feel free to use a fun Girl Scout Zoom Background. PRO-TIP FOR LEADERS: To get your Girl Scouts excited for their meetings host a virtual theme week on Zoom where Girl Scouts dress in their favorite garb that is representative of what you will discuss for your meeting.

2. Test your audio & video equipment to make sure it works If you have earphones feel free to utilize those in order to cancel the probable noise around you. *If you are not aware how to check your audio and video equipment in Zoom watch this short video.

3. Log into Zoom meeting between 10-15 minutes before your meeting takes place.

4. Change your name on Zoom utilizing the example below

First Name, Last Initial., GS Level * If you are not aware how to change your name on name on Zoom watch this short video.

5. Introduce/Greet other attendees than mute yourself until meeting gets started.

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During Your Meeting

Arrival Activity: (5 minutes)

Consider having a WELCOME QUESTION on the screen for the girls to answer either in the chat box or on screen if you enable the annotation tool. *If you are not aware how to annote on Zoom watch this short video.

PRO-TIP FOR LEADERS: Some great WELCOME QUESTIONS are:

1. How was your day?2. What interesting thing did you learn in class today?3. Share a fun fact and in-turn get the girls’ feedback.

Welcome (5 minutes)

• Give girls a few minutes to join the meeting and get settled.• Encourage the girls to take this time to chat with each other before the official meeting begins

Ground Rules (5 minutes)

• Review the ground rules or use this time to create list together.

Promise and Law (5 minutes)

Recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law together. Ask girls to keep themselves muted as they follow your lead. Internet connectivity issues can cause a lag in audio, which can be discouraging and frustrating for the girls when they aren’t hearing themselves in unison.

You can encourage girls to have their cameras on, but it shouldn’t be required.

PRO-TIP FOR LEADERS: For your next meeting have a Girl Scout lead out in the Girl Scout Promise and Law. An excellent way to get your Girl Scout involved is to create a Girl Scout

Kaper Chart for the week. Girl Scout Kapers are a fun tradition that helps girls take the lead, learn by doing, and practice cooperative learning to get things done.

If you are not aware how to create a Kaper Chart watch this short video.

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Activity of the day: (15 minutes)

This is a great time to work on a badge or Journey series. Consider sending a list of materials to your Girl Scouts the week before meeting so that they can come in prepared to interact.

Here are some specific ideas to get started:

• Get silly: Play charades, Taboo, or Pictionary about the topic or theme for the day.

• Get the wiggles out: Do yoga or have a dance party together.

• Quiet together time: Read stories aloud or do a group add-a-line story. If you have a Daisy troop, read a Petal story!

• Get artistic: Draw portraits of one another and share.

• Invite: Have a guest speaker or subject area expert join your troop meeting to help with badge work.

Remember: You can screen share, so anything that you can put on your screen can be shared – like videos, pictures, and more.

*For a list of Digital Activities visit the GSUSA Digital Icebreakers and Games Website.

Prep For Your Next meeting (5 Minutes)

• If the girls will complete an activity on their own, set them up for success and explain what they’ll need to do.

• If not, give them a sense of what to expect for the next meeting.

• Looking for feedback on what to do next? This is a great time to poll the girls!

Make New Friends (5 minutes)

• Wind down your meeting by singing “Make New Friends.”

• Just as you did with the Promise and Law, ask the girls to mute their microphones and follow your lead.

Friendship Circle (5 minutes)

• Encourage the girls to share this special time of the meeting with a sibling or even their favorite stuffed animal.

• Just as you would with an in-person meeting, ask them to cross their arms and give them a moment to squeeze their own hand (by making a fist) to virtually pass on the squeeze.

• Then, on the count of three, instruct the girls to lift their arms over their heads to virtually “twist out” to close the meeting.

PRO-TIP FOR LEADERS: A modified Friendship Circle is possible! Instead of squeezing a hand, have each girl say the name of another person in your virtual circle after she makes her wish? Encourage the girls to be creative!

*For additional ideas on for planning your next virtual visit the Tips, Tools, and Ideas GSUSA website for Planning a Great Virtual Meeting

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The Anatomy of a Badge Traditional badges allow Troop Leaders and Girl Scouts to choose from a series of activities they’d like to conduct. In order to complete these activities, there are FIVE steps that your Girl Scout need to follow. The FIVE steps to complete any given badge are the following.

Activity 1: Opening Ceremony

Activity 2: Discover

Activity 3: Connect

Activity 4: Take Action

Activity 5: Closing Ceremony

To adhere to social distance guidlines, the Girl Scouts of Greater New York has pre-selected the activities in this guide for Troop Leaders and Girl Scouts to complete during a virtual troop meeting or individually.

If girls really enjoy a particular activity and want to continue to explore a topic, we encourage them to do so.

Activity 1: Opening Ceremony Each level will start the badge program with where they will recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Take a few minutes here to talk about the badge and what they will be learning.

Activity 2, Activity 3, and Activity 4 will allow Girl Scouts to learn about their local, state, and federal government. Through the Discover, Connect, Take Action framework, girls earn, lead, and teach others to be aware of their surroundings. Girl Scouts scan their world for things they want to change, work together to plan that change, and take action to make it happen, all while becoming strong, confident leaders along the way.

Activity 5: Closing Ceremony is a great time for reflection. Girl Scouts should each share one thing they learned through these activities, their favorite part, and something they’d like to explore further. At the end, congratulate your Girl Scouts for completing their Democracy badge!

Democracy for Daisies Badge Activity What’s a Government?

The following activities have been adapted from the GSUSA Volunteer Toolkit. For additional activity ideas please utilize the GSUSA Volunteer ToolKit User Guide.

Purpose: In this badge series, Daisies begin learning about the people who work together in their government.

Activity 1: Opening Ceremony Recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law to help guide Girl Scouts through the activities. Take a few minutes to talk about the badge and what they will be learning.

Activity 2: Discover Ask your Daisy Girl Scout the following question: “Do you know what the word “government” means?” It’s a big word for something important!” When a group of people live together in a town, city, state, or country they follow rules. These rules, and the people who make the rules, are called the government. The government for the whole country is called the national government. Ask your Girl Scout if she can name our state and our country.

Activity 3: Connect Read two books about two presidents from history, here’s one about Abraham Lincoln. Pick one more book, read it together, talk about what you learned, then have your Daisy draw a picture of herself as president! Ask the following question: “If you were president, what would you do to help people?” Once a president is chosen, they move into the White House located in the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C. They live there until a new president is elected. Take a virtual tour of the White House through YouVisit.com and then have your Girl Scouts draw their own picture of the White House.

Activity 4: Take-Action What is a mayor and what is their role in the goverment? A mayor traditionally oversees a city’s main departments, including the police, fire, education, housing and transportation departments. Similar to the president, a mayor is chosen by people who vote in an election. Watch this silly video called “What Does a Mayor Do?” on YouTube as a funny warm up to get your conversation going. Help your Daisy Girl Scout find out who your governor is and what kinds of things they do. Then, write a letter to your governor! You can tell the governor something you’d like to change or ask about the things they do to help kids in your state.

Activity 5: Closing Ceremony Reflect on the day’s activities. Ask your Daisy Girl Scout to share one thing she learned, her favorite part, and something she’d like to explore further. Congratulate your Girl Scout on earning her Democracy badge!

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Democracy for Brownies Badge Activity

It’s All About the Law

The following activities have been adapted from the GSUSA Volunteer Toolkit. For additional activity ideas please utilize the GSUSA Volunteer ToolKit User Guide.

Purpose: In this badge series, Brownies will discover how people in the government decide what rules are made and how they are followed.

Activity 1: Opening Ceremony Recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law to help guide Girl Scouts through the activities. Take a few minutes here to talk about the badge and what they will be learning.

Activity 2: Discover The United States government is broken into three parts, or branches. The government is divided in this way to make sure that power is shared, so no part has too much. The legislative branch makes laws. The executive branch makes sure the law is carried out. The judicial branch decides what the law means if there are questions. Watch “3 Branches of Government” on YouTube.

