illinois civics course · illinois civics course implementation training facing history and...

Illinois Civics Course Implementation Training

Facing History and Ourselves 2 North LaSalle Street • Suite 2300

Chicago, IL 60602 • 312 726 4500

Teacher Mentor Facilitation Packet • Summer 2016

This presentation is designed to support teachers as they prepare to implement a semester-long civics course in their classrooms. Facing History’s content and teaching strategies equip educators and young people with tools that empower them to wrestle with difficult issues through the lens of history. Our mission is to create informed, engaged, and responsible members of society — in short, to develop civic readiness. And independent research shows that Facing History students value civic engagement, and that participating in a Facing History classroom promotes students’ respect and tolerance for different viewpoints and increases students’ sense of civic efficacy, their belief in their capacity to make a difference in society.

In these facilitation materials, there are many themes and topics that evolve differently depending on the educational setting, more than can be covered in a short amount of time. We offer our suggestions, and expect you will build on this discussion guide as is appropriate. We hope that you will explore the rich educational resources and professional development opportunities available on our website. We look forward to continuing this journey with you.

Before Your Training or Mentoring Session Because this session is an abbreviated version of what you experienced during the Teacher Mentor Training in June, run through the entire presentation and multimedia in advance so that you are familiar with the content. Before your session, it is important to:

• Make copies of handouts for all participants

• Have a flip chart and markers to capture ideas from the discussion; also make sure you havejournal paper and pens or pencils for participants

• Do a tech check (video and audio files are accessible at facinghistory.org/illinois-civics) andensure that you have adequate speakers

Session Outline I. Introductions and Overview

II. Creating a Safe and Inclusive Civic Space

III. Choices in Little Rock: A Young Person’s Impact on Big Ideas

IV. Facing Ferguson: Citizen Watchdogs and the Future of News

V. Next Steps

I. Introductions and Overview

Materials (all handouts can be found at the back of this document) • Facing History and Civics• Session Outline

Introductions Participants will have many opportunities to talk throughout the session. Begin by asking participants to introduce themselves and share the name of their schools.

Overview After you have heard from everyone in the room, distribute the background handout on Facing History and Ourselves along with the Session Outline and share this big picture overview:

• Facing History and Ourselves materials and approach can support teachersin two Proven Practices for Civic Learning: Classroom Instruction andDiscussion of Current and Controversial Issues. (Seewww.illinoiscivics.org/resources/six-proven-practices.)

• This workshop will model civic practices that can be used with students. It willprovide discussion prompts, resources, and strategies for a 90-minutesession.

• First, we will experience ways that teachers can work to Create a Safe andInclusive Civic Space. Creating a classroom that is a safe space is critical forstudents to develop civic skills and dispositions.

• Then, we will explore primary sources about the integration of Central HighSchool in 1957. In Choices In Little Rock: A Young Person Impacting BigIdeas, we will use history to engage in big questions about participation andcivic engagement.

• Next, Facing Ferguson: Citizen Watchdogs and the Future of News invitesstudents to think about the role of the press in a democracy, and considertheir civic responsibilities as they consume, produce, and share news andinformation.

• Finally, you will share next steps with participants. How can they access theresources that we introduced? How can they learn about resources to startthe school year or design their civics course? And how can they takeadvantage of professional development through Facing History, both onlineand in Chicago?

2


Learning Goal SS.CV.5.9-12 Analyze the impact of personal interest and diverse perspective on the application of civic dispositions, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.

Materials • Think, Pair, Share Teaching Strategy• 8 Components of a Reflective Classroom• Structured Engagement with Current and Controversial Issues

Procedure 1. Overview: Classroom communities can create opportunities for students to

develop and practice civic skills and dispositions. These skills includechallenges such as an ability to make connections between history andcontemporary experiences or to engage in discussions across vastly differingperspectives. In order for students to develop and fully express these skillsand dispositions, they have to feel safe. Evidence supports that “an openclassroom climate for discussion is a significant predictor of civic knowledge,support for democratic values, participation in political discussion andpolitical engagement.”1 By laying the foundation at the beginning of the year,and by revisiting the discussion throughout the year, teachers can co-createwith students a classroom that emphasizes these civic skills and dispositions.That climate will support student engagement with current and controversialissues.

2. Ask participants to respond to the following prompt in their notebooks(provide journal paper and pens/pencils for those who did not bring them).

What does a classroom that is a civic space look, sound, and feel like? How does that classroom support discussion of current and controversial issues, particularly those that young people view as important to their lives?

3. Have participants pair up and share their responses. The Think, Pair, Shareteaching strategy allows participants to first thoughtfully respond toquestions in written form and then engage in meaningful dialogue aroundthese issues. Choosing this or a similar teaching strategy will support student

1 Quoted in Civic Blueprint http://www.civiced.org/pdfs/campaignToPromote/IL%20Civic%20Blueprint.pdfTorney-Purta, Judith and Wendy K. Richardson. 2009. IEA data from “Anticipated Political Engagement Among Adolescents in Australia, England, Norway and the United States,” in Jack Demaine (ed.), Citizenship and Political Education Today. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

3

development of civic dispositions by inviting all the students to express their opinions.

4. Reconvene the group and ask pairs to report back on their conversations.Record key ideas on the chart paper. Alternatively, you could askparticipants to share what their partner said to model how this strategyfocuses on developing students’ skills as careful listeners. Consider creatingthree columns to record the ideas (Looks Like, Sounds Like, Feels Like).

5. Facing History teachers often create a classroom contract to allow studentsto consider how a group can function effectively while respecting differentopinions, to engage in consensus building, and to give agency and voice tothe participants.

Ask participants to return to their partner (from step 3) to discuss ideasfrom the large-group discussion and develop an articulation of sharedagreements for the community. Share the key question: What will benecessary to establish a space that looks, sounds, and feels like the one thatwe discussed? If participants need some examples, you can provide this listof norms that are often used in Facing History classrooms and ask foradditions and modifications:

• Listen with respect. Try to understand what someone is saying before rushing tojudgment.

