Writing Workshop, Day 1: Critiquing Our Writing

1. Review and break down the civil rights Essay Prompt
2. Select a piece of writing from earlier this year.
3. Pick a partner and run a peer critique using:

• Revising, Editing, and Proofreading Guide
• Thesis Statement Guide
• Editing and Proofreading Abbreviations
• Writing rubric
• The "paragraph pyramid":

4. Using the notes from your peer critique, identify goals for improving your writing and meeting standards in the third trimester.

Civil Rights Movement: Legacy, Day 5

Issue: Voter Suppression

1. Definition of "voter suppression" (Voter ID laws, ending early voting, voter caging)
2. Form table groups (5 min)
3. Read your assigned article:

ALL GROUPS READ THIS ARTICLE ON VOTER ID LAWS (you do not need to read "Table 2" in its entirety, but try to familiarize yourself with the laws of at least 2 states)

• Group 1: Article on the inherent racism of voter ID laws (Mother Jones, 2012)
• Group 2: Article on Justice Ginsburg's dissent after the Supreme Court upheld a Texas voter ID law (Alternet, 2014)
• Group 3: Article on the Supreme Court's decision to eliminate some of the key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (New York Times, 2013) and Article on GOP opposition to restoring the Voting Rights Act (thinkprogress.org, 2015)
• Group 4: Op-Ed piece on voter suppression (New York Times, 2013) and article on voter ID law in Texas

4. Table group discussion following Save the Last Word for ME protocol

Civil Rights Movement: Legacy, Day 4

1. Form table groups (5 min)
2. Read your assigned article:

• Source 1: Article on Serena Williams' experiences of racism during her professional tennis career
• Source 2: Two short articles (article 1, article 2) on the racist video leaked at Oklahoma University
• Source 3: Article on Obama hatred
• Source 4: Two short blog posts (post 1, post 2) from "Black Girl in Maine"

3. Table group discussion following Save the Last Word for ME protocol


Extension
Four additional readings on racism in the US:
"What the Oklahoma frat video tells us about America" (from Al Jazeera America)
"The Science of Why Cops Shoot Young Black Men" (from Mother Jones)
"Unarmed People of Color Killed by Police" (from Gawker)
"The Waistband Defense" (from Huffington Post)
"Why So Many Americans Still Deny Racism..." (Vox)
Debunking Myths of "Reverse Racism" and the "Race Card"

Civil Rights Movement: Legacy, day 3

1. Form table groups (5 min)
2. Review and complete phase I of "Data Driven Dialogue" and read your assigned source (20 min)

• Source #1: "It's Not Just Ferguson: America's Criminal Justice System is Racist" 
• Source #2: "The Six Most Damning Findings from the DOJ's Report..."
• Source #3: Collection of data on racism in the Criminal Justice System
• Source #4: "No, Justice is Not Colorblind"

3. Complete "Data Driven Dialogue" in table groups (20 min)

4. Share out phase III inferences and conclusions


Extension 

Also, if you want to read the full version of the Department of Justice report on racism in the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department, it's available HERE.

And...

If you want to know more about the issue of racism in the criminal justice system, and the debate around the issue, please listen to the following (or read the transcript):

Listen to the full audio version of "Cops See It Differently, Part 1"
Listen to the full audio version of "Cops See It Differently, Part 2"

Read the Transcript of "Cops See It Differently, Part 1"
Read the Transcript of "Cops See It Differently, Part 2"

Civil Rights Movement: Legacy, Day 2

1. Watch President Obama's Selma Speech and take notes on the following:

• According to Obama, what is the positive legacy, or the lesson, of the civil rights movement?
• Which issues and challenges addressed by the civil rights movement still exist today?
• What does Obama suggest as a next step? How can we, as a society, continue to address these issues and challenges?