Activity 3: Connect Pick one (1) of the following activities: as a troop hold a pretend presidential election OR as an individual you may interview an older family member.

• With your Girl Scout friends, break out into two teams to hold an election. Instead of voting for a president, vote on some silly topics like a dog vs. cat OR cake vs. pie. Each team should make campaign signs and speeches for your “candidate.” Once you are done vote by secret ballot to choose a winner.

• As an individual, interview a few members of your family and find out which president has meant the most to them in their lifetime and why. Did they choose the same president? Do they have different reasons for their choice?

Activity 4: Take-Action Congress meets in Washington, D.C., in a place called the Capitol Building. The Senate meets on one side of the building and the House of Representatives meets on the other. Take a virtual tour of the Capitol Building through Virtually-Anywhere.com! Together, look up the answers to the following questions: Who are your states two U.S. Senators? How many representatives does your state have? What kinds of issues are important to some of them? Together, write a letter to a U.S. Representative or Senator about an issue that’s important to you.

Activity 5: Closing Ceremony Reflect on the day’s activities. Ask your Brownie Girl Scout to share one thing she learned, her favorite part, and something she’d like to explore further. Congratulate your Girl Scout on earning her Democracy badge!

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Democracy for Juniors Badge Activity

We Want More Representation!

The following activities have been adapted from the GSUSA Volunteer Toolkit. For additional activity ideas please utilize the GSUSA Volunteer ToolKit User Guide.

Purpose: In this badge series, Juniors learn more about how their government works—from their town or city to the whole country.

Activity 1: Opening Ceremony Recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law to help guide Girl Scouts through the activities. Take a few minutes here to talk about the badge and what they will be learning. Open up the conversation why asking “What is a government?” A government is when a group of people come together to keep order in the country and provide services for its citizens, from the local, state, or federal level.

Activity 2: Discover The United States government is broken into three parts, or branches. Each branch has its own role in how the law is made and used. The Constitution of the United States divided the government in this way to make sure that no one person or group has too much power. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive branch enforces laws, and, the judicial branch interprets laws. A system of “checks and balances” helps to keep power evenly distributed between the three branches. Each branch “checks” the power of the other. Look at “3 Branches of Government” on YouTube.

Activity 3: Connect Learn How a Bill Becomes a Law and draft your own bill! Your bill can be on a topic or issue that’s important to you such as voting rights, healthcare, education, food safety, or so much more. Share your bill with your friends or family and be prepared to defend it and answer questions.

Activity 4: Take-Action Each state in the country is represented by two people in the United States Senate. The House of Representatives is more complicated. There are currently 435 House members, and the number for each state is decided by the size of its population. Look at a map of the United States and find the current number of representatives in each state. Now, how many of the 435 are women? Which states don’t have any female representatives? Did you know that a record number of women ran for the House of Representatives in 2020 breaking 2018’s record?!? What was the number when you were born? How about when some of the older women in your life were your age? Create an inspirational flyer through PosterMyWall.com to recruit more women to run for office in the future!

Activity 5: Closing Ceremony Reflect on the day’s activities. Ask your Junior Girl Scout to share one thing she learned, her favorite part, and something she’d like to explore further. Congratulate your Girl Scout on earning her Democracy badge!

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Additional Resources for Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors

Informational Websites

We The People by Scholastic

Duckers.com

Readings

Senant.gov

I am Abraham Lincoln | Children’s Books Read Aloud

Videos

What Does a Mayor Do?

3 Branches of Government

Virtual Tour Guide

United States Capital Building Tour

United States White House Tour

Games

BrainPop.com

Girl Scouts of the USA Resource

Girl Scouts at Home: Daisies (Grades K-1) – Democracy for Daisies

Girl Scouts at Home: Brownies (Grades 2-3 ) – Democracy for Brownies

Girl Scouts at Home: Juniors (Grades 4-5 ) – Democracy for Juniors Badge Activity

How a Bill Becomes a Law

United States Map

Democracy for Cadettes Badge Activity

Who Represents You?

