Classroom Activities
Day 1
Where do you spend your time? Why do you spend your time there?
Teaching strategies to use: Free recall, journaling, graphic organizers, collaborative learning
Standards addressed: CC.1.4.11-12.A, CC.1.4.11-12.B, CC.1.4.11-12.C
Students will journal about where they spend their time and why, discuss with their classmates, and create collaborative free recall lists on the board.
Day 2
What makes a place somewhere you don’t want to spend time?
Teaching strategies to use: Free recall, journaling, conferencing, check-in/check-out
Standards addressed: CC.1.4.11-12.C, CC.1.4.11-12.D, CC.1.4.11-12.G
Students will journal about why they might not want to spend time in some places, discuss with their peers, and share with the class. Students will check-out at the end of the class with a question they have about why places can be uninviting, written on a sticky note.
Day 3
What happens when spaces are threatened? Does the reason matter?
Teaching strategies to use: Journaling, anonymous questioning, graphic organizers, collaborative learning
Standards addressed: CC.1.4.11-12.C, CC.1.4.11-12.D, CC.1.4.11-12.G
Students will journal about how people react when their spaces are threatened, either from personal experiences or from the news or history classes. They will discuss with classmates, and then have a class discussion about why spaces can be threatening and if the reason is important to the reality. Students will be given the opportunity to ask questions/share experiences anonymously at the end of class with a nameless sticky note.
Days 4 and 5
Overview of civil rights protests - A different kind of protest for space
Teaching strategies to use: Flipped classroom, jigsaw, journaling, graphic organizer, anonymous questioning, check-in/ check-out, thinking hats
Standards addressed: CC.1.2.11-12.A, CC.1.2.11-12.C, CC.1.2.11-12.D, CC.1.2.11-12.G, CC.1.4.11-12.I, 5.2.12.B
Students will watch selected videos (decided on by the teacher) about civil rights protest before coming to class and will be prepared to discuss in class. Recommended to do this in a jigsaw manner, where a group of students each watch videos on a different civil rights topics and then become the expert on that subject to teach their group (jigsaw.) Students will approach videos and texts in class with the thinking hats strategy, and turn in any questions they have on nameless sticky notes.
Days 6 and 7
Historical protests over space in Philadelphia: What worked, what didn’t, and why
Focus on The Black Bottom - protests including art by residents and students
Teaching strategies to use: Flipped classroom, jigsaw, journaling, graphic organizer, anonymous questioning, check-in/ check-out, thinking hats
Standards addressed: CC.1.2.11-12.A, CC.1.2.11-12.C, CC.1.2.11-12.D, CC.1.2.11-12.G, CC.1.4.11-12.I, 5.2.12.B
Students will come to class having watched a video or two about the Black Bottom and protests over expansion of the University of Philadelphia, and be ready to discuss with classmates. Students will approach videos and texts in class with the thinking hats strategy, and turn in any questions they have on nameless sticky notes.
Day 8
So why don’t we have a stadium in downtown Philadelphia? Research and discuss
Teaching strategies to use: Formative assessment, journaling, graphic organizers
Standards addressed: CC.1.2.11-12.A, CC.1.2.11-12.C, CC.1.2.11-12.D, CC.1.2.11-12.G, CC.1.4.11-12.I, CC.1.4.11-12.G, CC.5.2.12.B
Students will reflect on their own experience having lived through one downtown stadium attempt in their journals, and learn about other times that big business has tried to encroach on Center City Philadelphia. Students will do their own research, and debate amongst themselves whether or not there should be a sports stadium in the middle of the city.
Day 9
Over-policing: why does it happen and can it be stopped?
Teaching strategies to use: Flipped classroom, free recall, journaling, anonymous questioning, conferencing, check-in/check-out
Standards addressed: CC.1.2.11-12.A, CC.1.2.11-12.B, CC.1.2.11-12.G, CC.1.4.11-12.C
Teacher will assign students a video or two on over-policing in urban communities, especially of Black teens, to be watched before class. Students will discuss with classmates and journal about their own experience in addition to what they’ve watched. Students will ponder how their world might look without over-policing and how it might actually become a reality. Teacher will check in with students, as this can be a difficult topic for some.
Day 10
Now what? Where do we take all this information and how do we take action?
Teaching strategies to use: Inquiry-based learning, journaling, conferencing, formative assessment
Standards addressed: CC.1.2.11-12.C, CC.1.2.11-12.D, CC.1.2.11-12.G, CC.1.4.11-12.I, CC.1.4.11-12.G, CC.5.2.12.B
Students will journal to reflect on what new things they’ve learned and how they want to proceed with the knowledge they have. This might be on a classroom level, or as large as a city-wide idea or even larger. Students will discuss and the teacher will group students with similar ideas together to discuss their ideas and how they might be feasible. The teacher will conference with groups, and each group will hand in a proposal that details their ideas and assesses how feasible those ideas are.
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