Lesson Plans
Day One
This segment will last for two days. The first day of classes is generally truncated, so that the activities will necessary carry over to a second day.
The first step in the introductory lesson plan is to introduce the students both to the concept of civil liberty and to each other. Students will be provided with a survey sheet with spaces for making notes. They will be given a time period of 10 to 15 minutes to move around the room and speak individually to other students, recording their responses.
They will ask each of their classmates only one question but may ask a follow-up to the answer if they wish and if the other student wishes to elaborate.
(Find someone who…)
Has been stopped by the police
Has had their belongings or person searched by an "official"
Has been denied an opportunity to voice a political opinion
Has had their religious freedom abridged
Has been a participant in a demonstration
Knows the name of their state representative, state senator, congressperson, city council person
Has called a government official or agency with a concern
Has thanked a government official or agency
Has written a letter of complaint to a government official or the newspaper
Has spoken at a community meeting
Has participated in a community cleanup day
Has suffered a job loss for reasons other than performance
Is registered to vote or helped to register others to vote
Has voted
Has worked for a candidate
At the end of the interview period, students return to their seats. On the board or on newsprint, the teacher will ask for students to report on their findings. Names will not be used as the information is designed to be a class survey. Once all responses have been recorded for viewing, the class will be asked to analyze the significance of the answers, e.g. which questions elicited the most responses, which were interesting, which were surprising, which were troubling, which were encouraging. For the second part of the discussion, we will consider John Stuart Mill's definition of liberty: "…Civil or Social Liberty: the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over an individual." In pairs, students will be asked to list specific ways that society currently exercises power in their lives. Allow ten to fifteen minutes for this conversation. Pairs would then match with up with another pair, share their conclusions for an additional ten minutes, then report out to the class as a whole. We would conclude with a journal entry reflection on the activities and the discussion. Students would have the option of reading journal entries aloud, time permitting. As a homework assignment, students would be asked to read a minimum or five news stories or view five stories on television and write a paragraph describing where in the story of their choice the issue of liberty is found.
Introduction Day Two.
| 1. | Distribute copies of the Declaration of Independence. Students working in groups of three or four will create a list of at least ten specific modern rights that would be granted based on the language of the original. Groups report out to the class via posters entitled "21st Century Declaration of Independence." Repeat exercise with copies of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In a journal entry, students briefly compare and contrast the documents. |
| 2. | Distribute copies of John Locke's and Jean Jacques Rousseau's paragraphs (without identifying source) on liberty. Ask students to guess dates and countries of origin. Compare to our American documents. |
| 3. | Assign students to groups of four by counting off. Each group receives a copy of one of the following: Frederick Douglass' "Fourth of July" message, Elizabeth Cady Stanton's "Declaration of Sentiments," Barbara Jordan's opening statement from the Watergate Hearings, and Keith Boykin's "Millennium Poem." Each group will create a poster summary of the contents of their document. When the class re-assembles, their reports will be used to create a Venn diagram comparison of each document with either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, depending on which is the closer parallel. |
| 4. | Conclude with student sitting in a circle and going round robin to reflect on the significance in their everyday lives of the material they have read. Students may then respond to the original set of reflections. |
| 5. | For homework, each student will be asked to write her or his own updated version of either the Declaration or the Preamble/Bill of Rights. |
Lesson Plan #2: Local Hero and School Namesake, A. Philip Randolph
Time Allowance: Two 90-minute periods.
Content/Concepts
Individuals close to home have struggled for civil liberties to benefit of students living today. Internet research can help us learn about their contributions.
Instructional Strategy/Delivery
Survey class on what they know about Martin Luther King, Paul Robeson, Fannie Lou Hamer, A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, and Cecil B. Moore and Rev. Paul Washington and C. Delores Tucker. Record information and note variations in knowledge base.
Performance Tasks
- Gather internet biographies for A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin.
- Develop a combined timeline for the two men.
- Note five differences in information presented between either of the two sets of biographies.
- write a journal reflection on the information is most obscure and speculate as to why this is so.
- Create individual posters that convey the most important information that high school students (particularly at A. Philip Randolph Career Academy - fill in for your individual school) should know. Posters will be displayed at a designated time and place in the building.
- In a group of four, compose an easy-to-read flyer for incoming freshmen that will provide key learnings about our namesake and his associate. Print out result for voting by the class.
- In journal, record which aspects of Randolph's and Rustin's lives are most closely related to the issue of civil liberties as we have discussed them from Mill through Boykin. h. Design a cyberspace segment about Randolph and Rustin to be incorporated into our school's website.
Musical conclusion
Distribute texts for "Joe Hill" and "The House I Live In." Students listen to recordings and respond to messages. They may speculate regarding dates and places. Return to internet search to ascertain history of song, "The House I Live In." Compare to history of "Joe Hill" from Songs of Work and Freedom. Explain how the two songs relate to war and/or civil liberties and to the life and work of A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin.
Homework
Students may select a current song, rap or other musical composition that speaks to the theme of liberty and society (grandparent language rule). Record title, artist, most significant lyrics and write an explanation drawing on material from the two classes so far.
Lesson Plan # 3: A Writer as Social Activist: Langston Hughes
Content
Poems of Langston Hughes: the well known ("Mother to Son") and the obscure ("Chant for Tom Mooney").
Concepts
That the general public knows little about some very important individuals. Artists as idealists are often likely to affiliate themselves with out-of-mainstream organizations. Society and governments sometimes exact a price for the artist's questioning.
Instructional Strategy
a. Survey class for their acquaintance with the life and work of Langston Hughes.
b. Present a sheet of statements regarding his life, some true, and some false. Direct students to biographies of Hughes in the Norton Anthology of African American Literature (Gates et al) and on the web by Arnold Ampersad.
c. Read accounts of two trials from Great American Trials: Mooney and Billings; the Scottsboro Boys.
Performance Task
Create a geographical timeline using the combined information. Link Hughes' political efforts to those of Randolph and Rustin via a graphic organizer of the students' choice. Compare the Hughes poem best known to you with "Chant for Tom Mooney. Evaluate the effect of his political involvement on Hughes' life and career.
Video
View the Langston Hughes biographical documentary from Voices and Visions.34 Evaluate production value of video and effectiveness in portraying Hughes' life.
Journal Reflection
Select Randolph, Rustin, or Hughes. Write a ten-paragraph essay speculating on where one of these individuals (your choice) would stand today on issues including the War in Iraq, the Patriot Act, the war on terror, race relations, the economy, education, music/entertainment, gun control, racial profiling, the political parties, the environment, opportunity. Use material from your notes over the last week.
Comments: