Civil Rights, Day 6 - Class Recap

Sand on a beach near Waldport, at the Oregon Coast. I went on a day trip during Spring Break and really liked how the sand looked like a fingerprint design, so I took a quick snap on my iPhone.

Hello class,

It was so great to see everyone again! I hope that you all had a restful and enjoyable Spring Break. I am certainly excited to get back to class! Here's what we did today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.
SS.HS.CO.ALT.01: I can organize ideas in a logically sequenced manner and in a way that is appropriate to the content area.

Soundtrack: “Welcome Back" by Ma$e. For obvious reasons. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/31/14:
Spring Break Recap
News Brief
Physical Traits
The Differences Between Us

Homework: Have elements 1+2 done for activism project. Read the blog! Next news brief: Sota.

Spring Break Recap: To start the class, I had students go talk with the person on the opposite side of the room, as if it were a mirror image. I just wanted you to check in about how Spring Break went and if anything interesting or noteworthy happened. Then we came back together as a class and I asked if there were any especially fun activities anyone did.

News Brief: Next, we turned to the news and this story that Keenan brought in for us: CNN.com - Washington mudslide death toll climbs, yet hope remains. This is a very big regional story for us. It did rain a LOT in the Pacific Northwest over the break, and this was perhaps a tragic consequence of all of that precipitation. According to the article, at least 21 people have died and 30 are still missing as a result of the mudslide in Oso, Washington.

Physical Traits: To get back into thinking about race and civil rights, I asked the class to brainstorm physical differences aside from race and gender. We came up with a list that looked something like:

Hair color
Eye color
Blood Type
Ability to curl tongue
Hand preference

To show how different those classifications were, I had everyone stand up and try to classify themselves based on these characteristics. The point here was that (obviously) the groups changed for each question. So why is race so important in our society as a definition?

The Differences Between Us: A few things here. First, I talked about the importance of equity work and study to me, as a white male teacher. I realize right off the bat that the color of my skin influences the ways in which students see me. I also wanted to acknowledge that racism and negative social outcomes based on race are still very much an issue - that ignoring race does a huge disservice to the problem.

I also talked a bit about the term "people of color," which I have been using in class. I showed this recent NPR article about the history with referring to, well, people of color: NPR.org - The Journey From 'Colored' To 'Minorities' To 'People Of Color'. It appears there is an interesting discussion of the term in the comments, as well.

After that, I introduced the first episode of Race: The Power of An Illusion - The Differences Between Us. Here are the questions to go along with the documentary:

Google Drive: The Differences Between Us Film Questions

If you missed class, or wanted to see the documentary again, we made it to about 44 minutes in, here: MSU.edu - Race: Power of Illusion.

Next class, we will finish this, then go to the library to work on research for your activism project. Remember, please have parts 1 and 2 done!

Civil Rights, Day 5 - Class Recap

In 2011, I went to San Francisco for Spring Break (my brother was living there at the time) and took this picture.

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Spring Break! I know that I am certainly looking forward to resting up a bit and coming back with an abundance of energy! Here's what we did today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.
SS.HS.CO.ALT.01: I can organize ideas in a logically sequenced manner and in a way that is appropriate to the content area.

Soundtrack: “Come & Get It” by Selena Gomez. Selected because I think just about everyone is ready for Spring Break. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/20/14:
News Brief
Little Rock Nine
Murdered for the Movement
Activism Project

Homework: Have a great Spring Break! Revise historical investigation, if needed! Read the blog! Next news brief: Keenan.

News Brief: Shannon selected this story to talk about today: CNN.com - No sign of mystery objects as Australia suspends search for the day. This is about the Malaysia Airlines jet that disappeared almost two weeks ago and the search for it - the relation to the United States being that we had citizens aboard and we are helping with the search.

We also chatted for a little bit about what we were up to over the break. I hope you all are safe and have fun while resting up!

