Lesson Plan: Current Events Conference

Subject
Secondary School Social Studies

Learning Outcomes/ Big ideas (From the Grade 10 Social Studies BC Curriculum)

➢ Global and regional conflicts have been a powerful force in shaping our
contemporary world and identities.

➢ The development of political institutions is influenced by economic, social,

ideological, and geographic factors.

➢ Worldviews lead to different perspectives and ideas about developments in

Canadian society.

➢ Historical and contemporary injustices challenge the narrative and identity of

Canada as an inclusive, multicultural society
#bigideas #socialconstructivism

Key Concepts:

➢ Current events/ trending news

➢ Open-ended questions
➢ Follow-up questions
➢ Stakeholders
➢ Worldview, life-world, perspective, bias
➢ Local/domestic/international conflicts
➢ News conference
**Depending on the nature of the chosen current event, there could be key abstract
concepts about injustice, rights and responsibilities, industrialization/ modernization,
inclusion/exclusion. These examples from Grade 10 and 11 social studies BC
curriculum "big ideas."

Time:​ 80 minutes (although it may take longer)

Materials:
➢ Copies of an interesting news article, self-selected by the students in prior lesson.
➢ Copies of some back story documentation related to that news story, preferably
selected by students (previous stories, primary documents, statistics, online
sources).
➢ Lesson reflection worksheet or new discussion forum in an online class LMS.
➢ Optional: 2-3 volunteers, prepared to act/ dramatize differing/opposing
stakeholders.
Preparations:
➢ Choose a particularly interesting and controversial local news story selected by
students, as well as some back information on that story (could be text or online
media like video clips, infographics, or any other digital artifacts). They will
read/view and generate questions on these current events.
➢ Prior to the lesson, review the literature in depth and generate some questions as
examples or inspiration.
➢ Prior to the lesson, gather a number of community service students or adult
volunteers to act as stakeholders in the article (eg: if the article is about the
pipeline going through Burnaby, have one volunteer represent a city PR official
and the other represent a Kinder Morgan PR official).
#studentselectedcontent #priorknowledge #studentagency #tesimony
#problemofthecriterion #particularism #meaningfulcontexts

Lesson introduction
● Review strategies for a good interview, which you may have talked about earlier
in the unit. List or web student contributions on the board. Ask open-ended
questions during this period so as to illicit students' prior knowledge.
○ Describe what makes a good question during a press conference or
interview.
○ Describe different types of questions.
○ Say you aren't satisfied with an answer or you think the speaker is able to
comment more on a subject. What do you do?
○ What is the purpose of follow-up questions?
○ Are open ended questions always better?
● Distribute the literature to the students. They will be working in 3 groups. One
will be "the media," the second will be "people who believe in X" and the third
will be "people who believe Y," (ie:a group with different opinions about the
same local issue.
● If there are more stakeholder groups involved, separate students as needed (eg:
teachers and union officials, Ministry of Ed officials, concerned parents and group
of angry grade 12 students during a teacher's strike). If you do this lesson again
with another article, make sure different students are "the media" so as to practice
rigorous questioning.
#curriculumdrama #socialconstructivism

Student Group Work

● Media: Make it clear that the "media" will be interviewing both groups. They
have a responsibility to question both groups respectfully but rigorously, and to
give fair reporting.
● X and Y: Make it clear that these groups will be asked questions about their
 stance by the "media," so they need to get into character, think of interesting
things to say and unique ways to defend their position. They can also start
thinking about how to respond to predictable questions. They are allowed
additional research, and this may or may not be limited to certain news websites.
● Allow 30 minutes of reading and getting into character/generating
questions/additional research.
● If you have older student or adult volunteers, you may put them with each group
as a scaffold and encouragement.
#socialconstructivism

Conference Activity
● X will start the "conference" activity by making two 3 minute opening statements
as if giving a report to the general public. Remember that this is less of a debate
and more focused on effective questioning. Media group may video record for
reference.
● The media will then have time to ask questions for 5 minutes. Anyone in group X
may answer, but one person speaks at a time.
#curriculumdrama #justifiedtruebelief #Pritchard #cognitivedissonance
#applicationofknowledgewithfeedback
● Y will then have opening statements to the general public, followed by a
questioning period of the same time length.
● A modification to this activity would be allowing X and Y have a few minutes to
ask each other some questions, or getting the adult volunteers to be X/Y
"spokespeople."

