The way that I would teach chapter 14 of Takaki would involved a jigsawing exercise so that so many topics can be covered in one class and students can gain insight into multiple perspectives. I will focus on the involvement of different groups in World War II. Students will be broken up into several groups : Japanese, Chinese, Indians (natives), Mexicans (chicanos), and African-Americans. Students will get into their groups and review chapter 14 seeking to answer the following questions about their given identity:
1. What was the contribution of your group to the American effort in World War II?
2. How was your group simultaneously being treated on the homefront? How were they recieved after the war? Did their rights generally improve? How about their socio-economic status?
3. If you were actually a member of your assigned group during World War II, would you want to serve in the American military? Why or why not?
Students will discuss in groups. Then the class will come back together and each group will give us the background on their group and how they have responded to these questions. IF we have time we may want to explore the question: Why is it that those with the least rights and status generally serve at a higher rate in the armed forces? Why are so many new citizens so eager to fight for their country?
Monday, December 3, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
NCLB: destroying our democracy?
A very good Washington Post article about the effects of NCLB on teaching civics and government.
"Mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the tests assess chiefly math and reading comprehension. Basic civics and history have suffered. As a result, teenagers and young adults often have no clue why the United States is different from, say, Egypt or Russia; they have little idea what liberty is."
Check it out!
"Mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the tests assess chiefly math and reading comprehension. Basic civics and history have suffered. As a result, teenagers and young adults often have no clue why the United States is different from, say, Egypt or Russia; they have little idea what liberty is."
Check it out!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Takaki 13 differentiated
I would start the class by having students think about and respond to the following on page 368 of Takaki- “W.E.B. DuBois decided that they should consider “voluntary segregation” …”They should “create a closed economic circle” - shop at Negro-owned stores stocked with Negro-grown good transported by Negro shippers, and processed by Negroes.”
I would then delve into the issue of “is segregation a logical solution?” I would have students in the lower level class first make their own list of advantages and disadvantages of segregated living for a minority group, in this case African-Americans. I would then have them get together in groups and share their responses with each other. The group would then be able to use the book to pick out advantages and disadvantages and add to their list. We would then come back together as a class and discuss the issue.
For the “on-level” class I would have them dig deeper into this issue and I would have them use higher order thinking skills. They would be forced to adopt one position over the other in two teams and then prepare for a mini-debate on the issue to be held in the second half of class. They can use the book to help them form their arguments but also build collaboration and group skills as they prepare their team strategy in the debate.
For the advanced class I would explore the same issue. I would have them do the advantages/ disadvantages list for homework the night before. We would then do the debate but then we would expand by exercising transfer and seeing if they can transfer their conceptual reasoning to other situations like for example- is it moral to use segregation as the solution as in the Israel/ Palestine conflict? Might it be the only practical approach? Does it have to be one or the other?
Monday, November 19, 2007
Daily Instruction- Media Literacy Unit
Media Literacy
12 Day Unit
Daily Instruction- 12 90 minute block classes
Day 1:
Objective: The students will define media and discover the different types of media they are exposed to on a daily basis, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each medium. Students will learn about media use in the
Methods: Students will begin by taking a brief survey that will explore how they use different types of media in daily life. Students will then be asked to list some of the differences between these media: tv, print, radio, and the internet. In groups we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each medium and then discuss together as a class.
We will then read as a class page 16 from Al Gore’s book “The Assault on Reason.” The teacher will call on a few students, each to read one paragraph. The students will then react to this reading and the class will discuss the differences between one-way mediums and more interactive mediums like the internet. What are the advantages and disadvantages to each?
The Wikipedia debate- Is Wikipedia a valid source? Students will list reasons why they think wikipedia is a useful tool or not, and whether it is a valid source for research. Is wikipedia more or less reliable than a paper encyclopedia?
Materials:
- Media Use Survey
- “Evaluate a News Source” handout 1.1
- Group handout 1.2 – Advantages and Disadvantages of Mass Media
- Copy of page 16 from “The Assault on Reason” by Al Gore (handout 1.3)
Assessment: Media use survey will serve as a form of diagnostic assessment to see what their media use and perceptions are going into the unit. Discussion will be used as a formative assessment.
Differentiation: Group work
Homework: Begin to monitor your news consumption and media habits.
Day 2: Fact vs. Opinion & Take on the Text
Objectives:
- Students should be able to differentiate facts and opinions, neutral language and bias language.
- Students should be able to recognize how a source may sometimes pass off an opinion as neutral or factual information.
- Students should understand how prevalent advertisements are and how they attempt to influence us.
- Students should be able to recognize subtle bias in the textbook, understand multiple perspectives on history, and practice effective revision and paraphrasing skills.
