Preparing Students for Difficult Conversations
Students establish a safe space for holding sensitive conversations, before introducing the events surrounding Ferguson, by acknowledging people's complicated feelings about race and creating a classroom contract.
Social Media and Ferguson
Students explore the role of social media in Ferguson, apply information verification strategies to social media posts, and develop strategies for becoming critical consumers and sharers of social media.
Getting to Know the 10 Questions
Students begin thinking about civic engagement in terms of their own passions and identities as they are introduced to the 10 Questions Framework.
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.
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.
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.
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.
How Journalists Minimize Bias
Students experience the challenges to reporting objectively by writing a news piece and watching a video about how journalists counteract bias in the newsroom.
Voting Rights in the United States
In this mini-lesson, students learn about the history of voting rights in the United States and consider how current voting laws in different states impact voters today.
Dismantling Democracy (UK)
Students examine the steps the Nazis took to replace democracy with dictatorship and draw conclusions about the values and institutions that make democracy possible.
Jewish History and Memory: Why Study the Past?
Students prepare for their study of the Holocaust by reflecting on the ways in which memory is an integral part of Jewish identity.