Subject Areas:
Secondary Civics, American History, Sociology, and Communication Arts

Objective:
Students will form an opinion, conduct research, and participate in a class debate/discussion about whether or not Ralph Bunche contributed all that he could to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

NOTE: Several alternate debate/discussion topics are provided on a list below. This will allow teachers to adapt the basic lesson plan to a topic they feel is most suitable. In addition, the teacher could develop his/her own topics and adapt the lesson plan as well. This may require altering the quotes used in step 1, the quotation analysis and writing response guidelines sheets that students are to use/complete.More relevant quotes could be found at:

Materials:
Students will need to view selected portions of "Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey". In addition they should visit the companion internet site and view the Timeline of Bunche's Life. Finally, students should conduct independent research using the Internet and library resources that are available. Below is a list of internet sites that include relevant information.

Nobel E-Museum
The Nobel Museum's biography of Bunche

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Biography of Bunche written for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation site

Procedures:

1. The teacher should have the following quotations written on the board for students to see as they enter the classroom.

2. As the students enter the classroom, they should be given the quotation analysis sheet and assigned to seats where they can work in groups of four. Once students are seated, they should be instructed to read the quotes quietly to themselves.

3. Next, the teacher should take a volunteer to read each quote to the entire group.

4. Students should then be instructed to complete the quotation analysis sheet. This activity should be limited to no more than 5 minutes.

5. The teacher should then facilitate classroom discussion about the quotations, addressing the questions on the quotation analysis sheet. Students at the senior high school level may come up with a wide variety of people and ideas about what prompted the quotations. The teacher should do his/her best to direct students toward the Civil Rights Movement Era.

6. Once students have offered a variety of meanings, names, and circumstances surrounding the quote, the teacher should write/say the name Dr. Ralph J. Bunche. He/she should then ask students what they know about Dr. Bunche. Most will probably have little knowledge of his background. At this point, the teacher could add the following list of descriptors below Dr. Bunche's name:

- An American Odyssey
- Symbol of World Peace
- Educator
- Nobel Peace Prize Winner
- Father of the Year
- Political Activist
- Mediator
- Peacemaker
Civil Rights Activist

This should peak students interest sufficiently for the instructor to introduce students to the film "Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey".

7. Students would benefit most from viewing the film in its entirety, however, if time permits limited viewing, the following time cues should be used to cue the beginning and end of important sections. Be sure to distribute the viewing guide prior to starting the film. Go over the directions with students so they know they should be recording information as they watch.

NOTE: In order to allow students to record information, the instructor should pause at the intervals noted above to allow students time to write. In addition, the teacher could use this time to clarify questions students may have about the content they have seen.

8. Once viewing is complete, students should participate in small group discussions where they share the information they have recorded on the viewing guide with others in their group. Each member should share at least one idea they have recorded and how it illustrates one of the words/phrases from the list that describes Ralph Bunche. This should be an 8-10 minute activity.

9. Once groups have shared their ideas about Bunche, the teacher should pose the following debate topic to the entire class. They can choose to agree or disagree, but they must back their opinion using reasons, facts, examples, etc.

Ralph Bunche made lasting and significant contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in America.

10. Students should not discuss this question as a group. Instead, they should write their response on scratch paper, along with their name and give it to the teacher. Students must answer yes or no. They cannot "ride the fence".

11. Once the teacher has collected all of the responses, he/she should begin dividing them into 2 piles: Yes and No. Once this takes place, the teacher should begin by calling all of the No group and placing them in one part of the room. The remaining students should represent the yes group. The class is now divided and can proceed with preparing their debate.

12. The students must now use their time to complete three major activities.

13. Once students have had ample opportunity to prepare their respective arguments, a class debate/discussion should be conducted. The teacher will establish rules for speaking and conduct. This could take the form or an organized, formal debate or a more informal discussion with both sides presenting their ideas and questioning one another about details, reasons, facts, examples, etc.

14. To encourage all students to participate, teachers could hand out some sort of token or card. Each student could speak only and would have to surrender his/her token after speaking. Students would not get a second chance to speak until tokens had been collected from all students.

15. Once the debate/discussion is concluded, the instructor can choose to declare a "winning" team or can simply declare a "truce" between the two sides.

16. Upon completion of the discussion/debate, the teacher should link what has been learned about Ralph Bunche to other content in the course or have students complete additional activities that relate to the film.

1. Students could complete a written response to their debating experience using the writing response guidelines.

2. Students could create a multimedia presentation featuring what they learned about Dr. Bunche. They could incorporate quotations, pictures, audio, video, and maps that illustrate Bunche's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, his accomplishments as a mediator, or other highlights from his career. Students could use software programs such as Power Point or HyperStudio to create the presentations. They should then share them by presenting them to their classmates.


Extension Activities:

1. Using research materials, the film "Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey", and Internet resources, students could gather a series of quotes that are representative of Ralph Bunche. These could be things he said, or things that were said about him. Students could then use these quotes to create an exhibit of events that they believe are most important from Bunche's life. When collecting the quotes, students should be encouraged to find items that are representative of the following areas: childhood, education, work at Howard University, affiliation with the NNC, work with the OSS, work on the founding of the United Nations, work in the decolonization of Africa, work in the Middle East, the Nobel Prize, the Civil Rights Movement, and other areas of student interest.

Once the quotes are collected, students could use art materials or computer software to generate their exhibit items. The exhibit pieces could be collages, posters, 3-dimensional representations, songs, poems, or other representative media. Information students could include in addition to the quote are: the date of the event the quote represents and a short description of the event being marked. If photos or artwork are available, students should include these to mark the event as well. Exhibit items should then be presented to the class and put on display for others to see.


National Standards:

Behavioral Studies Standards and Benchmarks
Standard 4: Understands conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among individuals, groups, and institutions

Historical Understanding Standard and Benchmarks
Standard 2: Understands the historical perspective

United States History Standard and Benchmarks: Era 9 — Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970's)
Standard 29: Understands the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties

Language Arts Standard and Benchmarks: Viewing
Standard 9: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media

Language Arts Standard and Benchmarks: Listening and Speaking
Standard 8: Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes

Language Arts Standard and Benchmarks: Writing
Standard 4: Gathers and uses information for research purposes

Name:__________________________________     Date:_______________________

Directions: You have read and heard the two quotations below. Read each one again carefully and answer the questions that follow it to the best of your ability.

Quote 1: "We must fight as a race for everything that makes for a better country and

Quote 2: "To make our way, we must have firm resolve, persistence, tenacity. We must

Name:__________________________________     Date:______________________

The speaker responsible for the quotes was:____________________________________.

Some words to describe this person include:

As you are viewing the tape, look for examples that illustrate the ideas mentioned above.

Record your ideas in the spaces below. Pay special attention to this person's involvement

in the Civil Rights Movement.

Debating the Issues: Writing Response Guidelines

Directions: Now that you have participated in the classroom debate/discussion, you will need to construct a 1-2 page paper that discusses and describes your experience. Follow the guidelines below when composing your written response. Be sure to address all the ideas that are listed.

A. After hearing your group and the arguments of the other group, was your opinion

B. Looking back over the list of words used to describe Dr. Bunche, are there any