Methods:
- The teacher will distribute copies of an editorial about junk food in schools.
- On their own they will be asked to read the article to differentiate facts from opinions. Students will highlight facts and underline opinions.
- We will then discuss as a class what facts we can point out and what opinions the author expresses. Ask students how they know the difference.
- Distribute magazines, ask students to browse advertisements.
- Ask students to record a blank piece of notebook paper how many pages are consumed by advertising. They should pick an article and read it. They will write the facts in one column, opinions in another, and sentences that they can not determine in a 3rd column.
- Ask and Discuss: Was is difficult to differentiate sometimes between facts and opinions? Why do you think this is?
- The teacher will ask students to put everything else away and take out their textbook and their notebook or blank paper. The teacher will talk about the importance of understanding that history is written by the victor and that there are multiple histories and perspectives. The teacher will choose a chapter from the textbook. Students will be directed to pick a claim, assertion, or statement passed off as a fact from the textbook and dispute it. Students should explain why they think the statement is misleading and if the statement includes bias language. Students will then be asked to re-write that paragraph from the text with more neutral language or in a way that is fair and includes multiple perspectives. Students will then share the original paragraph, their new version, and why they changed it.
Materials:
- Salt
- Newspapers
- Textbook
- Notebook
Assessment:
Differentiation:
Homework:
- Read “Re-Thinking Objectivity” from the Columbia Journalism Review here- http://cjrarchives.org/issues/2003/4/objective-cunningham.asp .
- Read page 191-194 in “News: The Politics of Illusion” by Lance Bennett.
Day 3: Truth or Objectivity?
Objectives:
· Students should have developed an opinion on whether objectivity or balance, is a more important goal for the media and whether they think the media is responsible for achieving either, both, or neither of those. Students should also weigh the advantages of striving for objectivity and balance versus an approach based only on truth and accuracy.
· Students should be able to articulate the arguments for and against each side of this issue.
· Students should have an understanding about how the American media approach to balance and objectivity differs from the approach of many other democracies in the world.
Methods:
I will start the class with that short video clip and brief reaction (5-10 mins)
I will then put up on the board this definition- “Objectivity- the practice of presenting both sides of an issue.” Students will then be asked what the problem is with this definition. We will discuss the issue of presenting multiple perspectives vs. dualism (2 sides to every issue), whether each side to any given issue has equal weight and deserves to be presented as equally important. To illustrate this I will have a student pick an issue (out of list or out of a hat) and have students brainstorm all of the different opinions on that issue as I write them on the board (10 mins)
Next I will present a different definition for objectivity- “not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased: an objective opinion.” Based on that students will be asked to discuss whether it is possible for individual reporters to truly be objective. (5 mins)
Students will then be given two articles on the same issue. One article will be from an American newspaper and one will be from a European newspaper. The articles will be covering the same issue. Students will have 5 minutes to read the two short articles.
Students will then be put into 6 groups with about 5 people in each group. The group will have about 5 minutes to discuss what differences they found between how the two newspapers covered the issue, how many viewpoints they presented and whether they believe the emphasis was put on truth and accuracy or objectivity and balance. (5 mins in groups)
After the groups have finished discussing we will come back together as a class for a 15 minute closing discussion with the following guiding questions:
1. In striving to achieve objectivity and balance in reporting, do we end up accomplishing neither?
2. Would we be better off if American media were run more like Europe ? Should each channel, network, etc… state their bias upfront so that at least the viewers know where they are coming from or is the goal of objectivity worth it even if we can’t be perfect?
Materials:
· Projector and laptop to play video clips
· Copies of the articles being used- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13827858/ and http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1818696,00.html
· “News: The Politics of Illusion by Lance Bennett.
· Students will need a notebook, pen, and hi-liter.
Assessment:
This lesson will be assessed in a few ways. The class discussions, both at the beginning and end of class will serve as formative assessments to see how their knowledge is developing as we explore each subtopic of this lesson. The way this skill will ultimately be assessed is through our media literacy performance assessment at the end of the unit. Students will be asked to keep a journal of the media that they watch and use and one of the things they will be asked to observe is how that television program, newspaper article, radio show, etc… either promotes a certain agenda openly, or strives for objectivity and balance. Their analysis will be a good indicator of whether or not they have developed the right analytical skills and whether they can put them into practice.
Differentiation: Working in groups (interpersonal), using technology (video clips)
Homework:
- Read “A Brief History of the Public Interest Standard” here- http://www.ibiblio.net/pub/electronic-publications/stay-free/ml/readings/public_interest.pdf
- Read “The Role of the Media in a democracy” here- http://usinfo.org/media/press/essay3.htm
- Reflection on the readings- homework handout
Day 4: Public Interest vs. The Bottom Line
Objectives: Students will explore the debate about the role of the free press in a democratic society, develop their own opinions about the responsibility of the media to the American people, and critically examine the commercialization of news.
