Week Four, Class Nine
Materials:
-
1. A video and written transcripts of Barack Obama’s address on race in the U.S.A.: “A More Perfect Union”
-
2. Class Copies of pp. 81-89 of Kurt Vonnegut’s
A Man Without a Country
.
-
3. A digital media player and LCD projector or a DVD player and television
Alternate Materials:
-
4. “Obama Declares Nomination is ‘Within Reach’” by Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny from
The New York Times
, 5-22-08
-
5. “Obama is moving to Down-to-Earth Oratory” by Michael Powell from
The New York Times
, 4-1-08
Objectives:
Students will read and respond critically to pp. 81-89 of
A Man Without a Country
as well as the transcript of Obama’s address on race in the United States, “A More Perfect Union.”
Anticipatory Set:
What kinds of changes are necessary for the U.S.A. to become a better nation (think about: the environment, health care, race relations, education, the Iraq War, the energy crisis, etc)?
Instructional Procedure
Initiation:
Students will respond to the
Anticipatory Set
in their journals. A whole class discussion of these responses will follow. The variety of student responses should spark debate among students about what changes are necessary for the U.S.A. to become a better nation.
Seatwork:
Students will read pp. 81-89 of
A Man Without a Country
. The instructor will ask pointed questions of individual students during and after the reading that may include, but are not limited to: “What is Vonnegut’s opinion of our elected leaders?” or “In Vonnegut’s opinion what does the United States government expect of its citizens?” or “What is Vonnegut’s opinion of the 2000 presidential election?” Students will then watch a video of Barack Obama’s speech “A More Perfect Union.”
Closure:
If time remains, a brief discussion of student reactions to Senator Obama’s address will follow the video.
Homework:
Students will write a three-paragraph reaction essay that either agrees or disagrees with Mr. Obama’s opinon of race relations in the U.S.A.
Assessment:
Student journals and reaction essays.
Weeks Four-Five, Classes Ten and Eleven
Materials:
-
1. A DVD of Michael Moore’s
Sicko
-
2. A television and DVD player
-
3. A transparency or class copies that show the Electoral College
9
Objectives:
Students will watch and respond critically to Michael Moore’s documentary about health care in the U.S.,
Sicko.
Anticipatory Set:
Does America offer its citizens more freedom than other countries?
Instructional Procedure
Initiation
(Day One)
:
Students will be given a color map of the U.S.A. as the results of the 2004 Electoral College. Students will be asked to write in response to the prompt: “What is the meaning of the numbers and colors on the map?” This will segue into an instructor-guided discussion of the Electoral College.
Seatwork:
Students will watch and respond critically in an Active Viewing worksheet to the Michael Moore documentary,
Sicko
.
Closure
(Day Two)
:
Students will write a three-paragraph reaction essay about
Sicko
.
Homework
(Day Two)
:
If time does not allow students to finish their reaction essays, they will do so for homework.
Assessment:
Student journals, reaction essays, and Active Viewing worksheets.
Week Five, Classes Twelve and Thirteen
Materials
: Voter registration forms
Objectives
: Students will use the information they have learned throughout the unit to create a final project or essay that will also work as their cumulative exam for the unit. Students will be given the opportunity to volunteer as a pollster or in a voter registration drive.
Anticipatory Set
: What are the common elements of good oratory? How does good oratory work on its audience?
Initiation
(Day One): Students will be assigned to one of three projects: to organize and participate in a voter registration drive, to poll at least 100 individuals concerning their opinions on three major issues of the 2008 presidential campaign, or to write an essay in which two works that were read in class are chosen from two of the three distinct eras in American history (1776-1859, 1860-1959, 1960-present). Students who are assigned the last of the three will need to write at least two double-spaced pages.
Seatwork
(both days): Students will work in small groups or as individuals. Due to logistics, only one group (of no more than three responsible students) per class will participate in the polling and voter registration drives. The remainder of the students will write essays that seek to answer the question given in the
Anticipatory Set
. Students will be given one class to write their first drafts, then a second class to peer revise.
Homework
: Final draft of report / project. Those students who participated in voter registration drives and polls will write reports of no less than two double-spaced pages that analyze their poll results about the current issues they chose, or how willing non-registered adults were to register to vote, as well as reasons why and why not adults chose to register.
Assessment
: Group presentations and final essays.
