Classroom Activities
Students should have read the required books and court case documents prior to the lessons. The teacher should have also taught the students many of the critical information about democracy, terrorism and the USA Patriot Act as stated in this curriculum unit. Before starting the lesson about terrorism, I would suggest you have the students write on three separate piece of paper (or the teacher could develop a handout) KWL (what the student Knows, Want to know and what they Learned after the lessons). It would be good to have a discussion about the "KW" prior to class.
Lesson No. 1 - Video Production Entitled: Students Against Terrorism
Anticipatory Set: Because 9-11 was the reason for the new USA Patriot Act legislation, the focus of this warm-up is on the WTC buildings. Retrieve a picture of the WTC buildings before and after the attack. Show the before photo and ask students to state what the building represent. [Students may say the building shows beauty, peace, etc.] Show the after attack picture and ask students to give their thoughts. [Students may say they feel sad, fear, anger, anxiety, etc.] Start a discussion about what America should do to protect itself from another attack? List the suggestions on the board.
Directed Instruction: [KWL] Ask students what they know and what they want to know about the USA Patriot Act. Explain the various ways the Patriot Act serves to fight terrorism. By using a jigsaw in small collaborative groups (three depending on the number of students you have), type the Titles mentioned in this unit under USA Patriot Act on a separate piece of paper. Assign each group the task of locating the specific information related to the topic from the Patriot Act online. Each group will report their findings in an oral presentation to the whole group.
Activity: Video Production entitled "Students Against Terrorism." By developing knowledge on terrorism, students should tell what they know about terrorism and counterterrorism measures such as the Patriot Act. In the video, students should express their compassion, grief, anger, fears, hope and offer ideas on how to resolve conflict, give suggestions to the President, explain the purpose of the Patriot Act and how law enforcement and the courts are trying to prevent future attacks; have students obtain comments on anti-terrorism measures from officials such as the mayor, law enforcement, court officials for local, state and federal agencies, solicit comments from school administrators, clergy, rabbi, priest or imam, other students in schools, parents or members in the community. The video should be approximately 10-15 minutes in length. This activity may run approximately two weeks.
Assessment: Students will be assessed on the final video production to include planning strategy, creativity, content and final product including video length requirements.
Lesson No. 2 - 1993 WTC Bombing Mock Trial
Anticipatory Set: As a demonstration, stack 2 sets of 10 dominoes side by side. Ask one student to roll a small marble to try and knock over the 2 sets of dominoes. [This will not knock over all the dominoes]. Restack the dominoes and ask another student to join the previous student. Now give each student a grapefruit or large size ball. Ask the students to try and knock down the 2 sets of dominoes. [Both sets should fall]. Now display a picture of the WTC standing tall before any attacks either on a LCD projector or other visual aid. Introduce the events of the 1993 WTC bombing and ask the students if they think this failed attempt to tumble the WTC encouraged the September 11, 2001 attacks. You may pose the question, "if the 1993 attack had been successful in destroying the WTC, should the Clinton Administration have started a "war on terrorism?" Why/why not? Conduct a class discussion.
Directed Instruction: With the information included in this curriculum unit, along with information in the required book on the 1993 WTC bombing trial, students should be taught the criminal justice process and the anatomy of a trial proceeding. Preparing a PowerPoint on the key information in the case would be helpful for the students. Explain the plot to bomb the WTC, the investigation, arrest through trial and sentencing. I would focus on each of these areas separately so the student will completely understand the progression of the case. A chronology is outlined on page 101 in the book.
Activity: Students are placed into groups. Group 1 (6 students) will play the role of the defendants; Group 2 will include the judge and attorneys (total of 5 students, 1 as the judge, 2 as the prosecutor and 2 as defense attorneys ); Group 3 will be the victims/witnesses. The court will need a court clerk, bailiff, and jury (a jury can be as little as 2 people or the judge may decide the case). Each group should study their character's role through the book or online sources. Prior to the trial, they should turn in a two-page summary of their character. All students should be familiar with the facts of the case. Students will role play the case from the beginning of the plot to the end of the sentencing. In the past when conducting mock trials, students take ownership of their roles. It is effective in bringing home the facts of the case).
Assessment: When presenting the case, I would videotape it so the students can critique themselves. The assessment would be the character information sheets and the mock trial presentation rubric as stated in Appendix E in this curriculum unit.
Lesson No. 3: Research on Specific Terrorist Groups
Anticipatory Set: Write two questions on the board 1) why do people resort to violence to make a point? and 2) is violence effective in making your point? Give students 5 minutes to write a response on a piece of paper. After 5 minutes, have students exchange papers with another classmate. Students are to take a few minutes to discuss things they see in common and those things uncommon. After a few minutes of discussion, ask a student to come to the board to write a list of reasons why people resort to violence to make a point. Also ask for suggestions for ways to resolve a conflict without violence. Continue the class discussion.