Methods:
- Define: Hard news, soft news, infotainment, sensationalism, ratings.
- Have students list examples of hard news, examples of soft news
- What do you think the mainstream media in
- Short lecture on the commercialization of the news based on this- http://www.ibiblio.net/pub/electronic-publications/stay-free/ml/intro_history_dis.pdf
- Students will be given a news website and be asked to evaluate the balance of “infotainment” to “hard news.” Students will have approximately 10 minutes to examine the website and come to their conclusions.
- A speaker will come (An editor of a local newspaper) in to discuss the choices editors face in balancing pop culture and soft news with hard news and news in the public interest. After a brief speech students will be able to ask the speaker questions about the balance between serving their democratic function and ensuring their success as a business.
Materials:
- Speaker!
- You Tube clip- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCEZaHCWmsI – is THAT news?
- Laptops with internet access
Assessment: Participation in the discussion will serve as a formative assessment, students will be judged both by participation, questions asked, and listening.
Differentiation: Use of neighborhood resources
Homework: Read page 159-163 by Lance Bennett from “News: The Politics of Illusion” on “The Top Ten Reasons the Press Took a Pass on the Iraq War.”
Day 5:
Objectives:
- Analyze whether the media failed to critically question claims and assertions made by the administration in the lead up to the Iraq War.
Methods:
Class will begin with a clip from the movie “Uncovered: The Truth About the Iraq War,” The clip will discuss the idea of the media’s failure to critically examine the justifications made for war in
Students should have read “The Top Ten Reasons the Press Took a Pass on the Iraq War” for homework. Students will then be put into groups of 3 or 4. They are first to review each of the ten reasons to determine whether they think that they are accurate. They are then to try to come to a group consensus about which reasons they think were the most influential in the media’s lack of scrutiny leading up to the Iraq War. We will then come back together as a class and try to come up with a consensus top 5.
Students will then read two mea culpa’s on the Iraq War, one by the editorial board of the New York Times and one by Bill O’Reilly (conservative commentator).
Brainstorm:
- Should there be consequences for media that fails at its most basic responsibilities?
- How can we make sure that doesn’t happen again?
- How can average citizens hold the media accountable?
Materials:
- ‘Uncovered’ documentary DVD
- Students can use the timeline of
- Mea Culpa’s- http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/26/international/middleeast/26FTE_NOTE.html?ex=1195621200&en=669901f1eb67aa10&ei=5070
AND
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/11/politics/main599684.shtml
Assessment: Group work and consensus building in developing reasons the media failed regarding
Differentiation:
Homework:
- Read “Why Media Ownership Matters” article here- http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0403-25.htm
- Read “Facts on Media in
Day 6: Corporate Media and Consolidation, a threat to democracy?
Objectives:
- Students should develop an understanding of the consolidation of media ownership in the
Methods:
We will start by defining several terms as a class: Media consolidation, FCC, conglomerate.
We will then view a You Tube video of a Bill Moyer’s newscast on the FCC and media consolidation.
Students will be divided into 6 groups representing GE, Time Warner, Disney, News Corp, CBS, and Viacom- the 6 large media conglomerates in the
Materials:
Assessment: Graphic organizer and presentation
Differentiation: Visual/ Spatial assessment method
Homework: none
Day 7: Censored: The stories the media didn’t want you to know about. Why not?
Objectives:
- Students will be able to identify reasons why stories are often censored in the mainstream media and who it benefits.
Methods: Today students will begin by choosing one topic from the list of the top 25 censored stories of 2007 from Project Censorship. Students can choose to work on their own or with a partner. First students will read the article on their issue and then work on paraphrasing the idea for the class. Students should consider the following: what is the main idea of this report? What is the supporting evidence provided? Are the sources reliable? Why do you think this story was not widely reported on? Who would want it censored and why? After students have had a chance to consider these points and summarize the article, they will give a short presentation to the class on their story. If time remains in class we will have a more broad discussion about what reasons mainstream media sources might have for censorship.
Materials:
- Top 25 censored stories of 2007 and archives- http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm
- Student notebooks
Assessment: Presentation of their story and analysis of why the story was censored and who it benefits.
Differentiation: Differentiates between intrapersonal and interpersonal learners by allowing them to work on their own or with a partner.
Homework:
Day 8: Political Language
Objectives:
- To acquire the skills to decode and break-down political messages and understand emotive language and how it is used to advance an agenda
- To learn how to fact check information sources and political candidates in order to make more informed political decisions.
