National curriculum standards

Mid-continent Research on Education and Learning (McREL):

Civics Standard 10: Students know the historical and contemporary role of various organized groups in local, state, and national politics (e.g., unions; professional organizations; religious, charitable, service, and civic groups).

From Civics Standard 28: Students understand how Americans can use the following means to monitor and influence politics and government at local, state, and national levels: joining political parties, interest groups, and other organizations that attempt to influence public policy and elections; voting; taking part in peaceful demonstrations; circulating and signing petitions.

Students know historical and contemporary examples of citizen movements seeking to promote individual rights and the common good (e.g., abolition, suffrage, labor and civil rights movements).

Students understand what civil disobedience is, how it differs from other forms of protest, what its consequences might be, and circumstances under which it might be justified.

Materials

Article and questions only: 20 minutes
Complete lesson plan: 2 to 3 days

Procedures

1. Have students brainstorm the word "activist" and write their ideas on the board. Divide their responses between characteristics of an activist and specific examples of activism. Discuss whether different activist goals necessitate varied methods of activism.

2. Ask students to read the CNNfyi.com article, "College students tackle activism in the classroom"
. Then ask the following questions:

• Which American "hot spots" did the students from Brandeis University visit? What lessons did these student activists learn from their travel experiences? What is Habitat for Humanity? What is the Algebra Project? What inspired assistant professor David Cunningham to develop the student activism course?
• Based on your reading, how would you define "activism"? Do the activities done by the Brandeis students strike you as activist activities? Explain. What types of activism are mentioned in the video? Did you think of other examples in your class discussion? Do you tend to associate activism with positive or negative action? Explain. Discuss how forms of activism can lead to social change.

3. Protesting has always been a part of world culture. In the United States, they have included the Boston Tea Party in the days of colonial America, to the sit-ins of the 1960s. In 1981, Chinese students stood up to tanks in Tiananmen Square. In recent years, protesters have marched at meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Organization. If students did not sufficiently brainstorm a list of methods prior to reading the CNNfyi.com article, ask them to generate a longer list of ways that people protest. Some examples might include boycotts, letter-writing campaigns, rallies, sit-ins, marches, candlelight vigils and voting.

Assessment

Ask students to add to their lists by consulting history textbooks, media resources from 1950-present, encyclopedias, and/or online sites to learn more about issues and methods used to protest various situations that people opposed. Direct students to create timelines using markers and photo clippings or by creating an online presentation of significant U.S. and/or world protests from the 1950s to the present. Have them caption each event, tell what kind of protest methods were used and determine if they helped to further positive social change.

Accommodation

1. Students can research Habitat for Humanity or the Algebra Project and create presentations that explain the goals of the project and the strategies used to achieve the desired goals. Ask students to determine in what ways the program can be seen as "activism," and how the methods are suitable for achieving the objectives.

2. Students can find one or two protest songs from the past 50 years. They can bring it to class (audio if possible; if not, then bring in the lyrics), explain the situation, the lyrics and how the songwriter felt about the situation being protested. (The rockinwoman.com site listed below has numerous protest songs from the 1960s.) Challenge them to find out about the song's history and effect to determine whether it contributed to furthering social change.

Challenge

Have students consult the media and/or the Internet to locate issues that interest them. Have each student choose one issue about which he/she has a strong opinion. Direct each student to prepare a paper or an oral report about the method of protest that would be most effective in impacting public policy on the issue, and why.

Extension

Students can look through past articles on CNNfyi.com about activism and discuss the differences in issues and approaches. They can consider how the approach suited or did not suit the issue and consider whether other approaches might have been more effective.

Aspiring student environmentalists get tips from veteran
May 18, 2001
Mandela honors AIDS child activist
June 1, 2001
Dalai Lama: A man on a mission
May 10, 2001
Stopping the nuclear train
March 27, 2001
Chasing the Dream
Student Activism
April 17, 2000

Protest.Net: A calendar of protest, meetings, and conferences.
Protest Songs of the 60's
K-12 TLC Guide to Civil Rights/Human Rights
The American Crisis - Home Page

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