• Make comments using “I” statements.

• If you do not feel safe making a comment or asking a question, write the thoughtin your journal. You can share the idea with your teacher first and together comeup with a safe way to share the idea.

• If someone says an idea or question that helps your own learning, say “thankyou.”

• If someone says something that hurts or offends you, do not attack the person.

• Acknowledge that the comment—not the person—hurt your feelings and explainwhy.

• Put-downs are never okay.

• If you don’t understand something, ask a question.

• Think with your head and your heart.

• Share the talking time—provide room for others to speak.

• Do not interrupt others while they are speaking.

• Write thoughts in your journal if you don’t have time to say them during class.

• Journal responses do not have to be shared publicly.

Discuss living out the contract Set up how you will deal with challenges or tension that comes up in the classroom as part of your contract. How can students help hold each other accountable to the civic space? How can everyone be open about how the conversation is impacting him or her? For example, teachers may choose to introduce language of “intent and impact,” and ask students to describe how someone’s comment impacted them, knowing that that is not always the intent of the speaker. Or plan with students a “time out,” called by anyone in the community, to allow the class to stop a conversation, reflect in their journals, and revisit a conversation with more space and time.

Address dehumanizing language and the challenges of conversations about race Because of the content in this workshop, we also urge you to consider including norms related specifically to having discussions about race that acknowledge the complexities of identity, personal experience, and history. Both Choices in Little Rock and Facing Ferguson include additional strategies and resources to support teachers in developing safe spaces for classroom discussion around difficult content and race. However, for this brief session, you may want to add to your contract, We will use the phrase “the n-word” in conversation, although we will hear dehumanizing language within the context of a historical text.

6. Distribute “8 Components of a Reflection Classroom,” and “StructuredEngagement with Current and Controversial Issues.” Ask participants toreview these documents and underline key ideas and share with their partnerany additions or modifications they would make to the contract. Ask for ideasfrom the large group and add to the contract if appropriate.

7. Transition to the next session: We have reached consensus about how we willengage together, experiencing a democratic practice. As we move into the nextsession, where we will begin to look at history to gain civic knowledge that ismeaningful and relevant for students, remind participants that they can revise orrevisit the contract as the discussion deepens.


Learning Goals SS.CV.8.9-12 Analyze how individuals use and challenge laws to address a variety of public issues

SS.CV.9.9-12 Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes and related consequences

Materials • Elizabeth Eckford Photograph• 3-2-1 Graphic Organizer• Transcript “I Am Elizabeth Eckford”• Audio Clip: “I Am Elizabeth Eckford” (available at facinghistory.org/illinois-civics)

Procedure 1. Overview: Too often, discussions of civic responsibilities focus almost

exclusively on voting. Although important, voting is just one aspect of civicengagement. Individuals influence their leaders and shape events in a widevariety of ways. In this session, we will look at pieces of the Choices in Little Rock unit about the integration of Central High School in 1957. In this unit,students consider how ordinary people shape abstract ideas like balance ofpower and federalism. The story is told through court decisions, politicalspeeches, telegrams, letters, memoirs, photographs, interviews, and newsreports. It is a story that teaches many lessons about belonging to groups,race and racism as well as civic engagement. At the end of the session, wewill share how you can access this free unit from Facing History’s website.

2. Share historical context: Elizabeth Eckford was one of a group of studentswho became known as the “Little Rock Nine,” nine African American studentswho enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, as part of the1957 desegregation effort following Brown v. Board of Education. The daybefore school started, the governor ordered the Arkansas National Guard toprevent the Little Rock Nine from entering the building, due to threats totheir lives. Daisy Bates, a local Civil Rights activist who was advising andsupporting the students, had notified them to meet at her house in order totravel to school together. Elizabeth Eckford did not get word of this plan andshe arrived at school alone.

3. We are going to analyze an image from Elizabeth’s first day of school using a3-2-1 graphic organizer, both found in the Appendix. Ask participants tolook at the photo of Elizabeth Eckford and consider what choices they seeyoung people making. Then independently write down 3 things that you notice on the 3-2-1 graphic organizer.

6

4. Introduce the language and vocabulary of human behavior. Through theprocess of looking at Elizabeth’s personal experience, we can model thepower of establishing a common vocabulary around identity, decision-making, and how young people can impact their communities to supportstudents’ connections. One central goal is for participants to discover thathistorical events are not inevitable and that preventing injustice andpreserving democracy require citizens to be informed, ethically reflective,and active participants.

Language and vocabulary can serve as an entry into the exploration ofhuman behavior. Terms like perpetrator, victim, defender, bystander, rescuer, ally, and upstander can help students understand complicated socialhistory and connect the lessons of that history to their own lives and currentevents.

You may mention and discuss that these roles are not fixed and that there is complexity to the labels and roles as well. For example, there are many types of bystanders in this photo: Some are yelling, some are laughing, some are passively observing, and some are doing nothing. We don’t see all the different roles people played in this incident. There is also framing to consider in looking at the photo, as a photographer has captured one particular moment

Ask participants independently to make 2 connections to the photo of Elizabeth’s first day of school (using the language of human behavior) on their 3-2-1 graphic organizer.

5. Finally, ask participants to write 1 sentence on the graphic organizerexplaining how and why having this common language is important in acivics classroom.

6. Have participants pair up and share their responses from their 3-2-1 graphicorganizers. Using the Think, Pair, Share teaching strategy again, ask forboth partners to share with each other before sharing out with the largegroup.

7. Listen to “I Am Elizabeth Eckford” (4:25) and distribute the transcript.Tell participants they are going to listen to Elizabeth Eckford describe thenight before her first day of school at Little Rock Central High School. As welisten and follow along on the transcript, we will look for evidence in the textto support our understanding of the incident and how it connects to largerquestions about civic engagement.