Methods:
Asking the right questions
To the teacher: Encourage students not to accept claims at face value. Rather, have students test claims by asking a few questions. Who is speaking, and where are they getting their information? How can I validate what they’re saying? What facts would prove this claim wrong? Does the evidence presented really back up what’s being said? If an ad says a product is “better,” for instance, what does that mean? Better than what?
Arguments consist of sentences that use language informatively. But, of course, not all sentences are informative. Some are emotive, which means they use language in a poetic fashion. Emotive language is intended to express feelings and attitudes. In the case of these two advertisements, the emotive function is meant to trigger a certain reaction in viewers. The word "amnesty" could inspire a sense of injustice. Other emotive terms, such as "
Emotive language can keep viewers from realizing that key facts are missing and leave them open to accepting misleading statements. For example: The Citizens United ad, after it rekindles the fear of 9/11, claims the bill would put "potential terrorists...on a path to U.S. citizenship," which is both vague ("potential terrorists") and inaccurate since it implies the bill would allow actual terrorists to become U.S. citizens.
Have students view the Grassfire.org and Citizens United advertisements and review the storyboards (Grassfire.org, Citizens United). Give each student a copy of the Emotive Language Handout. Allow students to pick out the expressive words/phrases in the ads as well as any claims they believe may be misleading. Their list should include the following:
| Emotive Terms/Phrases
| Misleading Phrases
|
Organize the students into groups of 3 to 5. Instruct them to discuss their findings and answer the following questions:
- Do any of these words serve two functions? In other words, are there any words that are both emotive and informative?
- Where else have you seen these words used?
- What emotions do these words convey?
- Do these words obscure or reinforce the factual statements? If so, how? If not, why?
- How reliable is the source of the information in the ad? What is the source?
- What information do we need to keep someone else's choice of words from doing our thinking for us?
Keep students in their small groups and have them go through the Citizens United ad and remove the emotive and misleading terms and phrases. Their final product should look something like this:
| EXAMPLE: |
After students have removed the emotive and misleading terms/phrases, have them replace the words with neutral terms/phrases. When they are done, hold a class discussion. Ask the students if they found the assignment to be difficult or easy, and how they think the ad has changed.
Cross-checking / Weighing the evidence
To the teacher: Be sure to tell students not to rely on one source or one study, but to look to see what others say. Not all sources are equal.
Now that students have parsed through the ads and identified the emotive and misleading terms/phrases, it's important that students learn to seek relatively unbiased information from competent sources. Point out to students that they must keep an open mind and actively look for facts in order to counteract the sometimes erroneous conclusions that can be made based on deceptive terms and phrases. In order to combat the effects of emotive language, viewers have to be ready and willing to discover the facts on their own, while using reliable, impartial sources.
In this case, students will be given a FactCheck.org article and a summary of the immigration bill's provisions from Project Vote Smart, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that gathers and organizes information on candidates for political office. Using these sources, students should be able to check the phrases in the ad and determine if they are indeed accurate.
Keep students in their small groups and distribute the FactCheck.org and Project Vote Smart research materials. Instruct students to read through the sourcing and answer these questions:
- What is the definition of “amnesty"?
- Were the 9/11 terrorists in the
- Who are “potential terrorists” and how many people would that account for?
- Would the bill put actual terrorists and gang members “on a path to
- Would the bill allow convicted criminals to be deported?
- Would illegal immigrants be punished for breaking the law? If so, how?
- Can accurate statements about the bill be conveyed in an ad without using emotive terms/phrases? What would the ad look/sound like?
Materials:
- FactCheckEd.org lesson plan and commercial video- http://www.factchecked.org/LessonPlanDetails.aspx?myId=11&mySectionId=1
- Storyboard handouts for the two commercials
- Fact Checking resource- http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=14122
Assessment: Replacing emotive words with neutral words exercise will help determine if the students understand the difference between the two and how it affects the message.
Differentiation: Using technology (watching the commercial)
Homework:
- Read the framing handout.
- Read the Luntz memo page 1-3 and 21-25- http://images.dailykos.com/images/user/3/Luntz_frames_immigration.pdf
- Lastly, read http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/lakoff/luntz
Think about these questions?
- Is framing effective?
- Do you find anything wrong with the Luntz memo? Anything particularly insightful?
- Is framing ethical? Do the ends justify the means?
Day 9: Media Manipulation
Objectives:
- Students will understand how politicians and political operatives manipulate language in order to advance an agenda
- Students will be aware of the tools used to frame the news in the favor of a particular group and how communications professionals try to influence how the media frames issues.
