Lesson Plan 1

Title: What is Social Justice?

Grade: 11

Time Requirement: 120 Minutes

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Define the terms social justice, human rights, individual liberties.
• Describe the purpose of the Declaration of Human Rights, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.
• Identify examples of social justice now and then.
• Recognize the importance of artistic expression as a means of cultural and societal documentation in the 1960s and today.
• Identify Robert F. Kennedy's involvement in addressing social injustices learned through the materials listed during the 1960s.

New York State Learning Standards and Performance Indicators

• Social Studies Standard 1: History of the United States and New York state KI 1, PI 2
• Social Studies Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship and Government KI 4, PI 3
• English Language Arts Standard 1: Information and Understanding Grade 11 Reading, PI 3, 5; Grade 11 Writing, PI 1, 2; Grade 11 Listening, PI 1; Grade 11 Speaking, PI 5
• English Language Arts Standard 3: Critical Analysis and Evaluation Grade 11 Listening, PI 1, 5; Grade 11 Speaking, PI 3
• English Language Arts Standard 4: Social Interaction Grade 11 Reading, PI 1; Grade 11 Speaking, PI 1
• The Arts Standard 3: Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art Music KI 4

SOCIAL STUDIES CORE CURRICULUM

• Grade 11: United States History and Government
• Unit Seven: World in Uncertain Times: 1950 – Present
• III. Decade of Change: 1960s (pp. 149-151)

SKILLS

• Thinking skills - comparing and contrasting ideas; drawing inferences and making conclusions; evaluating
• Research and writing skills - interpreting information; analyzing information; synthesizing information
• Interpersonal and group relation skills - defining terms; participating in group planning and discussion; cooperating to accomplish goals

CONCEPTS

• Change
• Civic values
• Human rights
• Justice
• Power

Technology Requirement

• Internet access
• CD player or other audio player
• Projection unit DVD player or video player, SMARTboard (if available)

Background

Learning about Robert F. Kennedy's ideals and role in championing the causes of social justice requires students first to have an understanding of what social justice means and what social injustices existed and continue to exist today.

Relevance to Current Issues

This lesson provides background knowledge to help students understand social justice issues in the 1960s and today.

Student Activities

Anticipatory Set

The teacher asks students to take three minutes to think about the following questions and write a response:

• Describe a time when you or others were treated unfairly or unjustly.
• How did you know that the situation was unjust?
• How was the situation handled?
• After students write their responses, the teacher facilitates a class discussion by asking: How do you know that something is just vs. unjust?

Activity 1 - What does social justice mean?

The teacher should use student responses to derive a definition of "social justice."

Suggested definitions of social justice:

• A situation in which all individuals and groups in a society are treated fairly and equally, regardless of race, gender or any other factor that could be used to create situations of injustice. (www.fast-times.com/politicaldictionary.html)
• Equitable access to resources and the benefits derived from them; a system that recognizes inalienable rights and adheres to what is fair, honest and moral. (www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/glossarys.html)

The teacher concludes this activity by asking students the following questions:

• Where are an individual's rights to social justice defined?
• The teacher provides copies of human rights and individual liberties as defined in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. Working in small groups, the students develop a graphic organizer that shows the relationship among generally accepted human rights and those identified in each of the three aforementioned documents. In a large-group discussion, the teacher should ask students to identify specific human rights they believe are most important for all people and to give a rationale for their selection.

Activity 2 - Social Justice Portrayed in Music

The teacher asks students to find a partner for this activity and distributes lyrics to a song about social justice. The song will be dependent on the interests of his/her students. Some suggested titles are:

• "In the Ghetto" performed by Elvis Presley
• "The Message" performed by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

With a partner, students will read the lyrics and answer the questions provided to the students.

• DOWNLOAD: Worksheet 1e: Questions for Song Lyrics (PDF)

If possible, play the original version of the song.

The teacher facilitates a class discussion focusing on the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the song(s)?
• What are some of the current social injustice issues that are addressed in the song(s)?

"To Bobby"

• The teacher introduces "To Bobby" by informing students that they will be listening to a song from an earlier time period. Ask students to listen for answers to the same questions listed in the student handout.
• Distribute the lyrics to the Joan Baez song titled "To Bobby."
• If possible, play the original version of the song.

The teacher facilitates a class discussion focusing on the following questions:

• How does the song make you feel?
• Who/What is the song about?
• What are some of the issues that Bobby wrestled with in the song?
• Who do you think Bobby was? What kind of person do you think he was?
• Why do you think a song was written about him?

Video, "Robert F. Kennedy Remembered"

Provide students with a brief biography of Robert F. Kennedy.

• Explain that Robert F. Kennedy's vision and actions regarding social justice issues will be the focus for this unit about social justice. The teacher should show the video above providing an overview of Robert F. Kennedy's impact and passion for social equality.

Culminating Activity

The teacher asks each student to create an artistic expression relating to a social justice issue Robert F. Kennedy was involved in and that the student feels strongly about today. Ask students to choose one of the menu options below:

• Song lyrics
• Using technology
• Poem
• PowerPoint presentation

Extension Activities

As an alternative to the activity described in Section 3 (Social Justice Portrayed in Music) of this lesson, the teacher could divide the class into groups and provide each group with different lyrics of songs to analyze using the same questions in student handout #1. Students will gain a greater understanding of the fact that, although the songs are of different genres and/or different time periods, similar social injustices exist.

• What is the subject of the song? Cite specific lyrics.
• What audience is the song trying to address? Describe the social class of the audience and how it is relevant to the message of the song.
• What is the purpose of the song? What does it try to accomplish? On what issue(s) is awareness raised?

Do you identify with the songs?

• How are the songs relevant to students?
• Are songs an effective means of raising awareness about social justice issues? Why or why not?

Photo by Bill Eppridge//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images