FOR THE CLASSROOM
Curriculum Corner Check out these practical ideas for speech and debate teachers to use in the classroom.
Critical Classroom Conversations Across the country, students are growing more and more interested in protesting as a way to have their voices heard. As they do, so these students (and their teachers) should know what their rights are as students. The following resources may be useful and thought provoking for students and teachers alike.
Primers – from the First Amendment Center at the Newseum Institute
• “The 1969 landmark case of Tinker v. Des Moines affirmed the First Amendment rights of students in school. The Court held that a school district violated students’ free speech rights when it singled out a form of symbolic speech – black armbands worn in protest of the Vietnam War – for prohibition, without proving the armbands would cause substantial disruption in class.”
Student Rights, Protests and Free Speech, a Webinar – from the American Library Association http://www.ala.org /advocacy/intfreedom/webinar/ protests • “Stay informed on how to nurture student activism and protect the free speech rights of the young people around you. You can’t always anticipate what will trigger emotional and passionate responses, but you can respond appropriately and intelligently, while trying to respect legitimate, guaranteed rights.”
http://www.newseuminstitute.org /first-amendmentcenter/primers/
Perspective Texts – from Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center
• These “primers are designed to get you up to speed on First Amendment issues–from the basics to cutting edge topics–in a minimal amount of time. We use interactive graphics and visual aids to simplify and explain complicated issues.” Topics covered include: protected speech, classroom walkouts and protests, free expression on social media, protesting, and fake news.
https://www.tolerance.org /classroom-resources/texts
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) – free lesson plan from The Bill of Rights Institute https://billofrightsinstitute.org /educate/educatorresources/lessons-plans/
• A searchable library of short texts that offer a diverse mix of stories and perspectives. This multi-genre, multi-media collection aligns with the Common Core’s recommendations for text complexity and the Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards. Of particular note are the texts relating to rights and activism throughout history. Teachers could use the texts as the foundation for a variety of activities using provided lesson plans but some of these texts may also be compelling selections for an Interp piece or performative debate argument.
Have an idea for our next Curriculum Corner? Email lauren.mccool@speechanddebate.org 24
ROSTRUM | APRIL/MAY 2018