2. Class debrief and discussion (if you want to refer to the transcript, you can find it HERE)
3. If we have time, we will begin our "Data Driven Dialogue" (click link for discussion protocol) on the following sources:

• Source #1: "It's Not Just Ferguson: America's Criminal Justice System is Racist" 
• Source #2: "The Six Most Damning Findings from the DOJ's Report..."
• Source #3: Collection of data on racism in the Criminal Justice System

EXTRA:

If you want to learn more about Freedom Summer in Mississippi, the 1964-65 voter registration drive in Selma, the "Bloody Sunday" march, or the Selma to Montgomery march, you can watch these videos:

• Full Video: "Eyes on the Prize: Bridge to Freedom"
• Clip from Eyes on the Prize:  "Bloody Sunday" march
• Full Video: 1965 documentary on the Selma to Montgomery march
• Full Video: "Eyes on the Prize: Mississippi, 1962-64"

Also, if you want to read the full version of the Department of Justice report on racism in the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department, it's available HERE.

Civil Rights Movement: Legacy, Day 1

1. Introduction to the voter registration drives in Alabama and Mississippi during 1964 and 1965
2. Watch President Obama's Selma Speech (you can read the transcript HERE) and take notes on the following:

• According to Obama, what is the positive legacy, or the lesson, of the civil rights movement?
• Which issues and challenges addressed by the civil rights movement still exist today?
• What does Obama suggest as a next step? How can we, as a society, continue to address these issues and challenges?

3. Class debrief and discussion

If you want to learn more about Freedom Summer in Mississippi, the 1964-65 voter registration drive in Selma, the "Bloody Sunday" march, or the Selma to Montgomery march, you can watch these videos:

• Full Video: "Eyes on the Prize: Bridge to Freedom"
• Clip from Eyes on the Prize:  "Bloody Sunday" march
• Full Video: 1965 documentary on the Selma to Montgomery march
• Full Video: "Eyes on the Prize: Mississippi, 1962-64"

Comparing Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X

1. Review Rhetorical Forms
2. Listen to excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech (1963) and Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech (1964)
3. Read excerpts from both speeches
4. Table group discussion: compare tone, argument (message), and major rhetorical elements - cite EVIDENCE!
5. Share out.

Reminder: "Letter from Birmingham Jail" constructed response is due on Monday. (use this rubric as reference)

Constructed Response Workshop Day

1. Review and assess sample constructed responses:

• 10B will review these sample responses
• 10C will review these sample responses
• 10D will review these sample responses

2. Workshop day

• work on your "Letter from Birmingham Jail" constructed response
• use this rubric for reference

HW: "Letter from Birmingham Jail" constructed response is due on Monday, March 16

Civil Rights Movement: Analysis of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

1. Introduction: strategies of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s
2. Read description of Birmingham, Alabama from The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
3. Read "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"  (Audio)
4. Take notes based on the following questions (identify evidence):
• Who is King writing the letter to (audience)?
• What is King's main argument?
• Is the letter effective in making that argument? 
• Based on this letter, how would you describe the strategy of the SCLC?
• Why is this document historically significant?

Civil Rights Movement: Sit-ins and Freedom Rides

1. Presentations?

2. View Eyes on the Prize: Ain't Scared of Your Jails, 1960-1961

3. Class debrief

4. HW: Complete constructed response to "Eyes on the Prize" (shared through google/doctopus)

5. Use the following excerpts from Voices of Freedom (companion text to "Eyes on the Prize") to help you on your writing assignment.

• Chapter 2: Montgomery Bus Boycotts
• Chapter 3: Little Rock Crisis
• Chapter 4: Student Sit-ins in Nashville
• Chapter 5: Freedom Rides

Just to make sure...

HW: Constructed response to "Eyes on the Prize" (shared through google/doctopus) is due Monday, March 9, 2015

Civil Rights Movement: Little Rock Crisis

1. View Eyes on the Prize: Fighting Back, 1957-62

2. Class Discussion on observations and questions

Civil Rights Movement: History Lesson, Part 1

Agenda:

1. View the remainder of Eyes on the Prize: Awakenings, 1954-56
2. Class debrief: connections to Warmth of Other Suns and new observations/questions.
3. Presentations?