Bringing It to a Close, For Now: December 15, 2014

Today in class, we are wrapping up our study of current events by completing a solo or partner task.  The focus of these tasks is to get you to see the issues through the eyes of the people involved.  Civil rights and social justice are critical to our society, and recent events in our country are very complicated.  I hope what you have learned above anything else is that our identities do have an impact on how we experience events, and that issues like this do not have easy answers.

HOMEWORK:  IF YOU WERE HERE DURING CLASS, Either you can finish the task you began in class if it is not done, or you can answer the following sentence starters:

One thing I learned over the past four classes was….

One question I (still) have is….

My hope for our society is….

One thing that should change in the future is….

IF YOU WERE NOT HERE TODAY, please choose ONE of the following tasks LISTED BELOW to complete.  See me to get any handouts or other information you need to finish the assignment.

Read the other article if necessary.  Make a Venn Diagram comparing the two authors.  Write a response, are they more alike, or more different?  Explain your answer.

Write a letter to the author of one of the articles.  Ask at least THREE questions and make THREE observations.

With a partner, write a dialogue between the two men that shares each man’s point of view, and attempts to find common ground between them.  Be ready to share it!

Review the Declaration of Independence, particularly the inalienable rights.  Do these events prove we respect these rights as a society or not?  Explain your answer.

Read the laws around the use of deadly force in NH.  Summarize the conditions under which officers may use deadly force.  Does this help you understand these situations more clearly, or does it make the issue more complicated?