Directed Instruction: Students should have read the book Terrorist prior to the lesson. I would require the students to do a book report to make sure everyone understands the progression and reasons behind terrorism. From the information in this unit, the teacher should teach the students about why people become terrorists. Have a class discussion on key facts related to terrorism. I would also have students maintain a list of terrorism terminology. For the directed instruction and open forum in the classroom, I would focus on the terrorist group Al Qaeda (do not assign this group to students, information on this group can also be found at the link provided in Appendix B). Al Qaeda would be good to discuss as a whole class since their target is America. Discuss Al Qaeda's reasons for attacking America. Students could express their concerns about being attacked and the teacher could dispel their fears if necessary.
Activity: Students will be paired for this activity. Each pair will be assigned a terrorist organization to research online. (See Appendix B for list) Students will develop a PowerPoint presentation on their group and answer the following questions: 1) how long has the terrorist group been active? 2) Where do they operate? 3) What are their goals or purpose (why are they terrorists?) 4) Who are the founder(s) and/or leader of the group? 5) How large is this group or is their an estimate of the number of members? 6) What terrorist acts have they claimed responsibility for (or was known to be responsible for? 7) what are their methods of attack, meaning car bombs, etc. 8) Who are they sponsored by? 9) What other facts did the student learn about the group, as an example: any identifiable terrorist symbols, signs or insignias? Students should print a copy of their PowerPoint so the teacher can make a booklet of the information students gathered. The book should stay in the classroom as a reference. This will help the students become aware of the various terrorist networks around the world.
Assessment: Students should be assessed on their research for the PowerPoint. A total of 50 points (5 points for each section mentioned in the PowerPoint) and 5 points for their PowerPoint creation.
Lesson No. 4 - A Lesson on Hate Crime - Video: Divided We Fall
Anticipatory Set: Write the word "terrorist" on the board. Have students draw a picture of what they think a terrorist looks like. Allow students to share their drawings in open class forum. This is a way to start talking about hate crimes and how there are various looks of people who are not terrorist, but may live in a geographical areas where terrorist may have come from. Impress upon students that a terrorist can look like any one from any nationality.
Directed Instruction: The directed instruction will be the viewing of the video on anti-Arab Americans after September 11 th. The video: Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath (2006) tells the story of a Sikh man brutally killed after 9-11. The author, Valerie Kaur documents many other stories of abuse towards people "resembling" Middle Eastern people across America. This heart-wrenching account of many non Arab, non Muslim people (many who are American citizens) are targets of hate crimes simply because they wear a turban on their heads or "resemble" those responsible for flying planes into the WTC. Miss Kaur presents an informative and historical insight into the Sikh people and religion. [Note: this documentary movie will be available on DVD after September 2008, and will include a curriculum focus on hate crimes and discrimination within the DVD to assist the teacher in the classroom.]
Activity: After viewing the documentary, students should read the article from rethinkingschool.org website that outlines the timeline of Attacks on Muslims and Arab-Americans after 9-11. (See link at: http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/sept11/pdf/Attacks.pdf. As a class, openly read the various cases mentioned in the timeline. Students are to then write a journal (including drawing(s) to express their feelings about one of the incidents mentioned in the article. They should explain how the victims in the stories may have felt. Their writing should also explain how law enforcement, courts and corrections should respond to this incident. Students should express how they feel hate crimes should be handled by neighbors, family, friends and their community. They should also explain how the terrorist created this problem in the first place, by attacking the United States on September 11, 2001. [Teachers should also use the curriculum resource packet included with the DVD for additional activities and classroom discussion related to hate crime.]
Assessment: Students will be assessed on their journals for point values to be determined by the teacher. If the teacher uses the curriculum resources included with the DVD, point value can be added for each assignment at the discretion of the instructor.
Additional Classroom Activities
Guest Speaker: Invite a guest speaker from the U.S. Attorney General's Attorney's Office (or your State Attorney General's Office), District Attorney's Office, a defense attorney from the Federal Public Defender's Office or Private Defense Attorney, Department of Homeland Security, FBI or local, state or federal law enforcement agency (or court) personnel involved in counterterrorism measures.
Online Assignment: Rethinking: Poetry in the time of Crisis looking at Muslims as a target of mistreatment in America. 2) Bill Bigelow offers a handout for use with his lesson on "What is Terrorism? "Who are the Terrorists?" Teachers can conduct a lesson where students will read a fact situation and decide if a terrorist act has occurred. RethinkingSchools.org. is an excellent website with many resources to help you teach students about terrorism, the USA Patriot Act, Arab culture, how to talk to children about violence, the war on terror and much more.
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