Protecting our Posterity from the Prejudices of our Past

• Vocabulary words to aid in an collaboration with the English/Language Arts Instructors could include the following:  discrimination, integration, abolition, minority, civil rights, banished, “Jim Crow Laws,” Fourteenth Amendment.
• Day One Opening Activity or HOOK: Hand to students a slip of paper with the following five questions on it and an envelope.  The paper will have the following on it – Students, please read the following questions and circle T for True of F for False.  Then place in the provided envelope, seal it, and write your name on the outside of the envelope. Finally, place in the provided basket in the back of the room – this is NOT a test, please answer truthfully.  We will be using this paper later.

a. T or F Some people just ARE inferior to others

b. T or F Segregation was a good thing for most people

c.  T or F Would you ever use a person’s race as a reason to insult them verbally or through gestures?

d.  T or F Do you believe casual contact between groups of people reduce prejudice?

e.  T or F You know you hold the same or very similar prejudices as your parents and/or peers most of the time 

DAY ONE FIRST LEARNING ACTIVITY

• Hand out notecards to students and explain they will be listening to an audio song from the TRUMAN LIBRARY website called, “My chocolate Sammy” or sometimes called “Little Brown Sammy.”  Interject that they will be writing down 2-4 word phrases they hear which refer to the title of the song. AFTER listening, ask students to share, identify, compare and contrast what they heard to each other’s’ written words.  After approximately five minutes of class discussion, guide them to compare to prejudices today in their own lives (if they have not already guided themselves to personalizing the discussion) (should take 5-10 minutes).
• NEXT, show the clip from the movie, “Remember the Titans,”  when the students are loading the bus to head to training and then later, unloading the bus returning from training, Ask students to examine and explain their own inferences over the white parents’ vs. the African-American parents’ responses (should take about 10-15 minutes). 
• DAY ONE HOMEWORK: ask students to bring a list of 3-5 African-Americans who have influenced their own life (such as scientists, inventors, athletes, actors musicians, etc.).  Challenge them to bring in names which are not that recognizable (instead of Michael Jordan use John Taylor, etc.  Remind students they will need to explain why they picked the names they did). 

• Day Two Opening Activity or HOOK AND learning activity:  Have a Scott Joplin Jazz music playing on video projector (from provided youtube link above) as students come in and then move into R&B Music by Aretha Franklin (Say a little prayer for you), and then (if you have time) play a more modern song/video such as the rap music link provided by Black Jewelz. Give students a notecard to write down words or phrases of emotions then discuss including an analysis of prior biases, point of views, or values we often have because of visualization vs. merely listening. This activity could take as little as 5 minutes or as much as 15 or more minutes depending upon your students’ involvement/discussion. The purpose is to open your students’ eyes to discrimination around them today and which they may possess in pre-conceived ideals because of their own diverse backgrounds.

DAY TWO SECOND LEARNING ACTIVITY

• Now, ask students to share their homework assignment (I would have them hold the cards up, to reveal if they did do it, for a daily grade) names and explanations, again, merely guiding the discussion as (hopefully) several new names are share (such as John Taylor). Conclude after about five minutes remind students the passions, emotions, inferences, values they are experiencing will be important as they create their comprehensive revelation (should take 5-10 minutes).

DAY TWO THIRD LEARNING ACTIVITY

• Instruct students to draw onto a piece of paper a clock with the 3, 6, 9, and 12 hour spots with a line next to each to write a name onto it. Next, continue to explain to them how to fill-in the lines. Discussing with other students, you will write the name of the person you would like to work with onto the 3 hour line (and they will write your name down). Once everyone has their first clock group written down, instruct them to fill in their 6 hour spot, and then when everyone has that line filled in, move onto the 9 and then the 12 hour spot. Finally, explain that these pairings will be utilized as we continue working on our learning activities (this should only take about 5 minutes).

DAY TWO HOMEWORK: hand out copies of the background information of Martin Luther King, Jr. and ask students to read this and be ready to discuss and use it in a learning activity the following day (from the website, www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lesson ).

Day Three Opening Activity or HOOK:  have playing on your classroom video projector Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a Dream,” Speech (from the website, www.hbci.com) and ask students to listen as they come into class (it does take 20-30 minutes therefore you may only play a specific part).

DAY THREE FIRST LEARNING ACTIVITY

• Ask students to get into their 6 o’clock group and then to pair up with another group.  Now, give each group a literary term and a question to answer from his speech, enabling the students to not merely learn the literary terms, but to also learn group collaboration and analyze a primary document.

GROUP ONE – “five score years ago” is an allusion; please define this term and be prepared to explain to the class. Next, explain to what and whom the allusion is to. Third, was this a proper way for him to start his speech AND explain your inference.  Finally, find in his speech an allusion to the Bible and to the Declaration of Independence and do steps 1-3 for those passages also. I would assign this group to your group of students who are your overachievers; it will keep them learning and busy and NOT frustrate others because they finish early and desire everyone else know that.

