Classroom Activities
Day 1: Jonathan Harris’ Poster and Partner Reading of Audre Lorde’s “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”
Materials
- Jonathan Harris’ “Critical Race Theory” projected on the smartboard or via the LCD projector
- Handouts of a scaled-down version of “Critical Race Theory” with a three-column “See, Think, Wonder” chart
- Handout of Lorde’s “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” with embedded critical questions and a culminating question
Method
This lesson begins with students walking in after greeting the teacher to pick up a do now that is a “See, Think, Wonder” of Jonathan Harris’ 2021 poster “Critical Race Theory.” Students will work in silence for five minutes while independently observing the artwork and identifying what they (see), making inferences about what they see (think), and asking questions or making suppositions based on their observations and inferences (wonder). Students will see the artwork projected in color as well to better help them with their observations. The teacher then facilitates a whole class share out with students asking them first to share their observations. If projecting using an LCD projector, a neat trick to “zoom in” on a piece of the painting is to hold a blank piece of copy paper about a foot in front of the projection screen. On the paper, your students can see an enlarged version of the section of focus. Take note of their observations either on the whiteboard or on a do now that you can later project using a document camera. Next, facilitate a discussion of their inferences based on these observations and finally their questions. This is a good place to tell them that the piece was created as a poster in 2021 and if they didn’t already comment on the title, ask them to make inferences about the artist’s message.
The teacher should then introduce the unit and explain that students will be looking at several pieces of art that have an activist message and will eventually be creating their own for an exhibition in front of societal changemakers. Explain that the next piece may help them answer questions about why.
Distribute copies of “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” that include the embedded critical questions after every three paragraphs or so that eventually lead up to the critical question. You should make sure that some of the questions include annotations that will help students better be able to articulate their ideas about the culminating question. I will draw attention to the realizations that Lorde made as a result of her near-death experience and to her reasoning for why silence or inaction is more deleterious to marginalized groups than speaking out. This is one of the major questions we will be grappling with in the unit. Set a time limit for students to read the piece and complete the questions and start a timer. The suggested time for this activity is 20-25 minutes.
While students are completing the partner reading, the teacher should circulate the room, listening in on discussions and asking follow-up questions to students who are struggling and to students who seem to be speeding ahead. If you are teaching very low readers in combination with grade level and very high readers, it’s best to embed a few extra questions in the handout for those readers to help scaffold the reading.
After students have finished, explain that students will be participating in a Paideia seminar about both the reading and the text. Tell them to try to generate two to three questions of their own about the text that they would like to ask their peers in the seminar. The questions should be “how” and “why” types of questions instead of simple closed-ended questions.
Day 2: Paideia Seminar
Materials
- A handout of Jonathan Harris’ “Critical Race Theory” with a three-column chart labeled with “Values, Identities, and Actions” including clarifying questions/descriptors of what is required for each
- Smartboard or LCD projection of “Critical Race Theory”
- Handouts of accountable talk question stems
- A Paideia seminar rubric scoring students on the number of times they spoke using PROS (Pause, rephrase a previous speaker’s ideas, offer your opinion, and support it with evidence from the text), the number of quality questions they asked, and how respectful they were of their peers
- Paideia tracker indicating each student’s name, the number of times they spoke using PROS, the number of times they asked questions to their peers, and the number of times they were off-task
- A Paideia seminar self-reflection sheet that includes a personal goal, a class goal, space for tallying a partner’s PROS goals and their own, and reflection questions on the back asking about what went well, what could have gone better, what the most interesting point made in the seminar was, and space to write about their new answer to the culminating question from the Audre Lorde essay from the day before
- A list of 3-4 questions high-level questions that the teacher may ask the class in the Paideia
Method
Students come in and pick up a do now with Jonathan Harris’ “Critical Race Theory” and proceed to complete the “Values, Identities, and Actions” chart independently. The teacher should circulate while they work through this, nudging them as they need to to help them gain confidence in the exercise.
After students have finished the do now, instruct them to pull out their annotated versions of Audre Lorde’s essay, their do now from today, their Paideia rubrics, and their accountable talk stems (have backup copies on hand for our forgetful students whose papers have been stolen by Martians). Make sure, also, to have the acronym PROS written out on the board along with descriptions of what each of the letters stands for. Explain that your role in the seminar is that of a facilitator only. Students are in charge of the discussion and there will be no hand raising or calling on students. Instead, students should speak when they have an idea. Set a class seminar goal for each student to speak three times using PROS. Have students think about whether they are a talker or if they are more introverted. Stress that in a discussion such as this, ideas are so important, so we shouldn’t be silencing ourselves or others. Therefore, tell students that if they know they are talkers, they should wait until at least 3-4 quieter people have spoken before entering the conversation. Once they have spoken once, they should wait for others to chime in.
The teacher should also go over the accountable talk stems. These show us how to ask clarifying questions if we misunderstood an argument from a speaker or if we want to get a deeper understanding of the point they are making. They also show us how to add on to what someone else has said or how to respectfully disagree.
Finally, explain that you will begin the seminar by asking a question. Students should answer that question and build off others’ answers to the question, but they should also, in the course of the seminar where it feels natural, ask some of their self-generated questions. Tell them that they will earn points on the rubric for asking and answering questions thoughtfully.
In a class greater than 20 students, is best to split the class into two groups. Choose a mixture of introverted and extroverted students to be in each group and ensure that you have a mix of students who do the work regularly and those who don’t to allow for the best discussion possible. Pair students on the outside circle (the non-speakers) with those on the inside circle (the speakers). The ones on the outside should be tracking their partner on the inside and encouraging them with thumbs-ups sometimes or with their eyes to get them to speak. If students have never done a Paideia seminar before, it’s fun to pause the discussion halfway through and then have the “coaches” talk to the “players.” It builds a more engaging atmosphere and students feel bolstered by their peers.
Work through the seminar. The teacher should use their tracker to follow the conversation to later score the students. Only ask your questions when answers get redundant or there is a long lull in the conversation. Pause from time to time to note who still needs to speak and to let students know how much time is left. When the first seminar’s time is up, swap seminars and start the process again. Finally, congratulate students on a job well done and have them begin their reflection sheet. If time is up, then have students complete the reflection for homework.
Day 6: Station Activity with Current Artists
Materials
- Do now with a piece of artwork and a short excerpt about the artist or social movement and a three-column “Values, Identities, and Actions” chart
- Uploaded copies of videos and artwork for Nick Cave, Zanele Muholi, Nalini Malani, Fabrice Monteiro and Doulsy, and Clothilde Jiménez
- Supporting audio files and videos for Nick Cave and Nalini Malani
- Excerpt of interview with Fabrice Monteiro
- Excerpt of article about Zanele Muholi
- Biography of Clothilde Jiménez
- Student handout divided into sections for each artist with indications about what to read/look at in what order at each station, plus charts for “Values, Identities, and Actions” for each
Method
For this lesson, the teacher should start with a do now with a piece of artwork from “The Prophecy” or one from an artist that you won’t be discussing. You can project this on the board and include a little background information on a handout for them as well as a “Values, Identities, and Actions” chart.
After students finish the do now, they will share out their findings for up to 5 minutes. The teacher should then introduce the station activity. If class periods are shorter in the school, this activity may take two class periods. If class periods are longer, it will take the full period. The teacher should pre-position materials at table groupings of no more than 4-5 students. For larger classes, simply double the stations – meaning, have two stations for each artist and divide the class in half (Group A and Group B) and then into fifths in each half. Group A should only rotate between the stations on their side of the room and Group B should only rotate between their stations on the other side of the room.
Tell students that they will have 12 minutes at each station to look at the artwork, read the included materials, answer the questions, and fill out the charts. Remind them that they have been interpreting art for multiple lessons now and have the skills needed to grapple with it on their own. The texts, videos, and audio files will help deepen their understanding of the work. Tell them that the teacher will play music when it is time to transition and turn it off when they should be at their stations. Show them that they may not be starting with the first artist on the page, so they should make sure they see who they are working with first and start at that point on the page. Start the activity.
The teacher should circulate in the room making sure to listen in on conversations and nudge students when they are stuck. It’s helpful to start a timer to keep things on track. In addition, the music for transitions keeps students upbeat and allows for smoother transitions. If you notice that students need more time, you can make that adjustment or cut the stations short (i.e. students only have to do four stations for the class period instead of all five).
At the end of class, bring everyone together and ask about the different issues they learned about. What artists spoke to them most? What did they like about the art? What techniques might they want to try out?
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