7

Let’s think about identity and choices and the experiences of this young girl preparing for her first day of school. Ask participants to take notes on the text as they think about the following questions:

• What connections do you make to the vocabulary of human behavior?

• What connections do you see between history and “ourselves”?

• What connections do you see to civic engagement?

8. Session Wrap Up: Share a few connections as a whole group.

9. Transition: By looking at the story of Elizabeth Eckford, we modeled howteachers can use primary sources to support civic skills and to allow studentsto analyze how individuals use and challenge laws to address a variety ofpublic issues. We also introduced vocabulary that supports students’ abilityto talk about choice making and to recognize the importance of individualsmaking choices.

You can find Choices in Little Rock as well as many resources related toElizabeth Eckford, the Civil Rights Movement, and the issue of race in UShistory on Facing History’s website, facinghistory.org.

In the next session we will share a small piece of a new resource calledFacing Ferguson to engage with news literacy skills and concepts. These canhelp students find reliable information to make decisions, take action, andbecome effective civic participants in today’s complex information landscape.

8

IV. Citizen Watchdogs and the Future of News

Learning Goals SS.CV.5.9-12 Analyze the impact of personal interest and diverse perspective on the application of civic dispositions, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.

SS.CV.1.9-12 Distinguish the rights, roles, powers, and responsibilities of individuals and institutions in the political system

Materials • Ferguson Know-Heard-Learned Chart• Anticipation Guide• Four Corners Debate Teaching Strategy• Signs: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree• Transcript: “Citizen Watchdogs and the Future of News”• Video: “Citizen Watchdogs and the Future of News” (available at

facinghistory.org/illinois-civics)

Procedure 1. Overview: News literacy skills and concepts can help students find reliable

information to make decisions, take action, and become effective civicparticipants in today’s complex information landscape. In this session, we willexplore resources from Facing Ferguson: News Literacy in a Digital Age. Thisdigital unit, co-created by Facing History and Ourselves and The NewsLiteracy Project, is made up of 11 lessons and features exclusive videointerviews with journalists and news observers from the Washington Post, USA Today, NPR, Dartmouth University, and other outlets. The resourcesexamine the information aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown andthe protests that followed which became a flashpoint for a discussion aboutrace, policing, and justice. The lessons help students explore confirmationand other biases as well as the role of citizens as consumers and producersof news, information, and media.

To build background, distribute the Ferguson K-H-L chart and askparticipants to review the basic timeline of the events related to theshooting of Michael Brown. (Let participants know that this handout is part ofan introductory lesson in the resource designed to help students keep trackof what they learn about the events through the unit.)

2. As a warm-up activity to engage in big ideas about civics and news literacy,ask participants to complete the Anticipation Guide. Participants should respond to statements with strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree,

9

disagree. (You can use the anticipation guide we provide, or you can create your own with different questions.)

3. The Four Corners Debate teaching strategy can be used to structure awhole-class discussion in a way that supports perspective taking and allows for students to articulate and defend their opinion about statements on the anticipation guide.

Label the four corners of the room with signs reading: strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree. After participants have considered their personal response to the statements, read one of the statements aloud, and ask students to move to the corner of the room that best represents their opinion. Once participants are in their places, ask them to discuss where they are positioned with a small group standing close to them. This will allow for equity of voice. Next, ask for volunteers to justify their position. When doing so, they should refer to evidence. Encourage students to switch corners if someone presents an idea that causes a change of mind. After a representative from each corner has defended his or her position, you can allow students to question each other’s evidence and ideas. Before beginning the discussion, remind participants about the classroom contract outlining norms for having a respectful, open discussion of ideas.

4. The Four Corners activity helped us to consider big ideas related to newsliteracy and civic participation. Now we want to consider how students and other non-journalists can use the media as a tool for civic engagement.

View “Citizen Watchdogs and the Future of News.” Distribute the transcript and ask participants to make note of what the speakers say about the impact of citizen watchdogs, what they are (and aren’t) able to accomplish, and the relationship between citizen watchdogs and the press.

5. Debrief the video. What role did social media and citizen watchdogs playin the information aftermath of Michael Brown’s death and the unrest in Ferguson? What were the challenges and opportunities offered to citizen watchdogs by social media? You may also want to discuss: the power of images, the fast-paced news cycle, how we can verify information, and source credibility.

6. In small groups, have participants create a job description for acitizen watchdog, including at least five tools, resources, strategies, and/or skills that ideal “job candidates” will possess or be able to use. Give each

10

group a few minutes to share their job descriptions with the group and to answer questions.

7. Provide time for participants to reflect on what they have learned intheir journals. How has social media helped in awakening the public to important events over the past few years? What does this make you think about your own social media use in the future, both as a consumer and as a creator? What do you think the implications are for your students?

8. Session wrap-up: In this session, we shared a piece of the Facing Ferguson multimedia unit to demonstrate how you can use this powerful resource to invite your students to ask questions about the role of the press; the impact of social media; and their own consumption, creation, and sharing of news and information. The lessons also give students another perspective on how our democracy works and strategies for effective civic participation. You can find this digital resource online at the Facing History website.

Distribute the final participant handouts and encourage educators to visit and download Facing History’s free resources and explore the upcoming face-to-face and online professional development offerings.

11

Appendix: Session Handouts

I. Introduction and Overview Handouts a. Facing History and Civicsb. Session Outline

Facing History and Ourselves 2 North LaSalle Street • Suite 2300 Chicago, IL 60602 • 312 726 4500

Facing History and Civics

Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization whose

mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism

in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. Facing History equips

educators and youth with tools that empower them to wrestle with difficult issues regarding the many

challenges to democracy and our society through the lens of history and civics. Our professional development

offerings and follow-up support and coaching help teachers create supportive academic environments where,

through rigorous study of history, civics, and humanities, students learn to make moral decisions with courage

and conviction.