GROUP TWO – Find two-three examples of alliteration; please define this term and be prepared to explain to the class. Next, explain your example, following the question, “what are some specific acts of injustice against African Americans he speaks of?” 

GROUP THREE - Find two-three examples of a metaphor; please define this term and be prepared to explain to the class. Also, discuss the term “The American Dream (look it up via the internet if needed),” within your group and be ready to share your own explanatory comparison and contrast with the class.

GROUP FOUR – Find 2-3 examples of a simile; please define this term and be prepared to explain to the class.  Also, reread the last section of his speech with lists several states’ names. Be ready to discuss your inference to why he did this.

GROUP FIVE - Find 3 examples of the form of speech called an anaphora; please define this term and be prepared to explain to the class. Include the actual phrases AND your judgment as to why he would utilize these phrases.

GROUP SIX – Find 3 examples of the form of speech called imagery; please define this term and be prepared to explain to the class.  Include the actual phrases and be prepared to clarify why he would feel he needed to use such strong images.

(This should take 30 minutes preparation and 15-20 minutes sharing). After every group has shared, give class time to synthesis what they just learned, listened to, and/or shared.

DAY THREE HOMEWORK: utilizing your own newly acquired information from the last three days learning activities and discussions, answer the following questions in 3-5 sentences: “if you had been alive AND present there the day Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I have a Dream” Speech, what would have been your own personal reaction and why?

Day Four Opening Activity or HOOK: Ask students to share their homework response with each other in their 3 o’clock group.

DAY FOUR LEARNING ACTIVITY ONE

• Direct students into their 12o’clock groups now, giving each a group of copies of the Dear Mr. President Letters (letters children wrote to President Truman about segregation from the TRUMAN LIBRARY WEBSITE; I would include 5 or more letters).  Also, give each group a Document Analysis Worksheet (also from the TRUMAN LIBRARY WEBSITE). Assign each group a journal activity where they will write their own letter to President Truman, utilizing at least five of their vocabulary words in proper usage. After about 15 minutes, ask groups to share their conclusions of the letters and, if they so desire, their own journal entry/letter.

DAY FOUR LEARNING ACTIVITY TWO

• Project upon your white board via your video projector the following quote from August Wilson’s play, “Fences,” “Some people build fences to keep people out and other people build fences to keep people in.” Ask students to ponder what they infer the author’s purpose was in writing this (who was he writing about, for, when, and why). You may need to briefly explain how the phrase, “Keeping people in,” could relate to slavery and “Keeping people out” could relate to the Jim Crow laws (if these are not concepts your students are already familiar with, you may need to explain in more detail).

DAY FOUR LEARNING ACTIVITY THREE

• Direct students to divide into their 9 o’clock groups and then pair up with another group.  Next, give each a Multi-Media Analysis Worksheet also found on the TRUMAN LIVRARY WEBSITE. Explain they will fill it, out as a group, as they watch a clip (you will need to watch it and choose the section which will best fit into your own unique classroom) from the movie, “Banished,” which is about the prejudice of the senior citizen man in Arkansas. After they have the analysis worksheet filled out, ask them to discuss it within their group (3 minutes) and then allow about 5 minutes for the entire class to discuss, comparing this to what they have already learned over the last few days.

DAY FOUR-EIGHT CUMULATIVE COMPREHENSION CREATION

• Ask students to get into their 3 o’clock group and then to join 1-2 other groups (try to create 4 groups). Explain to them they will be relying upon the information they have acquired over the last few days, prior knowledge AND knowledge they will acquire through their now groups’ research. They will work for the next two days researching an event in the Four-State Area of Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri. Assign each group one of the following: 1 = Kansas (Brown vs. Board of Education); 2 = Oklahoma (Tulsa Race Riots); 3 = Arkansas (Little Rock Central High School Integration);  4 = Missouri (Pierce City Race Riots). Give each group a copy of the following explanation: Each group will investigate and present their topic, using at least four primary and  four secondary sources along with statistical datum. They will use technology (hopefully in their tech class, if possible) to create an approximately 8 minute power point, Prezi, or webpage, distinguishing between fact, fiction, and points-of-view through analysis of the primary and secondary sources.  They will identify the consequences when governments (institutions) fail to meet the needs of individual or groups thus allowing cultural conflict. Finally, the group will show and share their inferences for a conflict resolution. 

DAYS 8-10 WILL BE PRESENTATION DAYS

• You could add to this lesson by asking one group to peer critique another group.
• At the end of the presentations, hand back the envelopes to the students, ask them to open and read, and then allow class reflective discussion.