Little Rock Nine: I gave the class a few minutes to finish the reading on the Little Rock Nine, then had everyone answer these two questions:

1) Why do you think Elizabeth Eckford encountered such a hostile reaction when she arrived at Central High School?
2) How did societal hierarchies connect to the events surrounding the integration of Central High School?

I will use these in relation with the "Early Struggles" responses to assess your proficiency with the societal hierarchies learning target.

Murdered For The Movement: Next, we did an activity which involved everyone taking on the persona of someone that had been murdered as a part of the Civil Rights Movement. Each student had someone (or multiple people connected by the same case) different. The point of this was to showcase various different stories, like Emmett Till's, of what happened and how little justice there was for the families of the victims.

Activism Project: Finally, at the end of class, I passed out the Activism Project and explained what I am looking for. During Spring Break, I want you to select an idea that you might want to do. Nothing more - this whole project is not homework over the break. We will keep working on it when we get back. If you missed class, or wanted to see a copy of the assignment again, here it is:

Google Drive - Civil Rights Unit: Activism Project

This is pretty free-ranging in terms of what you might want to select. Just try to make it something you are passionate about, please! Let me know if I can help, or if you want to run ideas by me in the comments!

Civil Rights, Day 4 - Class Recap

A quote from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. Photo taken in 2011.

Hello everyone,

Thank you for another good day! We had some fun discussions and I think some interesting content in class. Read on for the recap:

Learning Targets Addressed:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.
SS.HS.CO.ALT.01: I can organize ideas in a logically sequenced manner and in a way that is appropriate to the content area.

Soundtrack: “Stop The Rock” by Apollo 440. Selected for today because of the topic of the Little Rock Nine, who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/18/14:
News Brief
Social Hierarchies
Segregation Pictures
Little Rock Nine

Homework: Revise historical investigation, if needed. Read the blog! Next news brief: Shannon.

---

News Brief: The news brief today slipped Sergio's mind over the long weekend, so we did not have an article to talk about. It was fun talking about your weekends, though!

Social Hierarchies: Before I gave everyone the chance to do the "Early Struggles" reading response for learning target credit, I showed this example of what a social hierarchy (a system by which society ranks categories of people) is, from Ancient Egypt:

Thinking about that sort of example, I then had everyone write out responses to the following two questions:

1) How does the term "societal hierarchy" apply to African Americans in the United States?

2) What has happened to African Americans as a result of societal hierarchies?

Segregation Pictures: Next, we got up and looked around at various pictures representing segregation in the United States, which were posted around the room. This activity was designed to get people up and moving around - though some ingenious students defeated this by using their phones to take pictures of the pictures. Oh, you youngsters... In any case, thank you for the participation here!

Little Rock Nine: To start this section off, I showed this video clip from Marquette University, which goes over the basics of what happened in Little Rock's Central High School in 1957, with the forced integration:

After this, I passed out a reading which we did in much the same style as the "Early Struggles" reading last class. This was about the background to integration, with a specific focus on what happened in Little Rock. The questions we will do next class are:
1) Why do you think Elizabeth Eckford encountered such a hostile reaction when she arrived at Central High School?
2) How did societal hierarchies connect to the events surrounding the integration of Central High School?

Next class (the last before Spring Break), you will answer these questions, do an activity involving some role-playing, and get the main assignment for the unit, to at least think about over break.

Civil Rights, Day 3 - Class Recap

It is almost a week since the Malaysian Airlines 777 disappeared without a trace. This is an Air France Airbus A340, landing at St. Maarten in the Caribbean in 2009.

