RNorris

Annotated Bibliography/Diverse Text Set The context of this lesson is to discuss the role of racism and intolerance in human society today, more especially in the United States and in the various communities that the students live in. What I hope that the students take away from the lesson is that as members of society we all have a contribution to make to the wellbeing or degradation of our society. We have a choice to make. These texts will serve as examples for the students in their own interpretation of what an ideal society should resemble. These lessons can be applied at any grade level but for this instance they are intended for a 9th grade social studies class. I understand that the students will be of varying levels of learning abilities, and as such, I will differentiate my lessons to address such diversity. Graphic organizers, reading strategies, cooperative learning, student-led, teacher led models of instruction will be just some of the many mechanisms that I will use to compensate for the diversity.

__A. Print Resources__

1. King, Martin Luther Jr. "I Have a Dream." The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 30. (Winter, 2000-2001): 121.

a. This infamous speech by Dr. King epitomizes the world that I hope that my students believe they should live in. King, in so eloquent use of words, highlights his dreams for the nation, which included live in social harmony, ensuring justice for all, and affording everyone the chance to reach their potential.

b. This speech champions an idea that has made considerable progress over the years, but we still see that there is much more to be done to raid our society of the discomfort and brutality that human differences can cause. The students will mostly use the text for critically analyzing King's vision for America and also to construct similar visions for their lives. Student will break down language; look at context, and motivations behind King's words. In other words I want my students to imagine living in the times of Dr. King.

c. Attachment: see attachment #1 for a copy of this text.

2. King, Coretta Scott. My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1969.) Revised edition copyright 1993 by Coretta Scott King. a. This is a book by Dr. King's wife that relays the story of the movement, his life and their personal struggle battling race relations in the United States.

b. This text is of personal nature and I hope that it will resonate more with my students because it is rather close to home in the sense that it comes from Dr. King’s wife. I don’t believe anyone else was close to King enough to see how racism affected him better than his family so hearing the story from a close source serves better for accuracy and emotions.

c. The student will hear the story from a close source and compare this version with other version that they have heard before. Overall, the text will serve as a source to evoke an emotional response and maybe have the student make other connections to their lives.

d. Attachment: this is a 352 book.

3. Angelou, Maya. “Still I rise.” (Random House, 2007)

a. This is a poem in a small hardcover by the poet Maya Angelou in which she laments about overcoming the negatives that others throw at her.

b. Inclusion of this poem is to show students that despite the negative that others throw at them, they have to get up and keep going on with their lives and continuing to make positive changes to society. I believe it is important to remember that racism and intolerance thrives because we sometimes allow it to happen. We have to treat the problems with urgency

c. The words of the poem are powerful. I intend to use them allow the student to celebrate their differences and cherish themselves. The point that this poem make is one that the student should never lose; that is we are all different and we should all celebrate our diversity.

d. Attachment: This is a 32 page hardcover book but see attachment #2 for a copy of this text.

4. Orwell, George. Animal Farm. (Harcourt, Brace and Company; 1st American edition, 1946)

a. This is a story of a group of oppressed animals who takes over a farm from their human oppressors and set up their own government. Unfortunately, the animals begin the same process of oppression by creating a class system in which certain animals deemed smart dominates everyone else. What is even more unfortunate is that all the other animals conformed to the new system with no one raising an objection.

b. This book does perhaps the best job in illustrating how the circle of racism and intolerance works. In the story, those animals considered not too smart or not fit to rule was treated with disdain and stepped on by the ruling classes. This is exactly the trend that replicate in human society; the oppressed usually becomes the oppressors; this is just one explanation for while racism and social injustice exist today.

c. I will use the text to show the students how the circle racism and intolerance functions and how/ what they can do as citizens to break this circle to better their own life and the lives of coming generations. d. Attachment: This is a 181 page book.