Independent research has shown that Facing History’s standards-aligned approach works. In a recent

randomized controlled trial, Facing History students demonstrated greater civic efficacy and tolerance for

others with different views, and more positive perceptions of the classroom climate and the opportunities

afforded for engaging with civic matters. In addition, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional

Learning (CASEL) named Facing History as one of only nine programs in the U.S. that has a proven positive

effect on students, such as improved academics, increased empathy, and increased pro-social behavior.

By teaching students to think critically, empathize, recognize moral choices, and make their voices heard,

Facing History puts in their hands the possibility—and the responsibility—to do the serious work demanded of

us all as citizens.

Sign Up for Professional Development Facing History provides professional development programs to educators, both in-person and online, to help

bring Facing History’s content and approach into the classroom. Our weeklong seminars, multi-week online

courses, and full-day and after-school workshops introduce educators to innovative strategies and resources

that make teachers more effective and lead to increased student engagement and learning. For upcoming PD

opportunities, visit facinghistory.org/illinois-civics. Scholarships and graduate credits are available for many

of our offerings.

For More Information Our Chicago-based Program team is here to help. Contact Denise Gelb, Associate Program Director, at

[email protected] or 312-345-3248 with questions or to discuss developing a tailored program to

meet the needs of your school or district.


Chicago, IL 60602 • 312 726 4500

Session Outline: Civics Course Implementation Training

I. Introductions and Overview



IV. Facing Ferguson: Citizen Watchdogs and the Future of News

V. Next Steps

II. Creating a Safe and Inclusive Civic Spacea. Think, Pair, Share Teaching Strategyb. 8 Components of a Reflective Classroomc. Structured Engagement with Current and

Controversial Issues


Chicago, IL 60602 • 312 726 4500

Think, Pair, Share Teaching Strategy Facilitating Discussions in Small and Large Groups

Rationale This discussion technique gives students the opportunity to thoughtfully respond to questions in written form and to engage in meaningful dialogues with other students around these issues. Asking students to write and discuss ideas with a partner before sharing with the larger group gives students more time to compose their ideas. This format helps students build confidence, encourages greater participation and often results in more thoughtful discussions. It also promotes civic engagement allowing for equity of voice and learning from diverse perspectives.

Procedure 1. Think.Have students reflect on a given question or write a response in their journals.

2. Pair.Have students pair up with one other student and share their responses.

3. Share.When the larger group reconvenes, ask pairs to report back on their conversations. Alternatively, you could ask students to share what their partner said. In this way, this strategy focuses on students’ skills as careful listeners.

8 Components of a Reflective Classroom Posted by Doc Miller on Facing Today, a Facing History blog, August 5, 2015

The philosopher Hannah Arendt said that the essence of being human is participating in moral discourse with others. "The things of the world become human for us only when we can discuss them with our fellows. We humanize what is going on in the world and in ourselves only by speaking of it, and in the course of speaking of it we learn to be human." In a reflective classroom community, students work together in an engaging study of our past, and of our world today. Knowledge is constructed, not passively absorbed. And students, with both hearts and minds mobilized, are seen as subjects actively engaged in a community of learners. A trusting classroom atmosphere like this creates the space for deep, democratic learning. The creation of an environment like this requires a thoughtful approach.

Below are eight practices that are components of a reflective classroom. They are not listed hierarchically, and this is not an exclusive list.

1. Mutual RespectThis must permeate every aspect of a classroom, and is embedded in all of the other components. It includes a deep respect for both the students and for the subject matter. Can students take risks? Will they be "shot down" or ridiculed by other students, or even by the teacher, for openly sharing their thoughts? How will the teacher handle it when one student personally insults or belittles another student? Will students be respected and honored as thoughtful participants in a community of learners? A teacher's behavior in these situations sets the tone for the whole class. We need to be explicit and put into practice our belief that a deep respect for each student is at the heart of our educational endeavor.

2. Intentional Use of SpaceHow we arrange our rooms makes a statement and sends a message to our students. Some arrangements promote a reflective community better than others. When a whole class discussion is going on, it is easier to talk to each other when participants can see the faces of fellow students. Arranging the furniture in a circle promotes a sense of community and can make a difference. Likewise, arranging chairs and desks in clusters for small group work facilitates discussion. And then there's the wall space. Relevant pictures, posters, and student work can play a role in generating a thoughtful atmosphere.

3. A Culture of QuestioningPerhaps more important than anything else, questions promote active learning. When the teacher and the students are involved together in a dialogue, they are engaged in a process of ever-deepening consciousness. A healthy questioning of causes, motives, and underlying assumptions and values can only enrich student learning and foster a deeper understanding.

8 Components of a Reflective Classroom • Facing History and Ourselves 2

4. Thoughtful SilenceSilence is one of the most powerful and underused tools in the classroom. Whether it is used when a teacher slows down his or her speech to emphasize a point, or after asking a question, or even after a student has responded to a question, silence can be invaluable. It creates space for thought and sends students the message that we trust them as thoughtful learners who need time to reflect.

5. Student-to-Student DiscussionsThe teacher does not have to be at the center of class discussion. Studies have shown that student-to-student interaction deepens student learning. It can happen in a number of ways, including:

• A spontaneous discussion

• The "No Hand Discussion", wherein students create their own criteria for a successful

discussion, try it out, and assess how it's going on a regular basis

• Student-led discussions

• Small group works

6. Connecting Content to Students' Lives to History and to the World TodayWhen students can connect what they are studying with their own lives, it sparks within them a deeper interest. They see the relevance and realize that this kind of learning can enlighten and enrich them personally. They want to learn more. Instead of asking young people to discuss events from the past, we can connect historical case studies to the moral questions they face in their own lives. Engaging students in this way enables them to see the way that the choices people make shape history. They also can reflect on how to make a difference. For example, looking at the role of a bystander in a historical case study leads to deeper engagement with the past, while at the same time allowing students to reflect on how they themselves would respond when they see an injustice occurring in their own communities. With these kinds of issues at stake, students are often eager to build and participate in a reflective, trusting classroom community and learn from each other.

