Matters of Race. Teachers Guide

Teacher's Guide is for high school level (Grades 9-12)

To Obtain this Series: Call 1-800-PLAY-PBS

Also check your local listings for future broadcasts

See Bibliography listed in Teacher's Guide.

MCREL's Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks

Please note: The links below will take you to different sections of the Teacher’s Guide, which is being offered here in PDF format. You need to have the Adobe Acrobat plug-in to be able to view PDF files; if you don’t have the plug-in, you can download here.

Acknowledgements plus full Teacher's Guide

Contents Page

Preface by Orlando Bagwell, Executive Producer, Matters of Race

The Filmmakers

Introduction by Margot Stern Strom, President, Facing History and Ourselves

Overview of the Teacher's Guide

PreView of the Teacher's Guide

For reading on "The Divide" Show 1 of the Matters of Race series

For reading on "Race Is/Race Ain't" Show 2 of the Matters of Race series

For reading on "We're Still Here" Show 3 of the Matters of Race series

For reading on "Tomorrow's America: EveryOther" the first episode of Show 4 of the Matters of Race series

For reading on "Tomorrow's America: Who I Became" the second episode of Show 4 of the Matters of Race

series

For reading on "Tomorrow's America: I Belong to This" the third episode of Show 4 of the Matters of Race series

Reflections

Brought to you by Facing History and Ourselves and ROJA Productions

FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage middle and high school students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the history development and lessons of the Holocaust and other forms of collective violence, students make the essential connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives. For more information, go to www.roja.tv.

Founded by Orlando Bagwell, ROJA Productions is a Harlem-based media company focusing on creating dynamic programs for television, museums and new digital formats that elucidate the American experience. For more information, go to www.roja.tv.

For more information about bringing Facing History to the classroom, contact:

www.facinghistory.org

Bibliography

Facing History and Ourselves. Race and Membership in American History: The Eugenics Movement. Facing History and Ourselves, 2002.

Lazzare, Jane. Beyond the Whiteness of Whiteness: Memoir of a White Mother of Black Sons. Duke University, 1996.

Liu, Eric. The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker. Random House, 1999.

Martinez, Ruben. Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail. Picador, 2002. Senna, Danzy. Caucasia. Penguin Putnam, 1999.

Wideman, John Edgar. Fatheralong: A Meditation on Fathers and Sons, Race and Society. Random House, 1995.

MCREL's Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks

Correlation to MCREL's Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks

Code:

Historical Understanding Level IV (Grades 9-12)

Standard 1: Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns
2. Understands historical continuity and change related to a particular development or theme. 1, 3, 4, 5
Standard 2: Understands the historical perspective
4. Analyzes the effects specific decisions had on history 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
5. Understands that the consequences of human intentions are influenced by the means of carrying them out 1, 3, 4, 5
10. Understands how the past affects our private lives and society in general 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
11. Knows how to perceive past events with historical empathy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Behavioral Studies Level IV (Grades 9-12)

Standard 1: Understands that group and cultural influences contribute to human development, identity, and behavior
1. Understands that cultural beliefs strongly influence the values and behavior of the people who grow up in the culture, often without their being fully aware of it, and that people have different responses to these influences 2, 3, 4, 5
1. Understands that heredity, culture, and personal experience interact in shaping human behavior, and that the relative importance of these influences is not clear in most circumstances 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
2. Understands that family, gender, ethnicity, nationality, institutional affiliations, socioeconomic status, and other group and cultural influences contribute to the shaping of a person's identity 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Standard 4: Understands conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among individuals, groups, and institutions
1. Understands that conflict between people or groups may arise from competition over resources, power, and/or status 2, 3, 4, 5
3. Understands that intergroup conflict does not necessarily end when one segment of society gets a decision in its favor because the "losers" then may work even harder to reverse, modify, or circumvent the change 2, 3, 4, 5
10. Understands that the decisions of one generation both provide and limit the range of possibilities open to the next generation 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
11. Understands that mass media, migrations, and conquest affect social change by exposing one culture to another, and that extensive borrowing among cultures has led to the virtual disappearance of some cultures but only modest changes in others 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Language Arts Level IV (Grades 9-12)

Reading
Standard 6: Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts.
8. Understands how themes are used across literary works and genres 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
9. Makes connections between his or her own life and the characters, events, motives, causes of conflict in text 1 10. Relates personal response or interpretation of the text with that seemingly intended by the author. 1
11. Uses language and perspectives of literary criticism to evaluate literary works 1

Listening and Speaking
Standard 8: Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes
2. Ask questions as a way to broaden and enrich classroom discussions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
3. Uses a variety of strategies to enhance listening comprehension 2, 3, 4, 5
5. Makes formal presentations to the class 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
9. Understands influences on language use 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
10. Understands how style and content of spoken language varies in different contexts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
11. Understands reasons for own reactions to spoken texts 2, 3, 4, 5

Viewing
Standard 9: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media
1. Uses a range of strategies to interpret visual media 2, 3, 4, 5
2. Uses a variety of criteria to evaluate informational media 2, 3, 4, 5
4. Uses strategies to analyze stereotypes in visual media 2, 3, 4, 5
3. Understands how images and sound convey messages in visual media 2, 3, 5
12. Understands the effects of visual media on audiences 2, 3, 4, 5 Source: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning