11-20 Stereotypes and Racial Bias

Grade level
/subject
Context
description

11th/12th American Government

Standards met

Concept
addressed

I teach American Government to a large class of students in a blended

lab. In my 3rd Bell class I have approximately 50 students and in 4th I
have 38. In the blended lab, each student has a computer where they
complete all learning activities.
The district has created a curriculum for American Government which
they refer to as Essential Understandings. The U.S. Essential
Understandings are divided into 11 Units. We are currently in Unit 3:
Civil Liberties and Civil Rights. We have spent weeks covering Civil
Liberties, but are now introducing Civil Rights. This lesson serves as
an introduction into Civil Rights. In the previous class periods
students will be asked to describe a time when they feel they were
being discriminated against. This writing task will begin to connect
students emotionally to the Civil Rights movement. Yesterday,
students were given direct instruction regarding a brief History of the
Civil Rights movement where students read a portion of I Have A
Dream Speech. As a whole class students wrote their own check
from the founding documents, and the various liberties the
Declaration and Constitution guarantee.
In the Blended Government Classroom I teach students from a variety
of backgrounds, experiences, and ability. The majority of my students
are white, however approximately 25% of my students are either
Black or Hispanic. There is also an equal number of male and female
students in the class. Within the 2 Blended classes there are 15
students diagnosed with learning disabilities. The vast majority of
these students have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder
and additional support such as reading the question is provided during
tests.

Content Statement #17- Historically, the United States has

struggled with majority rule and the extension of minority rights. As
a result of this struggle, the government has increasingly extended
civil rights to marginalized groups and broadened opportunities for
participation.

NCSS Theme - , #6 Power, Authority, and Governance.

Essential Question How has the United States struggled with
majority rule and how have citizens affected change?
What is your justification or rational for this lesson?
I am teaching this lesson to introduce students to Civil Rights. I have
decided to teach Civil Rights by focusing on more current, 2015
events. Often history and Social Studies are taught as if Civil Rights

11-20 Stereotypes and Racial Bias

Objectives

Academic
language

Learning
strategies
Materials
needed

Instructional
outline

issues have already been solved and there are no struggles. To

introduce Civil Rights, I want students to analyze how racial biases
and discrimination can persist in a society that values judging
someone on the content of their character
This is related to the overarching concept of majority rule and how
citizens affect change because students will analyze how institutional
racism and discrimination have persisted through the Civil Rights
Movement and the current response to it.
1. Students will be able to compare and contrast racial bias from the
1960s and today in a think-pair-share discussion on 2 Primary
Documents with classmates
Academic Language Demands
Vocabulary- Modified vocabulary from Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Discourse Demands Primary Document Analysis supported through the use
of Primary Document Graphic Organizer
Primary Document Analysis
Think-Pair-Share
Video Analysis
Projector
Marker
Lesson Packet:
I Have a Dream - modified
Student-created Primary Source
A Classroom Divided Video (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRnRIC9JQTQ
What Would you do Video (7 Minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7i60GuNRg
Engagement/Introduction/Hook- (10 minutes) Briefly connect to yesterdays
lesson, ask What did we talk about yesterday. Then teacher puts on Video
from ABC What Would You Do about peoples response to a person
stealing a bike.
Instructional sequence:
Segment 1: (5-8 minutes): Discussion- Teacher then asks discussion
questions regarding the people in the video. Possible questions are:
Why do you think people were more willing to confront the African
American teenager than the white teenager?
What does this say about our society?
Would you consider the people in this video racist?
Transition 1: Lets now look at times that racial bias has led to discrimination

11-20 Stereotypes and Racial Bias

Segment 2: (20 minutes): Primary Document Analysis Students will be

given:
Modified version of Martin Luther Kings I Have a Dream (1-2
Paragraphs)
One the fellow students narrative on discrimination from Wednesday
o Students will not know it is from a current student in the class.
They will be led to believe the students story is from the Civil
Rights Movement as well
Whole class will review what the I Have a Dream excerpt was about
Students individually read Student Narrative and describe how the
story makes them feel
Students complete Primary Document worksheet to source the
document
Students are asked to compare and contrast the 2 Primary Documents
in a Think-Pair-Share w/ partner
Students will write their comparison and then share with a partner.
They will also then write down additional information their partner
shared with them. Lastly, a couple of groups will be called on.
Discussion Questions
o How are these two documents similar?
o What does this say about our society in the 1960s?
o What if I told you Document 2 was actually written by your
classmates?
Segment 3 (IF TIME, if we run out of time we will start Monday with this)
Video A Class Divided (7 minutes)
Students Watch Documentary about 3rd Grade class where teacher told
them people with Blue Eyes were smarter than people with Brown
Eyes

Modifications

Closure- (10 minutes) Teacher prompts students to use the video to explain
how racial bias can persist through our society.
Modifications to the Primary Documents will be given to students
Students will be placed in heterogeneous groups to support students w/ IEPs
and 504s
Formative assessments: Think-Pair-Share (Objective 1)

Assessments of
learning

Summative assessments: Unit 2 Test (Objective 1)

11-20 Stereotypes and Racial Bias

Analyzing
teaching

Reflect on the lesson and assess strengths and weaknesses. Use the state
mandated rubric to gauge your performance. Refer specifically to the rubric.

I Have a Dream Martin Luther King Jr., 1963

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When

the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the
Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing
a loan to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a
promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be
guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When
will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro
is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can
never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of
travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the
hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic

11-20 Stereotypes and Racial Bias

mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be
satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and
robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot
be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro
in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are
not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like
waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
1. According to the Source, How were African Americans being
discriminated against in the 1960s?

Student Stories from Integrated Schools - 1968

I worked at a local restaurant but one day I wasnt supposed to work, but went in anyways
because they needed help. My job in the restaurant is to make the food the way that people want
it to be made. I love my job a lot, its fun and friendly. But there was one afternoon when some
guys came in and ordered food. There were three men that had ordered some hamburgers. We
asked the man if he wanted to wait until all of his food would be done, but the man didnt say
anything. When we gave it to him, we knew they were not going to like the food and the way we
had made it. So these men look at the food they didnt like and said, all you n*****s think its
funny, you can all go back to where you came from. I told him that if he didnt like the way we
do things that he could go somewhere else or it make it at home himself.

11-20 Stereotypes and Racial Bias

There was time some years ago when I was 8 or 9 and my mom and I were going to one of my
basketball games out in the country. My team were all black or African American. When we first
arrived I knew it was going to be a bad game because driving to the location there were
Confederate flags and other racist things in peoples yards. Driving to the game I felt really bad
about myself, because they didnt even know me and were just being really mean. During the
game the referees just kept calling really bad calls against my team. Grown adults were shouting
racial slurs at 8 and 9 year olds at a basketball game. Because of all the chaos we just ended the
game at the 2nd quarter and left.

Interpreting Primary Documents Graphic Organizer

What Type of
Document is
This?
Who Wrote this
Document?
What do You
know about the
author?
When Was it
Written?
What was
happening at

11-20 Stereotypes and Racial Bias

this time
period?
Where was it
Written?
Why did the
author write
this?
What are the
Main Ideas of
the Author?
According to the
Source
In what ways were
African
Americans being
discriminated
against?

THINK-PAIR-SHARE
1.Compare and Contrast Racial biases and
discrimination during the Civil Rights
Movement and 2015. How is racism different
today? How is it similar?

11-20 Stereotypes and Racial Bias

2.Move and find your partner. What is something

you and your partner discussed that you may
not have thought of in your answer

3.A couple groups will be called on so be ready to

share.