Rationale
Nov 5th, 2008, the election results are in and its official - the next president of the United States will be Barack Obama. The environment in Kenwood Academy, a public school in the heart of the south side Chicago Hyde Park neighborhood is, to put it lightly, overjoyed. Students in their Obama tee shirts are cheering in the hallways, high fiving, smiling, asking each other where they were the moment they found out that their Illinois senator, the school's local celebrity, the man who lives only a block from the school, would be, is going to be, the next president of the United States. As these students filed into my classes, I prompted them with, "Now what?" They look around the room not really understanding what I meant by the question but understood that I was referring to the election. What I wanted my students to realize was that yes, this day would be remembered as a landmark day in the civil rights movement, but that it was only one small step in a very tall staircase. Steps had been taken before, but still many lie ahead.
Based upon the success of my previous curriculum unit, "Road to the White House, Campaign for the Presidency," this year's unit will investigate the effects of the landmark 2008 presidential election on the rights of the diverse electorate who placed President Obama in the White House. The title of my unit, "Analysis of the Obama Election: Will it Bring Rights and Representation for Minorities?" reflects the needs of my student body, as 99% of Kenwood Academy's students are classified as minorities. Kenwood Academy students were a part of the 2008 election on many different levels, from door to door campaigning, working the election polls, and traveling to the democratic national convention and the presidential inauguration. Being a part of this process left the students feeling empowered, and made me proud of their involvement in, and enthusiasm for, a national presidential election. Even though I was pleasantly surprised by my student's interest, I would like for them to delve deeper into the election, analyzing its genesis and its role as a catalyst for "change" - not only for their rights but also for the other millions of President Obama supporters as well as the whole population of America he serves.
I have decided that a good way of creating a thread, an integral part of this year's course, which will be woven throughout each unit taught this year, is to have a sampler or "tapas" unit at the beginning of the year. Spanish tapas give a little taste of a particular dish, but allows for many small dishes, with a similar theme, to be tasted in one sitting. That is the mission of this unit, to give students a taste of each of the larger units that we will be exploring throughout the year. The students that have chosen to enroll in my class are eagerly awaiting, talking about and analyzing our new president, but I want to make sure that they can put everything that we are discussing this year into an evaluative context and help them come to a place where they can view the election with a critical and judgmental eye. The theme of the sampler unit is to allow students to view the election using the lens of those who do not share their same race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, geography, language and/or any other divisive factors. The goal is that when students look at the election from alternate angles, students will gain a higher understanding of the factors that formulate the views of America's diverse electorate.
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