11th Grade Humanities
War on Drugs Op-Ed & RSA video
This past semester students created an RSA (Rivest, Shamir, and Adelman inventors of technique) video presentation coupled with a personal Op-Ed displaying their research on the topic, The War on Drugs. Combining Biology knowledge regarding the effects drugs have on the body with historic research on the origins of The War on Drugs. Students examine the roots of disproportionate mass incarceration along racial lines and the motives of political leaders who benefited from devise positions. They examined the monetary ramification of establishing new agencies and determine what is the best use of tax revenue. During this project the class deliberated the constitutionality of protecting citizens public health vs protecting citizens personal liberty. Students created visually appealing stop motion animation videos that summarize they research and make a persuasive argument regarding the question, Is The War on Drugs an Epic Fail? My Reflections on the Project: Reflecting on the War on Drugs project, what went best during my interaction with students was their enjoyment in collaborating together in the RSA video after spending time individually writing they're op-eds about their particular research.
What I would change based upon seeing some students struggle would have been giving students a clearer goal or more opportunities to test their opinion piece thesis with one another to ensure they're covering a topic with a clear stance, and clear counterpoint argument. |
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Big Project Idea
Rethinking Redlining
Key learning goals: Academically students will learn the history of how American cities were formed as well as understand the legacy of racial segregation an income inequality. Student will learn geography and economics looking in the wealth gap created by segregated neighborhoods.
Social Emotionally- Students will collaborate tapping into their own unique funds of knowledge and learn more about the history local San Diego communities such as Chula Vista, Barrio Logan, San Ysidro, Imperial Beach. Students will potential visit historic Chicano Park and interview local residences to address problems they encounter due to redlining. |
Essential Question: Why are neighborhoods in American cities so starkly divided by race?
Key Product: Students will create a redlining wood laser cutter map of San Diego neighborhoods and three other major US cities (Chicago, New York, LA) Audience: Students will present their findings the community members and potentially city engineer's in the hopes of improving access to coastal areas, scenic routes, public facilities such as libraries and tourist attractions to better the lives of all residences. |
Potential Anchor Text:
Redlined
A Memoir of Race, Change, and Fractured Communities in 1960's Chicago by Linda Gartz.
Why Students would read this Text? Students would read a first hand account of how the effects of Redlining impacted everyday citizens lives. This memoir takes place in the turbulent 1960's and assist our class in understanding the development of Federal Civil Rights and the era of the decade.
History Social Science Content Standards:Chronological and Spatial Thinking
1. Students compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned 3. Students use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods. 4. Students relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions. |
CCSS English Language Arts Standards » History/Social Studies » Grade 9-10:Key Ideas and Details:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.3 Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them. Craft and Structure: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5 Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.7 Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.8 Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author's claims. |
Connections to Culturally Responsive Pedagogy:
This project would be culturally responsive having students examine the history of racial segregation and wealth disparity between neighborhoods resulting in stark inequities in our society. With a critical lens students will learn the history of how American cities were purposefully developed to create a separation of races and students will propose potential solutions to this systemic issue.
Big Idea for Next year...
I wonder how I might be able to specifically address issues regarding race and power with the intention of creating a more empathetic and more inviting classroom community.