Unit 3
This is a whole group/individual activity that will require at least one week to complete.
Objective
Students will be able to identify how Barack Obama's Inauguration Speech and Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech relate to their personal lives. Students will use each speech to write an informative essay giving details of the relationship.
Day 1 and 2
Students have their prior knowledge assessed with the teacher asking what they remember about Obama's Inauguration speech. After two minutes of conversation, the teacher distributes copies of the speech obtained from www.huffingtonpost.com. Students read the speech as the audio of the speech is played. Once read and video has played, students go back and highlight unfamiliar vocabulary. Students also pose questions about the speech in their notebooks.
Students now break into teacher directed groups where they will discuss their vocabulary choices. Students share their word choices with the group, with students assisting each other on the definitions. For those definitions that all of the group cannot discern from their word experience, the students will use the dictionary.
Students who are having difficulty with the group work would work with the teacher and use the website, www.wordsift.com to aid them in their understanding of the vocabulary.
Day 3
For their warm up exercise, students would list two words from their vocabulary list on the board, with definitions to share with the class. Using the Obama speech, and still in groups, students would identify key concepts, paragraph by paragraph, but as pairs. Teachers and students would utilize the teacher-created handout. (See Appendix). Once completed, students share with the class their responses. In their journals, students write a one page reflection on the speech.
Days 4 - 6
Repeat Days 1-3, using Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech found at http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm. Teacher will be required to change the Key Concepts form to Martin Luther King's information.
Day 7
Students will compare/contrast the two speeches using a t-chart. Students will identify similarities and differences and chart them. Students will write the information in their notebooks.
Day 8
Students write a three to five paragraph essay (depending on their ability) indicating why/why not the two speeches offer them an opportunity for adult success and achievement. Students must include at least three unfamiliar vocabulary words that they extracted from the speeches.
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