Engaging our students in a discussion about mass shootings

Posted by Jennifer Yoo-Brannon on 2/23/2018

 

I've been reflecting on the tragic school shooting in Parkland, FL. I wanted to find a way to give my students a space to discuss their reactions and feelings about it. As an educator, I try to engage my students in critical thinking about the world in which we live and help them see themselves as active participants and empowered individuals in that world. Kelly Gallagher, one of my teacher role models, is currently doing a whole unit on mass shootings culminating in students writing letters to lawmakers. I did not feel like I had time to do this entire unit, but I wanted to do something. I had a lesson plan for this morning, but last night, I changed my mind. 
 
In my AP English Language and Composition class, we have been working on understanding and making effective arguments. I wanted to continue that work but also give my students an opportunity to talk about the social problems revealed by this incident. So here is a general outline of what I did today with my students:
  1.  What you know/What you've learned- I had giant post-its and markers for each table group. They created a T-chart. On the left-hand side, students wrote down a list of everything they heard/read about the shooting.  We watched this Youtube clip about the incident  ABC news coverage, then students added what they learned from the video on the right-side of the T-chart.
  2. Free talk- I gave my students the opportunities to talk freely about their thoughts and feelings about the school shooting. To make a distinction between our usual Socratic Seminars and this kind of class talk, we passed around a giant minion doll to students who wanted to speak. So, students hugged the minion while sharing their thoughts and feelings.
  3. Problem and Solution Mapping-Then, I facilitated a class discussion about the problems associated with and revealed by mass shootings. Then, I challenged students to come up with some potential solutions. 
  4.  The Arguments of Others-Our discussions of solutions inevitably started a robust debate. Students challenged one another saying, "That won't do anything." "What about this?" "How would that make a difference?" I also contributed common arguments typically made in the gun debate. 
  5. The Task-During the last 20 minutes of class, I showed Emma Gonzalez's speech to gun advocates and then gave students their homework assignment. Students had to write a 1-2 page response that does the following:
    1) Describe the social problem(s) revealed by mass      shootings. 2)Analyze the common arguments made about these problems 3) Propose your own solution(s) 
 
You may not want to devote a whole period to a lesson like this. You could just read/watch the speech together and have a short discussion. If you want a brainstorming/lesson-planning partner about this issue or about anything else, let me know. 
 
 

Recent

By Month