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!