Hi everyone,

Welcome to another long weekend! Well, for you, not for me. Lots of grading to be done! Then a full week of school next week before Spring Break. Let's keep up the hard work! Here's the recap for the day:

Learning Targets Addressed:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: “Learn to Fly” by Foo Fighters. Selected for today because the ability to learn together was mandated by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and because of the disappearing Malaysia Airlines 777. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/13/14:
News Brief
Historical Investigation Grades
Brown v. Board of Education 
Early Struggles

Homework: Revise your historical investigation, if needed! Read the blog! Next news brief: Sergio

News Brief: Prathyoosha selected this article to talk about this morning: CNN.com - Nine still missing after Manhattan explosion leaves at least 4 dead, 63 hurt. Obviously, a tragic story! An entire building exploded in New York City, potentially because of a gas leak. 

Historical Investigation Grades: I was up very late last night finishing these up so that you could have them back before the long weekend. Some notes: 1) remember that you can revise and get a better proficiency score, if you would like. 2) Please go through every page and (try to) read my notes about everything. 3) Let me know how I can help, if you are at all confused about what you got, or how to improve!

Grades are now posted by student ID # in the classroom, and will be updated as we continue to go through the rest of the semester. You should always know where you are at and how you could improve!

Brown v. Board of Education: Last class, we talked about Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which legalized segregation of races in the United States. Today, we looked at the U.S. Supreme Court decision that eventually overruled it: Brown v. Board of Education (1954). This was a similar exercise, of me reading the handout and then giving the class time to answer the five questions associated with it. Please keep these! Both the handout and your answers will help you will the upcoming learning target on social hierarchies! 

Early Struggles: The rest of class was devoted to getting into small groups and going through a reading about the early stages of the Civil Rights movement. The reading was taken from Teaching Tolerance, and this book. I wanted students, as a group, to be trying to take notes on the answers to the questions of:

1) How does the term "societal hierarchy" apply to African Americans in the United States?

2) What has happened to African Americans as a result of societal hierarchies?

Next class, you will use these notes and your previous answers on the court cases to try and demonstrate proficiency on the learning target.

Have a great weekend!

Civil Rights, Day 2 - Class Recap

Kanye West (left) and Jay Z (right) at the Watch The Throne tour stop in Boston, 2011.

Hi everyone,

Welcome back from your long weekend! A short three day week is now a third of the way done. Read on to see what we did today in class.

Learning Targets Addressed:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: “Through the Wire” by Kanye West. Selected for today because of the lyrics - a verse reads:

How do you console my mom or give her light support?Telling her your son's on life supportAnd just imagine how my girl feelOn the plane scared as hell that her guy look like Emmett Till

AGENDA 3/11/14:
News Brief
Emmett Till
Plessy v. Ferguson
Early Struggles

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Prathyoosha

News Brief: Maddie selected this article to bring in today: KGW.com - Portland named 'Fittest City in America' - Hooray! All of our clean air and bike lanes, apparently. Thanks, Maddie!

Emmett Till: We finished watching a documentary called The Murder of Emmett Till, which we started last class. There were about 30 minutes left. If you missed one or both days, here's the video again:

After the film, we went over the documentary questions that I passed out last class. My main point in showing this was to drive home the point how brutal and unjust life was in the era we are talking about. I wanted to drive home the point that civil rights are not just about speeches in black and white - this happened less than 60 years ago, and to this day, we still have hate crimes happen all the time. This case of a 14 year old boy being murdered and mutilated for whistling at a white woman, and his killers being totally freed of all responsibility inflamed the passions of so many people. How could this happen? These are the same sorts of questions we ask today.

Plessy v. Ferguson: The rest of class focused on going over the U.S. Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Here is a recap of the case, which said that segregation of races was legal, because it was not discrimination - specifically, segregation of different railroad cars in Louisiana. I passed out a worksheet that looked at the case and had the class answer five questions related to it. Next class, we will move on to looking at some of the early struggles of the civil rights movement and how they were overcome.

Civil Rights, Day 1 - Class Recap

Emmett Till was raised in Chicago, Illinois, before taking a fateful trip to Mississippi one summer. This is the famous Chicago Theatre sign, in 2011. 

