Lessons

This lesson is part of the following unit: A Pivotal Moment in the Civil Rights Movement: The Murder of Emmett Till A rich understanding of ourselves and history includes understanding why certain events carry special significance as "pivotal" moments-moments that change the direction of attitudes, customs, and actions. In this lesson, students begin to explore how Emmett Till's murder became a pivotal moment in civil rights history through understanding the choices made by individuals and groups and the consequences of those choices. This lesson also helps students think about the pivotal moments in their own lives and to consider the different ways people respond to violence and injustice today.

This lesson is part of the following unit: A Pivotal Moment in the Civil Rights Movement: The Murder of Emmett Till In this lesson, students will explore primary documents in order to learn more about the historical context of Emmett Till's murder. Studying about segregation, the rise of the media, the impact of World War II, and earlier civil rights activism will help students develop an awareness of how multiple factors combine to influence events. Many students have practiced drawing simple cause-effect relationships, and the activity in this lesson pushes them toward deeper historical analysis.

During April 2004, commemorations across the world marked the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide in which more than 800,000 Tutsis and some Hutus were slaughtered in a bloody 100-day rampage. The commemorations were marked by solemn pledges from diplomats and human rights activists to never allow another "Rwanda." Yet, even as people remembered the failure to prevent slaughter in Rwanda, a steady stream of reports about deportations, massacres, and systematic sexual abuses in the Darfur region of Sudan were beginning to make news. On the influential Op-ed page of the New York Times, Samantha Power, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, wrote a column entitled "Remember Rwanda, but Take Action in Sudan.

This lesson is part of the American Idealist Unit Why should students study the life of Sargent Shriver? While there are many ways to answer this question, one answer that inspired the production of this film was the belief that Shriver's life offers important lessons about the power of idealism to solve social problems such as poverty, to promote peace, and to nurture civic participation. Explaining his decision to title the film American Idealist, Bruce Orenstein, the film's producer, explains, Actually nobody explicitly stated to me that Sarge Shriver was an idealist.

This lesson is part of the American Idealist Unit There are many ways individuals and groups choose to influence their communities. One way is through working with government to shape and manage public policy. In this lesson, students will study how public policy was used to fight poverty in the 1960s. In 1964, 30 million Americans lived in poverty. As part of his Great Society program, President Lyndon Johnson launched a War on Poverty and asked Sargent Shriver to direct this effort. Speaking about the challenge facing Shriver, Scott Stossel, author of Sarge: A Biography of Sargent Shriver, remarked: If a general was asked, you know, I want you to launch a war on Grenada, could you invade it and take it over, well you know that's something you can get your mind around.

This lesson examines the ways in which historical evidence has been used to construct a narrative of the Armenian Genocide. In 1915, there was no word to accurately describe what the Turks were doing to the Armenians. Raphael Lemkin did not coin the term "genocide" until Nazi brutality in Europe brought mass murder closer to the heart of the Western world. In the Ottoman Empire, journalists, diplomats, and other witnesses struggled to find language to convey the depth and the enormity of the anti-Armenian measures. Accounts refer to "horrors," "barbarity," "massacres," "murder," "deportations," or "ravages," but no word captures the scale of the violence.

This lesson considers the impact of group membership on identity and explores what it means to be seen solely as a representative of a group rather than as an individual. Students will use a model to create identity poems that examine the tensions between identity and group membership.

This lesson considers the process of becoming "American" and looks at what makes someone an American. Is it customs? Language? Traditions? Citizenship? The lesson focuses on the experiences of Chinese and Jewish immigrants in America during the late 1800s.

This outline explores the connections between media, propaganda, and mass violence. During the Rwandan genocide, hate radio and music was used to incite violence and atrocities on a massive scale. Recent attempts at seeking justice in the aftermath of these tragedies have resulted in the first prosecutions since Nuremberg of propagandists. This lesson outline draws on resources Holocaust and Human Behavior as well as newspaper articles and websites covering these trials. NOTE: In a recent effort to prevent a similar situation from occurring in Ivory Coast, the United Nations has intervened, calling for an end to all hate speeches against French nationals and other foreigners.