Taking Ownership of the Law
Students learn about Mum Bett and Quock Walker, who successfully sued for their freedom, and reflect on what their stories illuminate about democracy today.
![Many students sitting around a table looking at the teacher.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Facing-History_SJLA_239.jpg?h=a141e9ea&itok=kNny4dqm)
The Rule of Law and Why It Matters
Students explore what it means to respect the rule of law and consider its importance in a democracy.
![A wide angle of a male student writing.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/facing-history-sf-drew-bird-a-056.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=cW2M4Jti)
What Does It Mean to Belong?
Students identify the range of actions they can take when confronted with exclusion. The term upstander is introduced, as well as key terms such as bystander, perpetrator, and victim.
![A teacher talking with three high school students in a classroom](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Chicago_Classroom_2019_FH2101444.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=smqV7nDh)
What Makes Memphis a Community?
Students connect what they have learned about communities to their knowledge of Memphis,TN, by analyzing images of historical and local importance to the city.
![A sitting teacher speaks to three students while holding a book.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/_DSF7297-15.jpg?h=c3635fa2&itok=PjXiF622)
What Shapes Your Identity?
Through a poem-writing activity, students broaden and deepen their understanding of identity.
![Student writing notes.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/2012_118_BullySummit2012LA113_FH116207.jpg?h=265e640d&itok=fgSLzYPv)
Who Am I?
By asking the question "Who am I?" students explore the role that identity plays in forming their values, ideas, and actions.
![A female student engages in discussion.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Bully%20Summit%202012%20LA.jpg?h=4ee54301&itok=ZP2THyfm)
Who Are We?
Through a gallery walk activity, students learn that communities consist of a collection of people with unique identities.
![Two female students work at their desks.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/Classroom_TwoFemales_Uniform.jpeg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=aZOkw7ER)
The Importance of a Free Press
Students review the First Amendment, understand the importance of a free press, and consider how that freedom can conflict with other societal needs through journalists’ experiences in Ferguson.
![Newspaper front page featuring story about protests and police in Ferguson.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2014_TheSeattleTimesAugust15_2014_FH224146.jpg?h=0d0c848a&itok=p9HpylXM)
Citizen Watchdogs and the News
Students identify the responsibilities of citizen watchdogs, summarize strategies for combatting confirmation bias and responsibly consuming and sharing news and information, and complete a culminating essay.
![Reporters conducting an interview.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/iStock-1350663690.jpg?h=62bc044e&itok=TN8_VBij)
Confirmation and Other Biases
Students define explicit, implicit, and confirmation bias, and examine why people sometimes maintain their beliefs in the face of contradictory information.
![Students learning in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2019_SL_190522_0466_FH2101333.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=sXctzD8c)
Hands Up, Don't Shoot!
Students review the US Department of Justice report, revisit how confirmation bias impacts our understanding of events, and consider how to bridge the gap in understanding that often surrounds events like Ferguson.
![Darnell Taylor marches with his daughter, Lauren, 4, on his shoulders down Market Street to Kiener Plaza as part of a march against police violence downtown St. Louis, Mo., on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cristina Fletes-Boutte)](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/2014_PoliceShootingMissouriProtests_FH259331.jpg?h=40d6a7d7&itok=hl3b_gIx)