Lesson 1: The Story So Far: The History of Gun Legislation in America

Activity: Vocab Match & Lecture on the purpose of militias

Time: 15-20 minutes

Learning Objectives targeted: 1 & 3

Procedure:

1. Divide students into two groups. Half of the students will be given a set of cut-out words and the other half will be given a set of cut-out definitions - [C].

2. Place students into pairs while making sure one student has the set of cut-out words and the other with the set of cut-out definitions.

3. Ask students to match the words to the corresponding definitions together.

4. Monitor students' progress, when you feel like the class has finished matching pairs, check their answers by going over the correct word-definition pairs at the front of the classroom. 

Activity: Listening to Youtube Video: [A] 00:00 to 04:30

Time: 25-30 minutes

Learning Objectives targeted: 1

Procedure: 

1. Pass out handout [D] and ask students to read the questions there.

2. Tell students that they will be watching the "A Brief History on Guns in America: Guns in America: Guns and Public Health Part 1" [A] video three times. 

3. Explain to students that on the first listen-through, they only need focus on the audio; they do not have to write anything down. On the second listen-through, ask students to fill out as much of Part 1 of the handout as possible. On the third listen-through, ask students to fill in any questions they might have missed on Part 1 and other facts from the video they found interesting that aren't explicit questions on the handout.

4. Upon completing Part 1, invite students to share, as a class, some notes they took and their answers to the guided listening questions.

   •  If students are hesitant to share, it is optional to walk through each question and check their comprehension of what the question was asking for and if they heard an answer to the question in the video. 

Optional: During and after the first viewing, there will be a break to provide students with the opportunity to ask any questions about the material. 

Scaffolding: For additional support for students, give them the video transcript and ask them to follow along. 

Activity: Does It Match? Guess: True or False?

Time: 20 minutes

Learning Objectives targeted: #1 & #2 

Procedure:

1. Explain to students that there are two parts to the Post-Listening Activity. In the first part they will work individually, then in pairs for the second part. 

2. Ask students to refer to Part 2 of handout [D] "Does It Match" for this activity and determine if the statements provided correctly match with what they heard in the video.

3. For the next activity in Part 2, "Guess: True or False?", ask students to read the following sentences and determine, based on their own knowledge, if the sentence is true or false.

4. Upon completing both activities in Part 2, instruct students to find partners and share their answers with each other for around 5-6 minutes. If they have different answers, encourage them to discuss the reasoning behind their answers with each other. 

5. Bring the class back together after time is up, ask students if there are any questions they are unsure about, and review the correct answers with the class. 

Activity: What I Found Interesting!

Time: 25 minutes

Learning Objectives targeted: #4

Procedure: 

1. Instruct students to create groups of 3-4 and have them discuss what they have learned in class today regarding gun history in America. As they are forming their groups, write down guiding questions on the board.

   • Guiding Questions: What did you already know before the lesson? What did you learn from the lesson or find interesting? What is something from the lesson that you would like to learn more about? 

2. Give students 10 minutes to share their thoughts within their groups.

3. After consulting with their groups, the class will reconvene and discuss these questions together

Concluding Lesson 1 - Guiding the Class into Lesson 2: As well as this, be sure to highlight the fact that amending the Constitution is a very difficult thing to accomplish in the modern Senate, and amending the Bill of Rights is unprecedented. As such, the exact interpretation of the second amendment was left up to the states.

       After this, provide a brief preview of the next lesson and an overview of the homework. 

Appendix A:

• A Brief History of Guns in America: Guns and Public Health Part 1 

•  Video Transcript

Appendix B: Simplified Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Amendments

Appendix C: Vocabulary Activity

Appendix D: Activity: Does it Match? True or False