this in selma, alabama, 1965to now this in 2009?
so along with that, i'm planning to discuss the event where marchers got beaten by police in Selma, Alabama, on their way to Montgomery to protest about their voting rights. as well as look at photos of the events in a gallery walk.
and to get students to speak about their needs from our next president, and speaking of songs related to this, there's always the lovely Janelle Monae speakin to "Mr. President" about what we need. we'll see what my students say about what they need...
p/s: i'm hopin to do a regular round of "maestra notes" to share ideas with fellow educators out there. keep the sharing goin!
so i'm trying to plan lessons to incorporate tuesday's inauguration of our first black president into my existing lessons on oral history/herstory (yes, i know it's satsurday and it's a long wknd, butmy day 8 cleanse vibe is keeping me motivated and busy). bunch of questions arise: how do i incorporate the inauguration without giving this delusion to students that we're all good now? at the same time, how do i show the significance of this historical event? how do i not just make this a black issue with my black and brown students?
then, i'm sitting by phatty doing his usual google reader routine, as he's watching a music video of young geezy's "my president is black." i think, huh, that'd be dope to incorporate to engage the youngins, but turns out the lyrics are pretty wack and non-related. i then get a whole playlist of current hip hop songs dedicated to obama (there's a lot!), and come across jay-z's "history." the song doesn't necessarily speak specifically to obama's presidency (which is a good thing, cuz i could connect it to history in general), but the above music video really captures what i wanted to communicate to my students.
then, i'm sitting by phatty doing his usual google reader routine, as he's watching a music video of young geezy's "my president is black." i think, huh, that'd be dope to incorporate to engage the youngins, but turns out the lyrics are pretty wack and non-related. i then get a whole playlist of current hip hop songs dedicated to obama (there's a lot!), and come across jay-z's "history." the song doesn't necessarily speak specifically to obama's presidency (which is a good thing, cuz i could connect it to history in general), but the above music video really captures what i wanted to communicate to my students.
so along with that, i'm planning to discuss the event where marchers got beaten by police in Selma, Alabama, on their way to Montgomery to protest about their voting rights. as well as look at photos of the events in a gallery walk.
and to get students to speak about their needs from our next president, and speaking of songs related to this, there's always the lovely Janelle Monae speakin to "Mr. President" about what we need. we'll see what my students say about what they need...
p/s: i'm hopin to do a regular round of "maestra notes" to share ideas with fellow educators out there. keep the sharing goin!
2 comments:
cooooo!
i guess the things i wanted to know was.. what are the demographics of you class? what's the goal of the lesson you're supposed to teach that day? civil rights for the black community? getting a better sense of what it is you want to teach would give me a better idea of how to answer some of your questions from my perspective.
some things that i started thinking about was whether or not your students have grasped the idea of what "their community" is. i really like how youre planning to have your students brainstorm what their needs are. i'm thinking that they might say broad things like world peace, no racism, no hunger, better education for those of low SES etc. but i think it'd be cool if they were able to call upon what the specific needs of their communities were. i think a problem in today's youth is that society teaches them to be color-blind: that race shouldnt matter. i mean, i do agree in a sense where it shouldnt matter in terms of who you love, how you judge moral integrity, etc... but you and i know that it is still important. bc different communities, whether its based on race or whatever.. dictate different experiences and hence different social injusticies and inequalities. i know personally, this was a concept that i was only able to understand once i was almost done w/ college. but i think that if students were able to grasp this idea earlier on, it'd help them become ambassadors of social change, as well as provide them with a new lens for how to perceive this historic inaugaration. hopefully they would be able to appreciate it more.
essentially, if it were me, i would make it a teaching goal to have these students understand that there are different communities of people, that they as individuals are each representatives of those communities, and that those communities each have different but also similar needs.
The way i see your lesson plan, is that the music video is a audiovisual teaching tool by which to expose to students, the needs of the black community throughout history. the fact that the song is sung by a contemporary artist implies that there is still some sort of need today. they can have a discussion and you can teach them about the black experience, their needs as a community throughout history. then you can ask them which community they each identify with, it could be ethnic, sexual, age whatever. but no way do they have to limit themselves to just one, that way its inclusive of both colored and non-colored folk. and ask them what struggles or experiences are specific to those communities. then they can write a letter to president obama asking or advising him on a way to address those issues.
ok, that was long... just some thoughts, love this stuff.. hope u enjoyed =P
nice! thank you maestra Cariaga! looking forward from learning tricks of the trade from you :)
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