Debriefing

● Debrief by asking why students in the "media" asked such questions. Encourage
feedback from audience members on what went well, what didn't, and what
additional questions that would've been interesting were missed.
● Debrief with the people in X and Y as well as the adults involved. Talk about how
they felt about the quality of the questions posed.
● Provide the attached reflection/self-evaluation sheet to students.
● Students to discuss and give both peer and self evaluation next class.
#selfevaluation #feedback #reflection

Possible Follow Up Assignment

● Media students are to make a 1 to 2 minute news report, written or video

published, about their interviews, along with thoughtful commentary.
#educationaltechology

Modification
 ● May be teacher-chosen article and associated literature.
● May be targeted towards a specific issue that is pertinent to the class' needs.
● May be accompanied with a traditional lesson about the key concepts, although
this would be sort of missing the point. This lesson is intended to be of minimal
"transmission instruction" (Fostnot, 2005). Key concepts are less taught and more
brought to light in student discussion by the nature of this activity.
● May do this lesson again, but scramble groups so different groups become
"media."

#transmissionmodel #culturallyrelevanteducation
Lesson Reflection Worksheet #reflection

What were the main elements of learning that stood out to you during the media
conference?

What was something that you and your partners did that was effective in this activity?

What was something that the other two groups did that was effective in this activity?

What could be improved for next time? How can this improvement happen?

What are new topics or questions that have arisen from this lesson? How can I find out
new information?

How effective was the media conference in regards to my learning about differing
worldviews and perspectives? (rate from 1 being low and 5 being high and give reasons
for your assessment).
Unit End Project
#socialconstructivism #culturallyrelevanteducation #multiculturaleducation
#studentdirected #applicationofknowledgewithfeedback #cognitivedissonance
#iterativeprocess

Throughout this unit and indeed throughout the school year so far, we have selected,
reported, and gave commentary on many current events that affect us both locally and
globally. Through our discussions, deliberations, conferences, arguments, and
reflections, we know the following:

● Global and regional conflicts have been a powerful force in shaping our
contemporary world and identities.
● The development of political institutions is influenced by economic, social,
ideological, and geographic factors.
● Worldviews lead to different perspectives and ideas about developments in
Canadian society.
● Historical and contemporary injustices challenge the narrative and identity of
Canada as an inclusive, multicultural society

We know that individuals and groups make up various stakeholders in any development,
and that those people may share or have differing opinions about events. We have also
discussed types of questioning that can be used to search for clarity, details, or to inquire
why one believes what they believe. These types of questions range open-ended, closed,
and follow up questions. In the conferences, you also learned the value of "doing some
background research," or "doing your homework" on a particular event or subject at hand.

Your final project will bring you out of the classroom, out of your own perspective, and
into someone else's shoes. We are going to be doing a history study of sorts. Find a
willing participant to interview in this locale (or in another nearby community). ​ ​You will
have to approach them and schedule an interview.

We live in such a diverse, multicultural society here in Canada, and we must celebrate
and come to understand it. However, just like the fourth "big idea" above, we must be
aware of the sufferings and injustices that we face because of our diversity. We will
explore this in detail, through a member of your community.

Who are you interviewing? Your interviewee must be a person who has a lifeworld
different from your own. The following ways an interviewee may be different from you
include but are not limited to:

Age/ generation
Cultural/ ethnic background
Religion
Gender/ Sexual orientation
Occupation
"Disability"

After identifying your interviewee, it is time to formulate questions and do some

background research.

Start to do your background research about the area where they live/work. Perhaps look
into local issues in that area that they might be involved in? Generate open-ended
questions that may bring to light that person's opinions about the locale, its current
events, and his or her personal history that brought the person to that locale, and how that
person's life has changed over time. Remember to always think about your audience in
regards to generating questions.

A parent? Ask them about their family and their transition from where they were to where
they're now. Are they a local-born? Ask them about their family and how they react to
change in this location over time. Are they a business owner? Ask them about their
business, other businesses around it, and how their business came fruition. Are they
immigrants? Ask them about where they came from and their local community. You can
ask general questions too, but perhaps focus on ones that everyone has a vested interest
in: education, technology, economics, transportation, crime, neighbors, local bylaws
affecting everyone.

Still stuck? This chart may help you get organized. It is like a KWL chart, but larger!

K W H L A Q
What I know What I want How do I What did I What actions New
to know learn? learn? will I take? questions

Interview questions will likely fall into two classifications: personal and general.
Remember to include a bit of both because people's perspectives on local issues are
invariably tied to both. Create a basic proposal about:

● Who you are interviewing

● How they are different from you
● Why you want to interview them
● A background of the area, locale, place or situation that you met them
 ● A possible social issue or current event development that they may want to talk
about that is relevant to the interviewee and/or to you
● Some preliminary questions
● What sort of technologies you will need to do a) the interview and b) the final
report.

Reports may be written or displayed using an array of multimedia that include but is not
limited to audio-visual (eg: video), web publishing/coding, infographic (eg: Canva),
and/or animated. Show a classmate your proposal for peer review, then hand it in for final
approval to your teacher.

*This project is fluid and in its first iteration. If you have any comments or additions
about it that you feel would make this a better learning experience about the big ideas
above, please bring it up in class.