Teaching Strategies
Teachers should pull readings based on their judgment from the bibliography to cover with students, as well as requiring that students read all of the selections from the student reading list. In order to engage with the background information students will participate in a range of activities, limited only by the teacher’s discretion. Teachers should strive to include traditional lectures, close readings, gallery walks, think-pair-share activities, small group and whole class discussions, town hall style question and answer sessions with guests, argumentative writing opportunities, and a process drama.
Gallery Walk
Engaging students in meaningful small group discussions will be critical in the unit. One possible way to promote cooperative learning would be to involve students in a gallery walk about the topic of police militarization. It is up to the teacher to determine about six prompts related to the unit topic and they then place them throughout the room. Small groups of students will then spend time at each station answering the prompts. The groups record their responses for other groups to see. After each group has visited each station, the teacher will bring the class together to review responses and discuss. The teacher could ask questions such as: What freedoms are guaranteed to Americans by the Bill of Rights? When you think of a police officer, what do you see? In what type of situations are SWAT teams necessary and unnecessary? The objective of the assignment is to begin thinking more deeply about the various topics that will be covered in the unit, therefore this activity should take place at an early stage.
Argumentative Essay
Improving students’ argumentative writing is both a district and departmental goal, so this will serve as the Performance Task, and should take place before moving into the final phase of the unit that concerns ideas for reform and the process drama. A high priority should be placed on involving students in the research process and in the basic claim-evidence-commentary structure of argumentation. They should also be dedicated to exploring multiple perspectives and considering counter arguments to their argument.
There can be multiple prompts for the essay depending on the teacher’s judgment. Perhaps the students can argue whether they believe a Supreme Court case stayed true to the founder’s original intent. One could encourage the students to consider whether a certain police raid was warranted and successful, and if not, offer a plausible alternative for a better outcome given what we know now. The teacher could even propose students argue about the theme of Ghost Boys and how it relates to the modern debate around police violence.
Example Essay Prompt
Choose one of the following police raids to research: the Dirk Dickenson raid in Humboldt County, the MOVE bombing in Philadelphia, or the raid on the Black Panther Party Headquarters in Los Angeles. Write an argument that determines whether or not the police raid violated the constitutional rights of the citizens involved. Find at least two primary source documents to use as the background content for your essay. Remember to use the claim-evidence-commentary structure for your argument, and be sure to include a paragraph that contains a refutation of a potential counterclaim. Your essay will be graded using the district’s argumentative essay rubric.
Process Drama
The Performance Based Assessment for the unit will be a process drama centered on both the Rose case and the G-20 protests that took place in Pittsburgh in 2009. With large classes, two groups of students can participate, with one group taking the Rose case and one taking the G-20 protests. Students will then be tasked with following through on a review board’s investigation into the police response. Roles will be given to each student, which will include some students acting as witnesses, members of the review board, or even as the officers involved. Cases will be presented and those on the board will have to make final recommendations based on the facts presented and the laws and policies guiding procedure. Students will be assessed on their preparation for the day of the performance and on their ability to argue about key facts surrounding the cases presented.
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