Learning Objectives:
Recognize rising and falling intonation.
Highlight the rising and falling intonation of sentences.
Use rising and falling intonation appropriately.
Class Time Needed for Activity: 20 min
Preparation Time: 2 min to pull up the video and have the worksheets and answer key readily accessible.
Resources Needed: News clip, worksheet, worksheet answer key
Introductory Blurb: Students will be getting a basic introduction to rising and falling intonation, and then practice hearing and applying rising and falling intonation throughout a series of sentences.
Procedure:
Tell students that we are going to start the day by practicing intonation.
Briefly explain rising and falling intonation using example sentences (ex: rising - yes/no questions “Do you have a dog?” “Do you like to dance?”, falling - typical statements and open-ended questions “I’m going to the store.” “What is your favorite food?”). Use hand gestures to mimic the rising and falling while you are saying these example sentences, and explain that the intonation is stressed on the last word(s) of the sentence.
Give the students the worksheet which has sentences from a news clip about a BLM protest. Review the example given on the worksheet and explain that the students will be marking the intonation of the last few words of each sentence using arrows.
Play the news clip for the students. They may need to view it twice in order to complete the activity.
Once the students have finished their worksheet, go over the answers using the answer key. Read each sentence out loud and make sure to emphasize the intonation of the last few words of the sentence, using hand gestures to show the rising and falling of the tone.
After going over the answers, have the students pair up and practice reading each sentence with each other to practice using the correct intonation, also using hand gestures to emphasize the tone.
Once the students have practiced with a partner, call on a student to read one of the sentences for the class, and continue calling on students until you’ve reviewed every sentence.
Caveats: Students may need to view the video more than 2 times because of the rate of speech of the newscasters, it may be hard to focus on the ends of the sentences to catch the tones.
Options: In person classes could just print out the worksheets, while online classes would need to have the worksheet readily available virtually.
Learning Objectives:
Students will analyze a political cartoon and formulate an interpretation of it.
Students will express their opinions on issues related to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Students will engage in a fluent conversation on the topic of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Class Time Needed: 45 min
Preparation Time: 2 min to pull up the cartoon
Resources Needed: Political Cartoon Example, Full Political Cartoons List, Rubric
Directions:
Pull up a slide with a political cartoon to share with the class.
Ask for volunteers to describe the cartoon in detail (no explanation of events/contexts, just exactly what’s in the photo).
The teacher will then ask for volunteers to explain the context and their opinions on the issue in the photo, making sure to ask a follow-up question for each student who volunteers.
Ex. If a student says “The All-Lives Matter movement criticizes the BLM movement.” You can ask them what the main argument of the All-Lives Matter Movement is.
Tell students they will be given an oral assessment on the BLM movement in the same format you have just shown them.
Explain that students will select a random cartoon about BLM and have a 10-minute interview with the teacher. They will first describe the drawing, then go into a conversation about the context and their opinion. They will have 10 minutes to write down notes for points of discussion prior to the interview.
Caveats: Students could struggle to find the correct vocabulary to use during the discussion, may not feel confident about their speaking.
Options: Discussion can be about any of the cartoons, and this activity can be easily adapted for online courses.
Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to clearly articulate a summary of the Black Lives Matter movement, including their opinions and thoughts on possible solutions.
Students will demonstrate a firm grasp of BLM-related vocabulary words that have been presented over the course of the unit and use them in writing.
Class Time Needed for Activity: 20 minutes
Preparation Time: 2-3 minutes to present the writing exercise and answer any questions.
Resources Needed: List of questions, either in printed form or as an editable google doc.
Introductory Blurb: Having completed three lessons centered on the Black Lives Matter Movement, students will be asked to summarize and provide their opinions regarding the issues of protests, police violence, and the future of the BLM movement.
Directions: Respond to the following questions in 2-3 sentences.
What was the most interesting thing you learned this unit about the Black Lives Matter movement? Why?
What are some possible solutions to police brutality? What solutions do you think would be the most effective?
How impactful do you think the Black Lives Matter protests have been? Do you believe that continued protests will help further the cause and promote solutions?
Why do you think violence has been such a common occurrence at Black Lives Matter protests?
If you were to explain the Black Lives Matter movement to someone who didn’t already know about it, what would you tell them about it?