The following activities have been adapted from the GSUSA Volunteer Toolkit. For additional activity ideas please utilize the GSUSA Volunteer ToolKit User Guide.

Purpose: In this badge series, Cadettes find new things about their government—how each branch works, how they work together, and how each piece makes a difference in society.

Activity 1: Opening Ceremony Recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law to help guide Girl Scouts through the activities. Take a few minutes here to talk about the badge and what they will be learning.

Activity 2: Discover The United States government is broken into three parts, or branches. Each branch has its own role in how the law is made and used. The Constitution of the United States divided the government in this way to make sure that no one person or group has too much power. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive branch enforces laws, and, the judicial branch interprets laws. A system of “checks and balances” helps to keep power evenly distributed between the three branches. Each branch “checks” the power of the other. Watch “3 Branches of Government” on YouTube.

Activity 3: Connect Did you know that the Constitution of the United States was signed in 1787 by the country’s Founding Fathers? The Constitution is one of the most important documents in United States history. Do you know what the constitution consists of three parts?

1. Preamble A preamble explains the purpose of the document. (It begins “We the People…”) Watch The Preamble of The Constitution Schoolhouse Rock on YouTube. If you were to write your own preamble what would you include? Don’t forget that your Preamble must start with “We the People...”

2. Articles Articles map out the structure of the government and explain how the Constitution can be changed. Learn about the seven articles of the Constitution by reading pages 1-3 on iCivics.com on the Anatomy of the Constitution. Democracy

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3. Amendments, or changes to the Constitution. The first ten amendments are called The Bill of Rights. There have been 27 amendments to the Constitution since it was written more than 200 years ago. Watch a short video entitled Amending America: How We Amend by the History channel. This video is a depiction of the Amendments and the changes it underwent years ago. When most people think of “government,” their first thought is of the president and other elected officials in Washington, D.C. They usually know a lot less about their local government. Talk to an expert. With help from an adult, find an expert who can talk to you about your local government. This could be a teacher, a lawyer, a judge, or someone elected to local office. Have them explain all the jobs that are done in your local government and talk to you about local elections. Ask any other questions you can think of?

Activity 4: Take-Action

• Find Out About the Federal Legislative Branch Write a letter to one of your local representatives about an issue in the news right now that’s important to you? What makes this issue important to you? How can this representative take action on this issue? Do you think there’s something more that lawmakers can do to help? If you are unsure of your local council member visit the New York City Council website.

• Find Out About the Federal Executive Branch Create a craft branch by drawing a picture of a tree with three branches, then label the branches with each branch of government. Take a list of 10 people or groups of people and make them into “leaves” for the corresponding branch. You can write them near the branches or cut out leaves from green construction paper and glue or tape them on. Unsure how to start this craft watch this short video entitled The Branches of Government

• Find Out About the Federal Judicial Branch One of the best ways to understand the legal system is to see it in action! Watch CNN: Inside the Supreme Court. What did you notice about the Supreme Court building? Is there anything that stood out to you? What traditions in the Supreme Court did you find intriguing?

Activity 5: Closing Ceremony Reflect on the day’s activities. Share one thing you learned, what was your favorite part, and something you’d like to explore further. Congratulations on earning your Democracy badge! Democracy

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Democracy for Seniors Badge Activity

Making Choices

The following activities have been adapted from the GSUSA Volunteer Toolkit. For additional activity ideas please utilize the GSUSA Volunteer ToolKit User Guide.

Purpose: In this badge series Seniors will expand their knowledge about how their local, state, and national government works.

When girls earn this badge, they will have learned new things about their government--how each branch works, how they work together, and how each piece makes a difference in society.

Activity 1: Opening Ceremony Recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law to help guide Girl Scouts through the activities. Take a few minutes here to talk about the badge and what they will be learning.

Activity 2: Discover The United States government is broken into three parts, or branches. Each branch has its own role in how the law is made and used. The Constitution of the United States divided the government in this way to make sure that no one person or group has too much power. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive branch enforces laws, and, the judicial branch interprets laws. A system of “checks and balances” helps to keep power evenly distributed between the three branches.