Methods:
- Review vocab: VNR (Video News Release)- Handout, Spin, Framing
- What is spin an how is it used? The teacher will give a description of spin and give some prominent examples of how it has been used. Students will then be asked to practice spin.
- The teacher will give a description of framing and how it has been used over time.
- Students will watch the segment “Give Us What We Want” about Frank Luntz and political framing from the PBS Series “The Persuaders.
- Students will then be assigned a particular bill such as “No Child Left Behind”, “The Patriot Act,” and “The Clear Skies Initiative.”
- Students read over collected information on their bill from Wikipedia and then fill out the accompanying worksheet.
- At the end of class we will have a group discussion about each bill and how students answered the questions on the worksheet.
Materials:
- VNR handout
- Framing and Spin handout
- PBS online presentation “The Persuaders” here-
- No Child Left Behind-
A. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind
B. http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=V3149&can_id=53293
C. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/21/3314/
- The Clear Skies Initiative
Assessment: The worksheet will give a very good indication if the students understand why words matter and how they can be manipulated to influence public perceptions. This is a formative assessment.
Differentiation: Using technology (PBS presentation), group work.
Homework:
- Read “Liberal Media Evidence” from the Weekly Standard here- http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/143lkblo.asp
- Read “What Liberal Media?” by Eric Alterman, here- http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030224/alterman2
- Write down arguments for each of these points of view- the media is liberal, the media is conservative, the media has only a corporate bias, the media has no bias.
Day 10: Is the Media bias?
Objectives:
- Students should be able to detect direct and indirect sources of bias in the news.
- Students should have an understanding of the strategies some use to cover their subtle biases.
- Students should have reviewed the evidence regarding a political bias in the media and should have developed an opinion as to whether they think the media has a liberal bias, conservative bias, corporate bias, or no bias at all.
Methods:
The teacher will hand out the “detecting bias in the media” worksheet” and review each point with students, provide examples, and check for student comprehension. Different pages from the day’s newspaper will be handed out to students in groups of 3 or 4. They are to take an article and dissect it using handout 10.1 for bias. A short class discussion will follow.
Students will then be put into a large circle with a smaller circle inside of it. All students on the inside circle are expected to participate in the discussion. We will start by claiming that the media is liberal. All who have points to contribute can start on the inside circle. When someone on the outside circle has a point that they want to contribute, they must be “tapped in” by someone from the inside circle who is ready to go out. We will then turn our attention to the second point of view- the media is conservative. Students will then be asked to advocate the position that the media is neither liberal nor conservative, but simply corporate in it’s bias. Finally, students should defend the position that the media has no bias from the point of view of a reporter. The discussion style will remain the same.
Materials:
- Handout 10.1 on Detecting Bias in the Media
- Newspapers
Assessment: Students will be assessed through the discussion in both debate points and listening skills.
Differentiation: This style of discussion can be good for both vocal and more shy students and allow everyone to contribute in the way they feel more comfortable.
Homework:
Read “The Role of Stereotypes in the News.” - http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/special_initiatives/toolkit/stereotypes/role_stereotypes_news.cfm
Day 11: Stereotypes and Cognitive Dissonance
Objectives:
- Understand the way that the media can reinforce stereotypes and how that can be harmful.
- Learn the concept of cognitive dissonance and how it affects our learning
Methods:
Students will be divided up into 8 groups and be asked to list common stereotypes for one of these groups: young people, Latinos, African-Americans, women, lawyers, homosexuals, Jews, the poor.
Students will come back and talk about these as a class.
Then students will be given handout 11.1 and asked to think about what might be wrong with those images. This will lead into a discussion of stereotypes being reinforced by the media and how they can be subconscious and reinforced.
The teacher will then present a brief powerpoint presentation about cognitive dissonance and do an incorporated activity on how they deal with cognitive dissonance. Students will then be asked to brainstorm how cognitive dissonance affects them. Students will be asked to write a plan for introducing themselves to perspectives that they usually do not.
Materials:
- Katrina image handout
- Butcher block paper for each group to record stereotypes of their assigned groups
Assessment: Group work on stereotypes and their own “anti-cognitive dissonance plan” will serve as assessments.
Differentiation: Group work, visual intelligence used with image exercise.
Homework: work on final performance assessment
Day 12: Practicing Media Literacy
Objectives:
- Break down political rhetoric and spin
- Fact check claims of political candidates
- Distinguish between facts and opinions
- Use all previous knowledge to build a political advertisement for your assigned candidate.
