I really enjoy your Idea #1. I did a similar writing exercise at the beginning of the year. After studying the Core Democratic Values I have the students do a “Take A Stand” essay in which they must defend a position using one or more of the CDVs to back them up. I usually pick a make believe topic that I know will rile them up like “It’s too noisy in the lunchroom, so sixth graders no longer get to talk, while 7th and 8th graders are welcome to.” I usually try to pick something that on the surface is blatantly unfair, but that they have to think hard about in order to refute beyond the simple “it’s not fair” line of defense. We really had fun with a make believe essay about the school being awared a 200,000 dollar grant fron the state and didn’t know what to spend it on; new computers for all the labs, or a football field (we don’t have one). That got a lot of really good responses as the kids were torn between having brand new computers (which they love), and a football field (which they’ve always wanted).