7. Allowing for a Variety of Ways for Students to Express and Enrich Their LearningSculpture, music, poetry, artwork, dance, short stories, video productions, and other forms of expression can all demonstrate student learning and can deepen and enrich understanding of content. Providing different kinds of opportunities for students to express learning creates a classroom environment where a variety of student gifts are appreciated and celebrated.

8. Creating Space for Diverse ViewpointsIssues are sometimes introduced in class that can lead to highly charged, differing, and even opposing viewpoints. Teachers need to have both the courage to raise these issues and the wisdom and skill to manage them. Some teachers are concerned about raising controversial issues, afraid that a class discussion on such issues might be upsetting, get out of hand, be unmanageable, and cause hostility between students. This does not have to be the case. Learning to voice your own thinking on an issue and listening to those you disagree with is a cornerstone of a well-functioning democracy. When students are able to have a conversation that involves communicating their own views and listening to diverse viewpoints, their thinking is both enlarged and enriched. Being challenged in this way helps them to mature and develop as thoughtful, active citizens. They have begun to create space for the other and, in the process, have deepened their own thinking. In a

8 Components of a Reflective Classroom • Facing History and Ourselves 3

classroom that has been practicing these eight components, this kind of deep, democratic learning is possible.

These eight components are just a few of the many possible ways a community of learners might take shape. What is important is that teachers have the opportunity to step back and reflect together with colleagues on how they want to create these thoughtful classrooms. These kinds of classrooms don't just happen overnight. Teachers and students are always growing and developing the art of creating a community of learners. Numerous decisions are being made every day. Mistakes will be made. But the more teachers take time to look at the components of a reflective classroom and consciously work at creating a thoughtful environment, the more effective they will be. How do you create a reflective classroom?


Chicago, IL 60602 • 312 726 4500

Structured Engagement with Current and Controversial Issues

The McCormick Foundation’s recommendations in Creating A Civic Blueprint for Illinois High Schools: Educating for Democracy1 describes the importance of engaging with current and controversial issues and provides suggested indicators that Facing History believes are important skills for Civic Readiness:

Students (like many adults) often retain information better if it is connected to real world events. Encouraging discussion of current events in the classroom allows teachers to demonstrate concepts they are discussing. It also allows students to learn about current affairs and wrestle with the complexities of making decisions about important issues.

Indicators of quality classroom engagement with current and controversial issues features:

• Discussion of controversial public issues (local, national and international)

• Information about public issues is provided through a variety of sources including newspapersand other media

• Discussion is balanced and does not indoctrinate

• A focus on an interpretable text, issue, or idea

• Open-ended (authentic questions are asked for which there are no obvious answers

• Relevant background knowledge, including life experience is used in a logical way

• Different opinions are expressed, heard, respected, understood, and analyzed

• Participation is not centered on any one person

• Students have opportunities to listen, speak, and feel welcome to participate from a variety ofperspectives in a supportive environment

• Students are engaged intellectually and emotionally

• Students develop reasoned positions using ideas and arguments presented in discussion

• Students have license and opportunity to change points of view or reach different conclusionsbased on evidence and insights offered during a discussion

Facing History and Ourselves helps teachers address current and controversial events in the classroom by providing resources, professional development, teaching strategies, publications, and ideas for contextualizing events and discussions taking place around the world today.

1 McCormick Foundation. Creating A Civic Blueprint for Illinois High Schools: Educating for Democracy. Chicago, 2009, page 26.

III. Choices in Little Rock: A Young Person’sImpact on Big Ideasa. Elizabeth Eckford Photographb. 3-2-1 Graphic Organizerc. Transcript: “I Am Elizabeth Eckford”

Photograph by Will Counts/ Indiana University Archives.

Source URL: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2011/10/elizabeth_and_hazel_what_happened_to_the_two_girls_in_the_most_f.html


Chicago, IL 60602 • 312 726 4500

3-2-1 3 things you notice in the photo…. 1. 2. 3.

2 connections to human behavior vocabulary…. 1. 2.

1 sentence….


Chicago, IL 60602 • 312 726 4500

Transcript: “I Am Elizabeth Eckford”

I am Elizabeth Eckford. I am part of the group that became known as the Little Rock Nine. Prior to the [de]segregation of Central, there had been one high school for whites, Central High School; one high school for blacks, Dunbar. I expected that there may be something more available to me at Central that was not available at Dunbar; that there might be more courses I could pursue; that there were more options available. I was not prepared for what actually happened.

I was more concerned about what I would wear, whether we could finish my dress in time...what I was wearing was that okay, would it look good. The night before when the governor went on television and announced that he had called out the Arkansas National Guard, I thought that he had done this to insure the protection of all the students. We did not have a telephone, so inadvertently we were not contacted to let us know that Daisy Bates of NAACP had arranged for some ministers to accompany the students in a group. And so, it was I that arrived alone.

On the morning of September 4th, my mother was doing what she usually did. My mother was making sure everybody’s hair looked right and everybody had their lunch money and their notebooks and things. But she did finally get quiet and we had family prayer. I remember my father walking back and forth. My father worked at night and normally he would have been asleep at that time, but he was awake and he was walking back and forth chomping on cigar that wasn’t lit.