Methods:
We will start class by assigning each member of the class one of the 8 Democratic presidential candidates involved in the Democratic debate in November, 2007. The teacher will hand out the scorecard worksheet. Students will then watch 25-30 minutes of the Democratic debate and as they watch fill out the worksheet. Students will then get together with the other students in the class who had the same candidate. They will compare their notes and then have the next 20-25 minutes to research claims made by their candidate and claims made against their candidate during the debate. They should divide up the research effectively to make sure they take advantage of this class time in order to discover as much as possible. Each candidate group will then be given 5 minutes to present to the class the evidence they have found to support or refute the claims made regarding their candidate. If there is time remaining the students will get back together in their group and write a 30 second radio ad for their candidate based on what they have learned about them from the debate.
Add-on exercise- Be a press secretary! Students will pretend they are the press secretary of the candidate they were assigned, and from what they have learned, take questions from the rest of the class as practice using political language and spin.
Materials:
- Video of Democratic debate
- Debate watch worksheet
Assessment: The debate watch worksheet will serve as a good formative assessment to see if students are able to incorporate what they know about the use of political language and the use of rhetoric to pass off opinions as facts in order to break down their assigned candidate’s message.
Differentiation: Using technology to watch the debate in the classroom, having students work both alone and in groups (intrapersonal/ interpersonal), bodily-kinesthetic involved in add-on “be a press secretary” activity.
Homework: Complete the performance assessment for the unit.
Takaki 12 method
CNN report Rick Sanchez did a fantastic report on what it is like as a day laborer in the United States today. He disguised himself (which was easy to do since he is latino and speaks fluent spanish) as a day laborer and the camera's come along and record what life is like trying to get by as a hispanic laborer in the United States. I would start the lesson by discussing what conditions were like in the 1920's for Mexican immigrants and what it is like today. Students would review the key immigration facts at the bottom of this article and then list similarities between the 20's and today with Mexican immigrants.
I would then show students the Rick Sanchez report and then have them write a diary entry, putting themselves in the place of a Mexican day laborer in the United States. They should try to convey not only what happens on a typical day, but what life is like outside of their work, how it impacts them and their family, how they feel about being in America, etc... Here is a description of the Sanchez report.
I would then show students the Rick Sanchez report and then have them write a diary entry, putting themselves in the place of a Mexican day laborer in the United States. They should try to convey not only what happens on a typical day, but what life is like outside of their work, how it impacts them and their family, how they feel about being in America, etc... Here is a description of the Sanchez report.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Takaki 11: The Spatial Jews
I was thinking for a while about how to incorporate visual/ spatial intelligence with a chapter about Jewish immigrants in America and New York city in the early 20th century and then it came to me.... Jewish history IS spatial. The Jews have always been known as a wandering people. Whether it was from the exodus out of Egypt of out of Europe in World War 2, for most of history the Jews have been a people without a home. Constantly they have wandered and dispersed, their hearts in one place and their bodies in another. They have, wherever they have gone added tremendously to whatever community they have joined. So how do I convert that natural link into a lesson based on visual and spatial intelligence?
The website myJewishLearning.com is an amazing resource that discusses the mobility of the Jews over time, and gives an example similar to those in Takaki about Jews in Shtetls. The students will be divided up into groups and they will have one of these stories. They will read the biography and then based on the story, draw a visual representation of life inside the shtetl of that particular Jewish immigrant.
Finally, to connect them to the broader context of physical divisions in cities and towns between different immigrant groups I would have them relate that to their hometown of Washington D.C. I would hand out one DC neighborhood map per group and have them guess what the largest ethnic groups were in each neighborhood and then check to see if their perceptions were true. Finally I would show them a similar breakdown of NYC ethnically in the 1920's so that the connection is made clear.
The website myJewishLearning.com is an amazing resource that discusses the mobility of the Jews over time, and gives an example similar to those in Takaki about Jews in Shtetls. The students will be divided up into groups and they will have one of these stories. They will read the biography and then based on the story, draw a visual representation of life inside the shtetl of that particular Jewish immigrant.
Finally, to connect them to the broader context of physical divisions in cities and towns between different immigrant groups I would have them relate that to their hometown of Washington D.C. I would hand out one DC neighborhood map per group and have them guess what the largest ethnic groups were in each neighborhood and then check to see if their perceptions were true. Finally I would show them a similar breakdown of NYC ethnically in the 1920's so that the connection is made clear.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Learning Processes # 3
There are two learning processes that I reflected on a bit this week. They are not so much from “catching myself in the process of learning” this week, but rather noticing I had never noted a learning process that happens to me EVERY day. The first process is association. I have a strange mental habit to associate almost every single thing that I learn with the place that I learned it. This habit makes recall a lot easier in some ways because if I remember where I learned a basic fact, I will start to recall all of the smaller details, because somewhere in my brain they are all in the same folder. That process of association is always visible with students. Students will associate different content with creative songs, acronyms, or whatever creative way their teacher used to teach the material. For example, one of my classmates has used the example that she will never forget a rule of fractions because her teacher taught her by saying…”just like Dolly Parton, big on top, small on the bottom.”
