Civil Rights in the United States: A Toolkit
Assignments
- Memorize your constitutional rights.
- 1 “self pre-test” journal entry
- 10 journal entries in response to readings/viewings/etc, minimum 1 typed page each
- 1 Midterm Connection and Reflection (to be determined)
- 2-part Final Project:
1) Reflective 700-word essay for submission and possible publication
2) Creative project (to be determined)
Self Pre-test
In math, you are used to “pre-tests”—the exams that reveal what you still might not know. Write for 10 minutes (without stopping) about why you are doing this class (hopes, aspirations, frustrations, challenges).
Freewriting Journal Entries
Journal entries are open, free reflections—you can use these prompts as starting points or you can go from your own questions.They can only be done after reading/watching/listening to the assignment for the week. Aim to try out at least three different prompts below over the summer.
They are meant to help you reflect, ask more questions, challenge yourself, even challenge the assignments. If you want feedback on these, you can ask for it, or if you can have them left alone as part of your process. Try for at least two pages of writing each week.
The goals in each of these: Go Deeper. Keep Asking. Think Harder.
You can do this.
1) A Question I Still Have (or, Questions I Still Have, or I Don’t Get This) . What new questions do you have, and why those? Try to pinpoint the moment or moments (a quote, a scene, a document) from the assigned resource that sparked your question, describe it as best as you can, and then write about what new question you have, and how you might answer it.
2) I Need To Learn About X Now
What new gaps in your knowledge have you identified? Where do you want to know more, and why that? Where do you want to head next in learning? What excites you or challenges you about this topic? You might not have known about (for example) the Stonewall incident, but heard it mentioned in a film. Or you might not know who Emmett Till is, but you might want to know more about his story and its importance.
3) What Next? What Now?
Where and how do you feel called to take action? What kinds of actions might you take and why those? Actions might include learning more, making calls, writing letters, signing petitions, political advocacy, and more. Where can you go to find out more about these causes, and who is doing the work already? Where can you to go find out more actions?
4) Connecting To Today
What new connections are you making between the assignment and contemporary events? Which ones? Why those?
5) What’s (In)Visible
What or who seems missing or left out from the assignment for the week? Alternately, why do you think these people, ideas, things have been missing or left out?
6) Connecting To My Own Identity
How do you feel connected to what you’ve learned this week? Or, how do you feel disconnected from it, and can you figure out why? Why is the content of what you are learning important for YOU?
One More Note About Reading Notes: Bullet Journal
You could also do a bullet journal of reading notes for this class.
Sample things to track: key terms, questions you keep asking, further reading/resources, specific actions you want to take. You might also keep a running journal of ideas or thoughts or sketches or doodles for your final creative project.