I expected that I would go to school as before on a city bus. So, I walked a few blocks to the bus stop, got on the bus, and rode to within two blocks of the school. I got off the bus and I noticed along the street that there were many more cars than usual. And I remember hearing the murmur of a crowd. But, when I got to the corner where the school was, I was reassured seeing these soldiers circling the school grounds. And I saw students going to school. I saw the guards break ranks as students approached the sidewalks so that they could pass through to get to school. And I approached the guard at the corner as I had seen some other students do and they closed ranks. So, I thought; “Maybe I am not supposed to enter at this point.” So, I walked further down the line of guards to where there was another sidewalk and I attempted to pass through there. But when I stepped up, they crossed rifles. And again I said to myself; “So maybe I’m supposed to go down to where the main entrance is.” So, I walked toward the center of the street and when I got to about the middle and I approached the guard he directed me across the street into the crowd. It was only then that I realized that they were barring me, that I wouldn’t go to school.

As I stepped out into the street, the people who had been across the street started surging forward behind me. So, I headed in the opposite direction to where there was another bus stop. Safety to me meant getting to that bus stop. It seemed like I sat there for a long time before the bus came. In the meantime, people were screaming behind me what I would have described as a crowd before, to my ears sounded like a mob.

IV. Citizen Watchdogs and the Future ofNewsa. Ferguson Know-Heard-Learned Chartb. Anticipation Guidec. Four Corners Debated. Transcript: Citizen Watchdogs and the

Future of News

What I LearnedWhat I Know or Heard2014

August 9 • Michael Brown is shot

August 10 • Protests begin

August 14 • State trooper takes over operations from local police

August 15 • Officer who shot Michael Brown

identified

September 3 • Justice Department opens inquiry

November 24 • Grand jury decides not to indict Darren Wilson

2015March 4 • Department of Justice

releases reports

Name:

Date:

Know-Heard-Learned ChartLesson 1: Preparing Students for Difficult Conversations


Chicago, IL 60602 • 312 726 4500

Anticipation Guide

Read the statement in the left column. Decide if you strongly agree (SA), agree (a), disagree (D), or strongly disagree (SD) with the statement. Circle your response and provide a one-to two sentence explanation of your opinion.

Statements Your Opinion 1. Teens today are less informed about SA A D SDcurrent events than previous generations. Explain:

2. Only reputable and trained journalists SA A D SDshould be trusted as news sources. Explain:

3. Effective civic participation requires SA A D SDnews literacy. Explain:

4. Using social media is an act of civic SA A D SDparticipation. Explain:


Chicago, IL 60602 • 312 726 4500

Four Corners Debate

Rationale This activity elicits the participation of all students by requiring everyone to take a position. By drawing out students’ opinions on a topic they are about to study, it can be a useful warm-up activity. By asking them to apply what they have learned when framing arguments, it can be an effective follow-through activity. Four Corners can also be used as a pre-writing activity to elicit arguments and evidence prior to essay writing.

Procedure 1. PreparationLabel the four corners of the room with signs reading: strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree. Generate a list of controversial statements related to the material being studied. Statements most likely to encourage discussion typically do not have one correct or obvious answer, elicit nuanced arguments (e.g., “This might be a good idea some of the time, but not all of the time”), and represent respected values on both sides of the debate.

2. Introduce StatementsDistribute statements and give students the opportunity to respond to them in writing. Many teachers provide students with a graphic organizer that requires students to mark their opinion (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree), and provide a brief explanation.

3. Four Corners DiscussionAfter students have considered their personal response to the statements, read one of the statements aloud, and ask students to move to the corner of the room that best represents their opinion. Once students are in their places, ask for volunteers to justify their position. When doing so, they should refer to evidence, especially from material they learned in this unit, as well as other relevant information from their own experiences. Encourage students to switch corners if someone presents an idea that causes a change of mind. After a representative from each corner has defended his or her position, you can allow students to question each other’s evidence and ideas. Before beginning the discussion, remind students about norms for having a respectful, open discussion of ideas.

4. ReflectionThere are many ways you can debrief this exercise. You can have students to reflect in their journals about how the activity changed or reinforced their original opinion. It is quite possible that some students will be more confused or uncertain about their views after the Four Corners Debate. While uncertainty can feel uncomfortable, it is an important part of the understanding process, and represents the authentic wrestling with moral questions that have no clear right or wrong answers. To clarify ideas shared during the discussion, you can chart the main for and against arguments on the board as a whole-class activity.

Lesson 11: Citizen Watchdogs and the News

Wesley LoweryReporter, The Washington PostSocial media created Ferguson. Without social media—specifically Twitter—but without social media by and large, there is no Ferguson, Missouri. Mike Brown remains a generic name that we use for filler and does not invoke the specific images.

What I remember specifically is I remember seeing the tweets of the young man whose apartment was right in front of the shooting site and watching the series of tweets from him: “The police just killed someone. Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! What’s going on?”

Then watching the Instagram video of Brittany Noble of KMOV, who happens to be a friend of mine, so we already were linked on social media, and I remember watching the video that she took of Lesley McSpadden moments after the shooting when she had arrived, jumping up and down in agony, screaming. This was a video on Instagram, this wasn’t something that went out not even on YouTube, it wasn’t something that was on Twitter at the time, this wasn’t something that was being broadcast by KMOV. This was something she put on her Instagram page and it ended up blowing up.

I remember the Instagram photo, and eventually a Twitter photo, of Michael Brown’s stepfather holding the sign he made in cardboard saying, “The Ferguson PD just executed my unarmed son.”

Those images were the images that created Ferguson. Then the images of the police standing on top of fire trucks with their weapons drawn as a small, and eventually large, group of angry residents gathered. The images of Michael Brown’s body staying on the ground for four hours.

Social media was there. Social media was on Canfield Drive long before the first reporter arrived. It was there immediately and it propelled this story in a way that this story never, ever would have been told. It never would’ve become that national story that it was were it not for social media.