The other indicator of learning is transfer. There is an event that made me think of this recently when a friend told me a story. It turns out that I actually told them that story not too long ago, and they were telling me like it was new! That has happened to almost everyone at some point or another. The point is, when we learning something new, we add it to our repertoire of knowledge and we use it in new contexts…or what we think are new contexts. This concept of transfer is one of the most important indicators. So often in my practicum class I hear students say “Ya, I know that because Mr. or Mrs. --- taught me -----.” That means that they are using knowledge learned in another class to help them outside that class. Being able to transfer knowledge and apply it to their lives is critical.
You can tell when the project has made a real impact on the students’ learning when it appears the reading has struck a chord. It does so for several reasons. Often I could recognize a connection through a quote in the reading where the student obviously felt in synch with the author. If the reading taps into something going on in their own lives, the reading transforms into critical thinking. You can tell almost immediately when reading out loud whether the students are simply reading or whether they are speaking. Yesterday in class students brought in their projects, a children’s story that they wrote about an American figure they admire and read a book about. Going around group to group as they read their stories to each other, learning indicators were very clear. I had a conversation with one student about her story on Elizabeth Edwards. When asked she had a very interesting and immediate reaction to her thoughts on Mrs. Edwards. She had a gut reaction to some of the things she read, and her response made it very clear that she was not reciting something she had already written, by actively thinking, evaluating and synthesizing the information. On the other hand, some students presentations were clearly a recital of what they had written, or admittedly by some students what “my parents told me to write.” Immediate reactions to evaluative questions often serves as a good indicator of student learning.
One of the indicators of student learning is when you see students forming a clear connection between something they have learned at home/ from their parents/outside of school, with something they learn in the classroom. There have been a couple of incidents where I have witnessed this in the classroom. A few weeks back when we were beginning a unit on
Takaki CH 10 method
Chapter 10 discusses many factors that either contributed to or hindered the success of Japanese immigrants to
Students would complete this chart for homework the night before class. In class we would start by compiling one large class list to put all of this information together. Then students would be able to list the points they have listed in the box, and discuss and debate their impact and try to come to a conclusion as a group.
After this activity students would be put in groups of 3 or 4 They are to pretend they are a Japanese family living in
Examples –
Positives- escape economic hardship of
Negatives- Both Chinese and Phillipino workers brought into to break up Japanese dominance which eventually meant lower wages, women systematically paid less than men for the exact same work, constantly watched and overseen by “lunas”, leaving family behind likely to never return, weather and work conditions were brutal, etc…
Unsure- Believing they would only be in
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Takaki 9: Teaching about Indian removal and the Dawes Act
After students have a brief summary on the “Indian Question” they will have some background on the Indian removal acts of the late 19th century and especially the impact of the Dawes Allotment Act. To use a new method of teaching this week I will try to use popular music as a bridge to the understanding of what happened to the Native Americans in this period, and the real life impact it had on their lives and the future of their tribes.
I will use the song “Don’t Drink the Water” by the Dave Matthews Band. The Dave Matthews Band is pretty popular amongst young people, so it could show students that someone who is very popular today is still concerned about what happened to the Native Americans over a century ago. Students will be given a copy of the lyrics to the song and then will be asked to work (either in groups or on their own) to interpret the lyrics and write in the margins what they think he means with the lyrics and how it relates to what they learned about Indian removal from their text. This will be a good bridge into a larger lesson/ unit on the impact of Westward expansion, the elimination of the frontier, and it’s impact on Native Americans and their heritage.
The lyrics to the song can be found here.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Performance Assessment on Media Literacy
Performance Assessment on Media Literacy
Level: 12th grade
Connections to Curriculum: This summative assessment will be given at the end of their two week curricular unit on media literacy. This assessment is designed to measure the students’ ability to critically interpret the media, examine media spin and bias, and understand the important role of the news media in our democracy.
Inquiry Question: Based on your understanding about the role of the media in American society and the necessity of critical media literacy skills, how have you been able to find valid and reliable sources and how have you interpreted their trustworthiness?
Standards:
Content standards-
12.7. Broad Concept: Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the influence of the media on American political life.
Students:
1. Discuss the meaning and importance of a free and responsible press.
2. Describe the roles of broadcast, print, and electronic media, including the Internet, as means of communication in American politics.