Hi everyone,

Thanks for checking in on the blog during your long weekend! We are finally getting into some new content in learning about Civil Rights in America. Read on to check out what we did today!

Learning Targets Addressed:

SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: “Cry Me A River” by Justin Timberlake. Selected because of the ongoing crisis in Crimea, Ukraine, and because it was raining out today. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/6/14:
News Brief
Literacy Test
Lynchings (Cornell Notes)
Emmett Till


Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Maddie

News Brief: Jessica had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: CNN.com - Major changes coming to 2016 SAT test: Here's what, how and why. Sad news for your graduating class, as it appears the newer (and apparently easier) test does not go into effect until after you graduate. Still, very interesting news! Thanks, Jessica!

Literacy Test: After the news brief, I passed out a test and said there were only ten minutes to complete it, with every answer being correct in order to pass it. This was supposed to be impossible, by design! Here's a link to a page with the blank test on it:

Slate.com - Take the Impossible “Literacy” Test Louisiana Gave Black Voters in the 1960s

It is somewhat difficult to ascertain with certainty if this actual test was used, but it does appear to be one from the State of Louisiana, used to deny people of color the right to vote. These tests were given to anyone that election officials wanted - which was typically only people of color, not whites. If you are interested in seeing the "answers" (many of which were pretty subjective) again, here they are:

Google Drive: "Answers" to the Louisiana Literacy Test for Voting

I hope this was an interesting activity to start out with! I also hope the point was driven home that having some sort of standard or qualification for voting rights aside from age is discriminatory.

Lynchings: For this section, I talked about the importance of not ignoring, or sweeping under the rug, the horrific and brutal history in the United States when it comes to lynchings. The article I read aloud to the class, as everyone was taking Cornell Notes, was from this website:

CrimeLibrary.com - Carnival of Death: Lynching in America (Page 2)

I also showed some statistics compiled about people lynched in the United States from 1889-1918, which can be found here:

Google Drive: Lynching Data Set, 1889-1918

At the end of reading the article, I gave the class a bit of time to try and wrap up taking notes using the Cornell format, then we moved on to:

Emmett Till: This is one of the more famous lynchings in United States history. The documentary we started watching in class is called The Murder of Emmett Till. If you missed class and wanted to catch up (we will watch the rest next class), it is here:

We made it about 25 minutes in today.

Thank you for your focus and hard work! Enjoy your long weekend!

Forced Choice, Day 2 - Class Recap

This is the room inside Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Constitution of the United States was debated and signed. Picture taken in 2008.

Dear class,

Thank you so much for another great day of talking, listening, and debating! I hope that you found it as interesting and enlightening as I did. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley. Selected for today because you were standing up for what you believe in, and it relates to civil rights! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/4/14:
News Brief
Finish Forced Choice
Reflection
Lynchings

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Jessica.

News Brief: Today's news brief was brought in by Stacey. She chose this article to talk about: CNN.com - New York Times corrects article about '12 Years a Slave' -- 161 years later. This is especially topical because 12 Years a Slave just won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and because we are learning about Civil Rights in the upcoming unit. Thanks, Stacey!

I also talked for a while about the ongoing situation in Ukraine, where the U.S. government is trying to help ensure that Russia does not take over. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on what is happening, since it has dominated world news the last few days.

Finish Forced Choice: I was actually thinking we would be able to wrap this up in plenty of time to start the next bit, but the opinions and discussions were just so good that I decided to hold off until next class. The three questions we talked about today were:

5. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.
7. The government of a country should have the power to make decisions that the majority of the people in it do not support.
8. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?

Reflection: At the end of class, I had everyone write a reflection based on the following prompt:

Write a one page reflection on the activity. What was the most difficult or controversial question for you? Why? How do these sorts of questions relate to the study of civil rights?

This was due in class, and will help me determine how much you took away from this two day long activity. Let me know in the comments if you have any further questions or, ahem, comments!