__B – Media Resources__

1. Picture of Mahatmas Gandhi/Rosa Parks/Malcolm X/Marcus Garvey

a. These photos will only serve to show the students the contribution of renowned individuals to end oppression and injustice in our society. Mostly these photos will be shown for discussion purposes. Then I will encourage the students to draw/bring in photos of people in their personal lives who have made a difference for the good of others. I will go even further by encouraging the students to write letters to these people thanking them for their goodwill. The introduction of these photos should turn out to be highly motivating and will produce an energizing activity.

b. Attachment: See photographs in attachment

2. Alan Parker. (Director) & Chris Gerolmo (Writer). (1988). Mississippi Burning. [Motion Picture]. New York: Orion Picture Corporation.

a. This is a movie that sheds light on the story of three freedom riders of the 160s civil rights movement who go missing in Mississippi. The FBI go to Mississippi to investigate the KKK and what happened to the men.

b. I want to be realistic about the subject of racism and intolerance and this movie does a good job in allowing the student to see that there was opposition against the civil rights movement. I want the students to see that people and groups such as the KK worked tirelessly to impede the process of equalizing society. The student will be placed a position to look at the movement from a new perspective.

c. I am aware of the content of the movie and also of the “R” rating so I will ask student to bring in permission slips signed by parents.

__C – Online interactive Resources__

1. [|http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/MLK/cloze.shtml] a. This is a website that contains information about Martin Luther King’s life and his message to the world.

b. I included this site because it also offers activities and other information on the civil rights movement. In addition to this the site also has links to other topics of interest and is very user friendly. If my students wish to take the lesson beyond the classroom, which will be a firm recommendation that I make, they can look up more information on this site, answer fill-in-the-blank questions and engage in other activities of enrichment.

c. Attachment: this is a website

2. Racism No Way. [|http://www.racismnoway.com.au/gamesroom/quizzes/23.html]

a. I included this website in my text set because it offers both the instructor and student a chance to see just how they would deal with issues of racism and intolerance in their daily lives. The site also offers a variety of tools and links that students can click on to learn about the topic and to contribute in any way they to embark on a global effort to eliminate racism and intolerance in our society.

b. My students and I will take the quiz, and together we can discuss our answers and our approach to dealing with such situations as those described in the quiz.

__D –Instruction Resources__

a. Quality Lesson plan b. See attachment for lesson plan


 * 1) 3. The text I have chosen will all serve as key parts of helping the students see the relationship between their actions and the impact it has on their society. Racism and intolerance has affected each of us in some way and we all have a role to play eradicating this social ill. Most of the readings and media will serve as supplement to a main text that I will designate as the lead element for the lessons. The students would not have to necessarily read everything but the materials will serve in giving the student an opportunity to see models that will better assist them in understanding my expectation of them and what I hope they learn from the lesson.

a. The student will analyze the causes and effects of racism and intolerance in society
 * 4

(NCSS Thematic Standards: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity.) b. The student will read, critically analyze, and discuss various texts and other media and generate ideas on ways to eradicate racism and intolerance from their communities. The student will write in less than three pages, a persuasive essay on which methods of eradication will work best in lessening or doing way with racism and intolerance in society

R-10-5 Literary Texts: Analysis and Interpretation of Literary Text, Citing Evidence R-10-5.3 Analyze and interpret elements of literary texts, citing evidence where appropriate by ... Making inferences about cause/effect, internal or external conflicts (e.g., person versus self, person versus person, person versus nature/society/fate), or the relationship among elements within text (e.g., describing the interaction among plot/subplots) (State)

Comments: While this can be a difficult topic to cover depending on the classroom and school in which you are working it is a very important one. The resources which you choose highlight various sides of racism and it effects on society as well as individuals. Utilizing Animal Farm, while relating completely to the topic of racism, allows at the same time for some personal distance so that students can look at the concept without feeling involved in it. Your concept of using the photos of individual who made an impact, and then having students draw their own ties it back to a personal level again. This would be great since it allows for students who have different comfort levels with the real facts of racism to still understand and study it in their own ways. I also loved the web-site Racism:No Way, as it got back to how we can make a difference on a personal level and shows students that they can still do something today. The resources that you choose were varied yet related well to one another which is wonderful.~Mary Ackerman

Comment 2

I am very pleased that you decided to tackle this topic. First of all, it can generate a great deal of interest. Secondly, you can open up the horizons of your students. I feel that you have done that with this text set. The students can see how racism affected Martin Luther King, Jr. himself, through his own words and those of his wife. These primary source documents are great. Your website, Racism No Way, shows that racism is still present today and that it is still an important issue. Including pictures of the people who were involved in the movement is a good way to personalize your topic and have students visualize what they are learning. Your other texts work very well with the framework you have created. The only criticism I have is that I think that possibly other manifestations/forms of racism could be portrayed (ex: other texts dealing with Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, etc). These could make your text set better related to more populations. Overall, great!

Melissa Rounds