3. Explain how public officials use the media to communicate with the citizenry and to shape public opinion.
Example Students watch and analyze television political commercials and describe how they have changed over time (livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us/index.php) (12.7.3).
12th grade skills standards- 1. Students distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations 2. Students identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations.
Overview: This take-home final assessment will consist of several sections. First, students will be asked to compile a list of their favorite and most reliable news sources. Among these sources the students must have at least 3 television or radio programs that they trust, 3 print publications (newspapers or magazines), 3 internet news websites, and 3 blogs. Below is the beginning of creating a rubric based on what qualities make a news source reliable. It is important to note that not all of the students’ sources need to be objective. As we have discussed in class, there a valid arguments both for and against objective and balanced media. Students must choose 3 sources to provide a complete annotation for. For these three sources students must explain why they find the source to be reliable, how it contributes to their understanding of issues that matter to them and their community, and finally how that source helps them fulfill their role as a citizen.
Criteria:
- Have they explained whether the source is objective or bias? Have they explained whether the source is balanced or fair?
- Have they explained which points of view are presented by this source? Do they usually present two sides to every story? Multiple perspectives? One perspective?
- Have they explained if the source has any corporate ownership that could influence how it presents the news?
- Have they explained the investigative/ research qualities of the sources presented?
- Do they demonstrate the ability to appropriately match issues of importance to them and their community with the most appropriate sources?
- Do they explain how the source backs up assertions with evidence?
Time Allotment: Students will have one class period to answer the short answer questions below. The annotated list of media sources part of the assessment will be explained to students at the beginning of the unit so that they can progressively work at it. It will be due on the day of the in-class assessment.
Prior Learning (from 2 week unit):
- Ability to critically analyze a news source for validity, objectivity, fairness, reporting standards, and bias
- An understanding of the traditional role of the press in a democratic society
- How to decode media spin and break through the filters to
- Ability to understand both what is being told by a news story and perhaps more importantly, what story is not being told.
- Understanding of media consolidation and its implications
- Advantages and disadvantages of different types of media (ex- tv, blogs, etc…)
Short Answer
- Please explain the consequence and implications of the following: “According to one estimate, the number of communication professionals in
- Should the media strive for objectivity? Should they strive for balance? What is the difference between the two? If you think the media should strive for objectivity, should they try to achieve it in each story or over time?
- Respond to this evaluation of the effects of media consolidation: “…although information outlets are undeniably proliferating, their ownership is increasingly concentrated, and the first effect of concentration is to push small media promoting noncommercial values out of the way (Bennett 233).” Explain some of the major effects of media consolidation and take a position on it’s effect on the media’s ability to perform it’s democratic function.
Teacher Administration:
- The teacher will introduce this assessment during the first day of the curricular unit as part of the objectives. Give students a clear idea of how their final assessment will fit in and accurately measure what they have learned throughout the unit.
- Provide students with the rubric for how this end of the unit assessment will be evaluated.
- Give students reminders throughout the week that they should be collecting and beginning to evaluate their news sources.
- Ask students to narrow it down to the 3 they want to evaluate in depth by the start of the second week, ask them to come to class with that list so you can simply check it off to make sure they have begun the process.
- At least a few days before the testing day students should be given the rubric fo
- On test day, the teacher should has several responsibilities:
- Collect students’ annotated sources project
- Explain that they have approximately 40 minutes to answer the short answer questions presented to them.
- Make sure all students have a pen and have cleared their desk of everything else
- Collect student work at the same time with one or two minutes remaining in class time.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Takaki ch 8- teaching through art
One of the methods of teaching that I do not typically use and am less comfortable with is artistic. Some students however are not only good at art, but find it a great outlet for expressing both their passions and their knowledge. Art can be both fun and expressive at the same time. From a work of student art the teacher can also, I believe, get a very good sense for s student’s comprehension of the issues based on how extensive and analytical the art work is. So in order to teach Takaki chapter 8 “Searching for
- their role as laborers
- agricultural contributions and troubles (floods)
- gold rush
- mining/ miner taxes
- building of the central pacific railroad
- the dangerous nature of the work
- formation of Chinese urban communities
- anti-Chinese riots
- angered white workers / unemployed
- the Chinese Exclusion Act
- Chinese fighting back against discrimination
- The very small representation of Chinese women in
- Working as prostitutes
- Underground associations
- Chinese wives writing letters to their long removed husbands in
Students will have the full period to work with the students in their group to decide which topics are most important and should be covered in their mural, how to visually represent, in a cohesive matter, the life and struggles of early Asian immigrants to the United States. Students will be practicing cooperative skills as well as learning artistically, and will not only benefit from their own projects but I think they will learn a whole lot from the work of their classmates as well!
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