Pat GauenPublic safety editor, St. Louis Post-DispatchI think the value of Twitter stunned me. Up to that point, it was out there, but it was a novelty that didn’t have a lot of purpose, and Ferguson gave Twitter quite a purpose and one that continues now.

I think there is a lesson that law enforcement has to learn about this event and social media that I never considered before and I don’t think law enforcement considered before either.

In the past, you controlled the mass message by controlling the information you gave to the news media. We had the only loudspeakers, essentially. We had printing presses, TV and radio had broadcasts towers, but before the Internet, there was no big mass access to an audience except through us. So if the police could slow us down, shut us out of information, mete things out as they chose, pick their time to reveal things, they controlled it. There was no competition for us in the message getting out. They still controlled the narrative. Ferguson showed the peril of that.

“Citizen Watchdogs and the Future of News” Video Transcript

Larry MorrisGraduate Student, Webster UniversityI got a lot of emails and a lot of people telling me that I was their source. While they were out of town, they came to my page to see what was actually happening, because they didn’t necessarily trust what they saw on the local news stations or the big news stations and whatnot. So I feel like being a responsible media participant, it’s your responsibility to help put people on the right path, and putting people on the right path may not always be in line with what you think, but what’s right. Because that’s what it’s all about: getting what the correct information out there, so people can be skeptical the right way.

Craig CheathamReporter, KMOV (1999–2015)Everybody’s playing the watchdog. I still think that the organized journalism organization has the most credibility and does the best job of practicing journalism. But boy, in Ferguson some of these folks really did a terrific job of documenting events.

They caught police in some bad situations and the cops were called out for it. Mainstream media followed the lead of some of these bloggers or protesters and used the video and then would hold police agencies and those officers accountable, but it would start from the home video of the protesters.

Absolutely their coverage, in some cases, was good and made a difference. No question about it. A lot of it was noise and a lot of it just made everything more difficult, and there was an awful lot of incorrect information that they claimed was gospel and it wasn’t, and it made things much worse. But if you could dive into that forest and find the one or two things in the forest that were true, it was a great story, and when they did that, when they presented that, it was a public service.

The challenge was finding that needle in a haystack of public service through all of the noise that was out there. And that was very difficult to do. It was really tough sometimes.

Brooke GladstoneHost, “On the Media”I followed the role of social media in generating the interest in the case, and the public and I discovered actually that there was a pattern that in the anatomy of a lot of these shootings, starting with Trayvon Martin, that made them public, whereas before they were community affairs that never got any attention and social media was enormously important.

A black person dies in an urban neighborhood. I mean, you hear stories like this all the time. Is that a story? What, you know, what happened there? Why do we need to cover it? I mean, let’s face it, you know, most of the media are still run by people for whom these neighborhoods are not familiar. Neighborhoods with which they don’t identify—white middle class people. And the hard-nosed cynics might say, “This really isn’t a story.” Or they would cover it once or twice and that’s that. For it to become a national event or possibly the source of the proverbial national conversation, you need people to care, and to get people to care you need families, you need circumstances, you need specifics.

It helps to have a pattern of injustice. You need a hashtag so that all of the interested parties can come together and shout in a body, “Attention must be paid!” And so that’s what’s happened: is that suddenly the killing of an unarmed black person, an unarmed black man is news—national news, because a story in Florida, and a story in the Carolinas, and a story in Missouri all feed each other and somehow convey the message that there’s something

wrong, there’s something wrong in our justice system—something that the majority, the people who weren’t victims of it, could so easily ignore.

I’m gonna say something that’s probably going to seem totally counterintuitive, but I think that Ferguson is one of the best things that has ever happened to American democracy, because how many people gunned down in our cities do we know about? Very few compared to how many there are. Where is the outrage? There isn’t. Okay, so finally a spotlight on something that’s been going on forever and taken the police by surprise. Where did this spotlight come from?

Of course there are gonna be clashes, and it’s great that people called it “Fergustan” because it got the police to fire its chief and get a new one and create change where change seemed very nearly impossible. There is something glorious about seeing our democracy fail and then seeing something happen.

How do you make people say: We want your eyes here, we want your ears here, we want your expertise here, we want our voices out there? And you do that by organizing, and you organize by social media. And with a hashtag, a trending hashtag, you can have a million people, with minimal effort, saying, “Yeah I care about this. You should be there, you should cover this.”

Student Notes

Additional Handouts for Participants a. Alignment with Charlotte Danielson’s

Framework for Teachingb. Choices in Little Rock Information Sheetc. Facing Ferguson: News Literacy in a

Digital Age Information Sheet

Facing History and Ourselves • 2 North LaSalle Street • Suite 2300 • Chicago IL 60602 • 312 726 4500 • facinghistory.org

Alignment with Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching

Facing History and Ourselves’ content and pedagogy is aligned with the Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching, which defines effective teaching and provides a common language for talking about teaching. Our resources and strategies support teachers in developing safe, inclusive, and reflective classrooms and in attending to diverse learning needs across classrooms.

Our professional development models how to create rigorous lessons and units that: Prepare students to be active civic participants in their communities Engage students emotionally Ask students to reflect ethically on both daily decisions and broader life choices

Through Facing History and Ourselves, teachers engage with strategies and pedagogical practices that prepare them to plan for, speak about, and teach at the proficient and distinguished levels of performance.

Facing History and Ourselves’ content is aligned explicitly with Component 2a: Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport and Component 3b: Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques of the Framework for Teaching. Secondarily, it aligns with Component 1e: Designing Coherent Instruction and Component 3c: Engaging Students in Learning, with relevance more broadly to other components of the Framework.

