Note to Teachers
These lessons were piloted with Denise Savoy in middle school classes at San Francisco Community School and with Mark Herringer in 10th grade English classes at the Academy of Arts and Sciences at School of the Arts High School in San Francisco. They were slightly modified from the plans presented here to fit schedules and students’ ages. Elements of these plans were also used in Michael Rosenberg’s 11th grade Pre-Law class at Balboa High School in San Francisco, and activities were adapted from lesson shared by Joe Chellino, who used them in his high school English classes in Joliet, Illinois. We thank all of our partnering teachers and their students.
These plans are meant as a guide, not a script. After all, teachers know their own students and classrooms best. You may want to cut or lengthen these activities to fit your students and your/their interests. We’d love feedback about what you try, how you modify, and how students respond.
How to use these plans
The three-day plan
If your time is tight (and your students read well independently) use these plans to introduce students to the issues around the death penalty, wrongful incarceration and exoneration. The focus for each day in the three day plans are as follows:
Day One: unearthing death penalty opinions and making personal connections
Day Two: problem-solving around reading, making sense of the oral histories and preparing for a presentation
Day Three: presentations, comparisons and fishbowl discussions
The one-week plan
If you have a bit more time, you want to support your students’ reading more and want to have an action-focused end to this unit, take a week! The focus for each day in the week-long plans are as follows:
Day One: unearthing death penalty opinions and making personal connections
Day Two: ADD A DAY HERE! Assign students less reading homework on Day 1, and take Day 2 to form reading circles, do Reciprocal Teaching with their oral histories, or focus on peer problem-solving (the first activity in the above Day Two lesson).
Day Three: problem-solving around reading, making sense of the oral histories and preparing for a presentation
Day Four: presentations, comparisons and fishbowl discussions
Day Five: Know Your Rights workshop for students
Attachments:
Day 1
A. Lesson plans
B. Warm-up: scenario worksheet
C. Questionnaire
D. Centers questions or discussion questions worksheet
E. Talk to the Text directions
F. Metacognitive Reflections worksheet
Day 2 (Day 3 in week-long lessons)
A. Lesson plans
B. Peer Problem-Solving worksheet (optional)
C. SJ Exoneree Worksheet
D. Model Exoneree Chart (for teachers)
E. Day 2 homework
Day 3 (Day 4 in week-long lessons)
A. Lesson plans
B. Presentation note-taker
C. Fishbowl questions
D. Fishbowl Scorekeeping rules
E. Day 3 homework questionnaire and follow-up
Day 5
A. Lesson plans
B. Stand up, sit down questions
C. Know Your Rights Card
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Readings we assigned Juan Melendez (26 pages) Gary Gauger (26 pages) Joseph Amrine (31 pages) |
Materials Necessary: · prepared vocabulary list · chart paper for pro/con T-chart · prepared chart papers for each exoneree · markers Helpful: · Post-it notes · Overhead transparancies of warm-ups and Know Your Rights card
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A Note on the Standards
These lessons address the following California English/Language Arts and History-Social Science standards:
English/Language Arts (9th/10th grade)
Reading Comprehension
Structural Features of Informational Materials
2.3 Generate relevant questions about readings on issues that can be
researched.
2.4 Synthesize the content from several sources or works by a single author
dealing with a single issue; paraphrase the ideas and connect them to other
sources and related topics to demonstrate comprehension.
2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original
analysis, evaluation, and elaboration.
Expository Critique
2.8 Evaluate the credibility of an author's argument or defense of a claim by
critiquing the relationship between generalizations and evidence, the
comprehensiveness of evidence, and the way in which the author's intent affects
the structure and tone of the text (e.g., in professional journals, editorials,
political speeches, primary source material).
Literary Response and Analysis
Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
3.4 Determine characters' traits by what the characters say about themselves in
narration.
3.5 Compare works that express a universal theme and provide evidence to
support the ideas expressed in each work.
3.9 Explain how voice, persona, and the choice of a narrator affect
characterization and the tone, plot, and credibility of a text.
Written and Oral English Language Conventions
Grammar and Mechanics of Writing
1.3 Demonstrate an understanding of proper English usage and control of
grammar, paragraph and sentence structure.
Listening and Speaking
Comprehension
1.1 Formulate judgments about the ideas under discussion and support those
judgments with convincing evidence.
(1.2 Compare and contrast the ways in which media genres (e.g., televised news,
news magazines, documentaries, online information) cover the same event.)
Analysis and Evaluation of Oral and Media Communications
1.11 Assess how language and delivery affect the mood and tone of the oral
communication and make an impact on the audience.
Speaking
2.2 Deliver expository presentations:
c. Make distinctions between the relative value and significance of specific
data, facts, and ideas.
d. Include visual aids by employing appropriate technology to organize and
display information on charts, maps, and graphs.
2.5 Deliver persuasive arguments (including evaluation and analysis of
problems and solutions and causes and effects):
a. Structure ideas and arguments in a coherent, logical fashion.
c. Clarify and defend positions with precise and relevant evidence, including
facts, expert opinions, quotations, expressions of commonly accepted beliefs,
and logical reasoning.
d. Anticipate and address the listener's concerns and counterarguments.
History-Social Science Content Standards
11.11 Students analyze the major social problems and domestic policy issues in contemporary American society.
Grade 12
12.2 Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured.
12.3 Students evaluate and take and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (i.e., the autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that are not part of government), their interdependence, and the meaning and importance of those values and principles for a free society.