Each branch “checks” the power of the other. Watch “Checks and Balances” on YouTube and learn about how each branch checks the other. What stood out for you in this video? If you can employ a new method of checks and balances what would it be?

Activity 3: Connect • Find Out About the Federal Legislative Branch

A system of “checks and balances” helps to keep power evenly distributed between legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the United States Government. One responsibility of Congress is creating the federal budget. Spend some time researching the big buckets of spending in the United State by visiting the Trading Economics website. What percentage of the budget is typically spent on the military? What about health care? How are “checks and balances” put in pace to ensure that no one organization gets all the money? Create your own pie chart showing how you’d recommend allocating funds if you were a member of Congress.

Activity 4: Take-Action

• Find Out About the Federal Executive Branch On your own or with a sister Girl Scout or friend, find out everything you can about one system of governement (such as democracy, monarchy, or oligarchy). Create a presentation of what you’ve learned and share it with a family member, troop leader, or your Girl Scout Troop. The presentation can take any form (PowerPoint, YouTube video, etc.)— be creative! After you’ve had a chance to share, talk about what you’ve heard. Which do you think is the best system and why?

• Find Out About the Federal Judicial Branch One of the best ways to understand the legal system is to see it for yourself! Watch CNN: Inside the Supreme Court. What did you notice about the Supreme Court building? Is there anything that stood out to you? What traditions in the Supreme Court did you find intriguing?

Activity 5: Closing Ceremony

Reflect on the day’s activities. Share one thing you learned, what was your favorite part, and something you’d like to explore further. Congratulations on earning your Democracy badge!

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Democracy for Ambassadors Badge Activity Judge a Case

The following activities have been adapted from the GSUSA Volunteer Toolkit. For additional activity ideas please utilize the GSUSA Volunteer ToolKit User Guide.

Purpose: In this badge series Ambassadors become experts on local, state, and national government—and prepare to use that knowledge to inform 10 trusted individuals or family members in their community about the local, state, or national government.

Activity 1: Opening Ceremony Recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law to help guide Girl Scouts through the activities. Take a few minutes here to talk about the badge and what they will be learning.

Activity 2: Discover The United States government is broken into three parts, or branches. Each branch has its own role in how the law is made and used. The Constitution of the United States divided the government in this way to make sure that no one person or group has too much power. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive branch enforces laws, and, the judicial branch interprets laws. A system of “checks and balances” helps to keep power evenly distributed between the three branches.

Activity 3: Connect Find out about local government Have you ever heard the term “Gerrymandering”? Find out everything you can on the topic by watching “Gerrymandering: How drawing jagged lines can impact an election by Christina Greer” What is the history? Do you see examples in your district? Research some of the solutions that have been proposed— and maybe even come up with some of your own. Share your thoughts with the group.

Activity 4: Take-Action Find out about state government Watch the United States v. Virginia case. Share and debate this case with a sister Girl Scout, friend, or family member. Do you think that the procedures and methods applied in this case were just? If yes, why? If no, why not? Would you have argued this case any different than Ruth Bader Ginsburg?

Activity 5: Closing Ceremony Reflect on the day’s activities. Share one thing you learned, what was your favorite part, and something you’d like to explore further. Congratulations on earning your Democracy badge!

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Additional Resources For Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors

Informational Websites

New York City Council

Trading Economics

Readings

Anatomy of the Constitution

Videos

3 Branches of Government

The Preamble of The Constitution Schoolhouse Rock

Amending America: How Do We Amend.

The Branches of Government

CNN: Inside the Supreme Court

Girl Scouts of the USA Resources

Girl Scouts at Home: Cadettes (Grades 6-8) – Democracy for Cadettes

Girl Scouts at Home: Seniors (Grades 9-10) –Democracy for Seniors

Girl Scouts at Home: Ambassador (Grades 11-12) –Ambassadors for Democracy Badge Activity

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