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.
The Devastation of War
Students learn about the aftermath of the Civil War and examine primary source documents that provide insight into the difficult task of reuniting the nation.
Public Art as a Form of Participation
Students analyse the Battle of Cable Street Mural and reflect on the role of public art to commemorate, educate, and build community.
Responding to Difference
Students explore a poem by James Berry about the ways we respond to difference and complete a creative assignment about their school or community.
Before Apartheid
Understand the history of people living and settling in the South African region and explore how racial and ethnic identities created tension in the years leading to apartheid.
Healing and Justice
Students examine President Andrew Johnson's plan for Reconstruction and the debate it provoked with Congress while reflecting on deeper issues of healing and justice.
Early Apartheid: 1948-1970
Learn about the early development of apartheid as the white South African government formed a legal system of racial hierarchy and non-white South Africans resisted these laws.
Growing Resistance Meets Growing Repression
Investigate the resurgent wave of international and domestic anti-apartheid activism that led to increased violence before both sides compromised over a legal conclusion to apartheid.
Transition to Democracy
Examine the continuing struggle for South Africa as it creates a representative democracy, attempts to heal from the legacy of apartheid, and searches for a new, inclusive identity.
Verifying Breaking News
Students evaluate the differences among news accounts about Ferguson, develop strategies for verifying news and information, and understand the challenges facing journalists as they cover complex, fast-moving events.