Daily Video
January 11, 2021Classroom resource: Dr. Yohuru Williams on using history to teach the Capitol Riots
Educators: This lesson is based on NewsHour EXTRA’s Zoom on Jan. 7th, the day after the riot at the Capitol, as a guide to help educators teach about the day’s events. Note: It is more suited to older high school students. You may also wish to watch the full Zoom in which Dr. Williams discusses teaching about the attack at greater length.
Dr. Williams is the head of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and author and editor of numerous books, including “Teaching U.S. History Beyond the Textbook : Six Investigative Strategies, Grades 5-12.” He is a scholar of civil rights and the Black Power movement, an education activist and frequent public commentator, including with History Channel’s Sound Smart series.
Directions: First, watch Dr. Williams talk about his work as a history teacher in Washington D.C. Ask your students: How did Dr. Williams’ use the Preamble in his classes to discuss gender equality and the Black Panthers? How do you think Dr. Williams would use the Preamble to discuss the attack on the U.S. Capitol building?
Now watch the main video clip of Dr. Williams discussing the use of primary sources in teaching about the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Then answer the discussion questions below.
Warm up questions:
- What is Dr. Williams purpose in looking to history to process the riot at the U.S. Capitol?
- Who are the individuals Dr. Williams discusses in this video clip?
- Why do you think Dr. Williams chose to feature these individuals from history?
- When and where did the events Dr. Williams describes take place?
- How do Little Rock’s Melba Pattillo Beals and Jackie Robinson connect to the insurrection at the Capitol building?
Focus questions:
- Why is it important to understand the facts about the attack on the Capitol?
- What is a primary source? How could primary sources be helpful in understanding the mob at the Capitol?
- Why do many historians like Dr. Williams support learning about the past in order to understand the present? What does it mean to put an event like the insurrection at the Capitol in historical context?
- What types of conversations has your school had on the events of Jan. 6th? Do you think your school should be teaching about the riot at the Capitol more? Explain.
Media literacy: Dr. Williams spoke alongside author Kenneth C. Davis on a NewsHour EXTRA Zoom held on Jan. 7, 2021, for educators, school staff and students, just one day after the riot at the U.S. Capitol building. It’s always a good idea to learn about the individuals featured in all forms of media, including this resource. You can learn more about Dr. Williams’s work at the Racial Justice Initiative here.
- How do you think Dr. Williams’s work on racial justice issues informs his work?
Media literacy extension: Watch this clip from Dr. Williams describing the 1970s TV show Archie Bunker and Langston Hughes’ poem Let America Be America Again. How did this sitcom and poem influence Dr. Williams’ view of American history? Do you agree that we have the power to improve our society and change the world for the better?
Additional Resources:
- For our lesson on the events and their immediate aftermath, click here.
- If you are a teacher and would like some ideas on broad approaches to guiding your students toward civic engagement in this moment, click here.
- This EXTRA lesson explores the connection between white privilege and the response to the attack on the Capitol. This lesson takes a look back at some past insurrections in the U.S., beginning in the 18th century.
- You can also use this lesson based on conversation between David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart to start a discussion on future consequences of the January 6 attack.
Follow us:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PBSNewsHourExtra/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NewsHourExtra
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newshourextra/
Subscribe:
PBS NewsHour education stories newsletter
Updates for EXTRA’s Super Civics 2020 election teaching resources doc
Tags:
Related Stories
Tooltip of related stories
More Videos
Tooltip of more video block
Submit Your Student Voice
More Videos
-
Classroom Resource: During Black History Month, students reflect on their modern-day heroes
Reflect on one teacher’s project to help students see the living history in their own time Continue reading
-
Classroom Resource: Regina King’s directorial debut examines meeting of civil rights voices
Discuss the film One Night in Miami and the reasons it was made Continue reading
-
Daily News Lesson: Recovery may take months even as more help reaches storm-hit Texas
What do you think federal and local authorities should do in response to an emergency like the storms in Texas? Continue reading
-
Classroom Resource: NASA rover lands on Mars, resuming search for remnants of life
Discuss the significance of NASA’s latest mission to Mars. Continue reading
-
Classroom Resource: Is the recent wave of severe weather across the U.S. a harbinger for climate change?
Discuss the extreme winter weather this week and how it might be linked to climate change Continue reading