Tuesday, May 5, 2015

A Resource to Teach Teens about the Events in Baltimore




A Resource to Teach Teens about the Events in Baltimore
A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson
 

Developing Historic Perspective in Teens to Help Them Understand the Events in Baltimore and Current Events

Teenagers are quick to give their opinions on just about everything—from their favorite brands, music, sports, and hot news topics like the events that are now unfolding in Baltimore.  Teens have not fully developed their reasoning capacity and often do not have the background necessary to formulate an informed opinion, they are susceptible to biased media coverage often make snap judgments based on unverified facts.   They need guidance and practice in analyzing information and drawing conclusion based on valid sources.  They need to build their historic knowledge to give them perspective on current events.  They need opportunities to listen and speak about issues that are important to them. 

 

Knowing this about teens, I was inspired by the events in Baltimore to develop a unit of instruction.  Through a series of engaging activities, students are guided to build their understanding of the concepts Protest and Riot and analyze examples of each throughout history.  You can access the materials here!


Sequence of Activities

1. Historic Photograph Analysis: Students examine details from several historic photos of an event and make and support inferences then they read an article about the event and write an unbiased summary of the event.  The first event is the March on Washington.  Notice how the sequence of photos draws students into the event.  The same process is repeated with a series of photos from the Watts Riots.
A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson

A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson

A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson

A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson
 


2. Concept definition Building: Students work together to build their understanding of the concepts of Protest and Riot.  Discussing examples and nonexamples in relation to the characteristics helps build critical thinking skills as students much justify their selections. 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Protest-Versus-Riot-A-historic-perspective-to-understand-current-events-1844287
A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson
 


3. Word Splash- Students learn and interact with words related to Protest and Riot.

A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson

4. Voices Calling for Change through History: Students explore various text based, video, and audio sources bout carious calls for change through history. Students discuss these events and select one to learn more about. Here is a padlet with resources for students to refer to.

A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson

5. Class Museum of Social Action: Students create a visual and report for their selected event and present to visiting classmates.

A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson

6. In The News: Baltimore-A Socratic Discussion:  Students read several news articles and participate in an academic discussion, incorporating all they have learned.

A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson

7. Take Action! Service Learning Project: Students select a problem in their school or community to raise awareness of and document their journey in a scrapbook or video and journal.

 

A LiteracyLightbulb Lesson
 

 

 


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