Component 2a: Establishing an Environment of Respect and Rapport expects that interactions between both the teacher and the students, and between the students themselves, reflect genuine respect and caring for one another, both as individuals and as members of groups. In professional development, facilitators model that a Facing History and Ourselves classroom is a place where explicit rules and implicit norms protect everyone’s right to speak; where differing perspectives can be heard and valued; where members take responsibility for themselves, each other, and the group as a whole; and where each member has a stake and a voice in collective decisions. Facing History calls these spaces reflective classroom communities. Reflective classroom communities often do not happen by accident. Rather, they are deliberately nurtured by students and teachers who have shared expectations about how classroom members will treat each other.

All three elements of Component 3b: Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques (Quality of Questions, Discussion Techniques, and Student Participation) are fully supported

Facing History and Ourselves • 2 North LaSalle Street • Suite 2300 • Chicago IL 60602 • 312 726 4500 • facinghistory.org

in Facing History classrooms. Facing History classrooms model the skills needed for diverse groups to discuss complex topics in a respectful and academic way. Strategies and content promote the investigation of critical thinking questions and ask students to grapple with big ideas and generate questions of their own. Student-to-student discussion grounded in evidence from the text is a key component of Facing History pedagogy. Facing History professional development models discussion strategies that promote equity of voice, challenge students cognitively, and ask them to engage one another by both listening and responding to their peers.

Component 1e: Designing Coherent Instruction asks teachers to design instruction which emphasizes critical thinking and problem-based learning, and encourages depth rather than breadth. Facing History offers a coherent set of essential questions that can be used to design an in-depth unit of study. Our resources and study guides emphasize close reading of challenging texts; critical analysis; and the development of critical thinking, writing, and speaking skills aligned to the Common Core State Standards. Using a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, Facing History instructional activities ask students to search for underlying causes, explain their thinking, and justify their position. Essential questions embedded in the resources cognitively challenge students and ask them to dig deeply into an historical issue, couple with a wide variety of pedagogical strategies and approaches to meet the needs of varied learning styles.

Component 3c: Engaging Students in Learning sets the expectation that activities and assignments challenge students to think broadly and deeply, and to engage in nonroutine thinking. The ways in which teachers and students use instructional materials and resources promote authentic student engagement. Such engagement is the centerpiece of an effective classroom, and manifests itself in a Facing History class as teachers engage students emotionally and intellectually in rigorous learning tasks. Rather than cover a large amount of material, Facing History classrooms promote depth in lessons and units of study. Teachers can choose from Facing History’s wide array of resources and publications designed to engage students in critical thinking and to promote student-generated inquiry and deep learning.

Facing History and Ourselves supports teacher growth and excellence. We support teachers in creating safe and inclusive classroom communities that value the individuality of each student so that learning can flourish. The array of resources and strategies available to teachers through Facing History asks them to make intentional choices based on students’ needs and interests. Program associates provide ongoing coaching and support for teachers to recognize and articulate clear learning goals and curricular choices that will prove maximally beneficial to their students.

For More InformationOur staff can work with you to develop a program that meets the specific needs of your school, faculty, and curriculum. To schedule a call or visit, contact Denise Gelb, Chicago Office Associate Program Director, at [email protected] or (312) 345-3248.

In 1957, nine black teenagers faced the threats of angry mobs when they attempted to enter Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The desegregation of Central High following Brown v. Board of Education ignited a crisis historian Taylor Branch describes as “the most severe test of the Constitution since the Civil War.”

The Choices in Little Rock unit explores civic choices, the decisions people make as citizens in a democracy. Those decisions, both then and now, reveal that democracy is not a product but a work in progress, a work that is shaped by the choices that we make about ourselves and about others. Although those choices may not seem important at the time, little by little they define an individual, delineate a community, and ultimately distinguish a nation. Those choices build on the work of earlier generations and leave legacies for those to come.

Choices in Little Rock considers how ordinary people shape abstract civic ideas like balance of power and federalism. It provides a context for understanding the legacies, legal basis, and consequences of segregation and the road to Brown v. Board of Education; and tells the story of the Little Rock Nine through court decisions, political speeches, telegrams, letters, memoirs, interviews, and news reports. It is a story that teaches lessons about race and racism as well as the importance and value of civic engagement.

Taking It Further A supplement to Choices provides writing prompts and teaching strategies to guide students as they craft a formal argumentative essay as part of this unit.

Facing History offers a range of additional classroom resources that support an exploration of race in US history, including The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy, Civil Rights Historical Investigations, Eyes on the Prize Study Guide, Teaching Mockingbird, Facing Ferguson, and more.

To access this free unit, please visit: facinghistory.org/illinoiscivics

On the afternoon of August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot to death in a confrontation with Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Mo. Within a week, the shooting of Michael Brown and the protests that followed—driven to a large degree by social media—became a flashpoint for a discussion about race, policing, and justice in the United States.

Cocreated by Facing History and the News Literacy Project, Facing Ferguson: News Literacy in a Digital Age explores the events and “information aftermath” surrounding the death of Michael Brown to help students learn how to use news literacy skills to become more critical consumers, creators, and amplifiers of news and information.

Through exclusive interviews with awardwinning journalists from The Washington Post, St. Louis Post Dispatch, NPR, and other media outlets, and a range of activities designed to develop students’ critical thinking, literacy, and social–emotional skills and competencies, the lessons also model strategies for maintaining civil discourse, considering multiple perspectives, and creating a classroom culture of safety and respect in the face of current and controversial issues.

Unit Goals Through 11 multimedia lessons, students will: Investigate the choices and challenges facing journalists as they report on a story, including the

importance of verification, sourcing, and other journalistic practices and standards.

Understand the role that confirmation bias, stereotyping, and other cognitive biases play in how weinterpret events, news, and information.

Explore the impact of social media on the traditional news cycle, and understand the role it can playin influencing public opinion and the press.

Consider their role as citizens in a democracy and their responsibilities as civic participants andcitizen watchdogs.

To access this free unit, please visit: facinghistory.org/facingferguson

illinois civics course · illinois civics course implementation training facing history and...

Documents