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LESSON TWO: Role-Playing the Ashland/Wal-Mart Story 1. Introduction The teacher may wish to implement this activity either in replacement of Lesson 1, or in combination with it. In this activity, students will role-play persons involved in the Ashland/Wal-Mart story in a "talk show" format, demonstrating their knowledge of the implications of this issue as seen through the eyes of the participants. 2. Standards: This lesson addresses the following national content standards established by McREL. Civics Standards:
Ashland and Wal-Mart Websites Ashland Convention and Visitor's Bureau home pageArticles About the Impact of Wal-Mart A story from the Sacramento Business Journal regarding impact of a Wal-Mart store plan in El Dorado CountyOrganizations Against Wal-Mart Sprawl-Busters home pageGovernment Resources and Business Reports A resource for various state and local government agencies online (State and Local Government on the Net)3. Method of Activity: The teacher may wish to introduce the extension activity in a similar manner to the basic activity, which would include a discussion of the impact of big-box stores. Prior to watching the program, the teacher can either assign roles to students, or students can self-assign roles. While the program is shown, students can develop information about their specific character. Roles will include:
Other roles may be added or eliminated from the list above, depending on class size and amount of time the teacher wishes to use on this lesson. The teacher may decide to include a "representative high school student" from the Ashland community who would be opposed to this policy. It is also suggested that audience members (the rest of the class, for example) be allowed to ask questions based on affidavits created either from the Web resources listed in the first activity, as well as the program itself. This not only would give an incentive for the participants to "know the roles", but it would also give the audience a feeling of involvement in the talk show through asking questions. Conducting the talk show: Students should be prompted that while they may see some interesting (and sometimes outlandish) behavior on television talk shows, inappropriate behavior should not be acceptable in this format. The teacher may want to advise the students that the purpose of their "appearing" on the talk show is to sway public opinion to their view, and that inappropriate behavior will only serve to turn public opinion against their character and their view. The classroom or area should be arranged in a manner that best fits the format. For example, the teacher may wish to bring in a group of chairs for the participants rather than using student desks. In addition, if technical facilities are available, the teacher may also wish to have the talk show set in a manner that the moderator might use a microphone (preferably a wireless microphone) to allow the audience to ask questions and the participants to answer those questions in a manner similar to professionally produced shows. Also, if facilities allow, students might also be utilized as "technical crewmembers", assisting in such areas as lighting, sound, continuity and so on. If the teacher wishes to save the "show" in archival form, or wishes to duplicate the assignment with several classes, videotaping the show might be desirable. Participants in the show as well as the audience should be well briefed as to what the facts and issues in the Wal-Mart/Ashland case concern. Obviously, the panel guests will need to have a sufficient knowledge of the roles they have been assigned in order to effectively convince the audience that they "are" that character. The participants in the talk show may desire to make an opening statement prior to the question/answer period. 4. Method of Assessment: The teacher will want to develop some sort of strategy for assessing student work in this exercise. Perhaps the best way might be to grade participants on the skills they exhibit in actually "becoming" the character they represent in the talk show. The teacher could also require the remaining students to submit questions to ask the participants prior to the talk show, which could be graded. It may also be desirable for the teacher to develop a "rubric" to allow for easier grading and identification of criteria for assessment. While the teacher may wish to develop their own rubric and own criteria, a sample rubric is included as a guideline. 5. Author Bio: Michael Hutchison is a social studies teacher at Lincoln High School in Vincennes, Indiana. He has been recognized nationally for his use of cable television technology in the classroom, and has been recognized as a "Champion Teacher" by Cable in the Classroom. He has contributed several lessons featured on PBS Web pages, and is a member of the PBS TeacherSource Advisory Group. |
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Story | Small Towns | Big Stores | Sprawl Talkback | Film | Resources | For Teachers | ITVS |
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