WebQuest
The Trial 0f President Kennedy
Process
Task 1. Paintings of prisoners.
Read these questions, then watch a short film about an artist and her work. Then in your Cl-groups, discuss the film, and try to answer the questions:
a. Where and when do you think this short film is made?
b. The artist is painting pictures of people who have been in prison. Can you think why she wants to do that?
c. Does she admire these people? She calls them Freedom Riders. Why do you imagine they are called that? ( just come with some guesses)
d. Discuss: Do people ever get put in prison for doing "the right thing" (something good) ? If you think the answer is yes, then talk about why, how, where and when that happens.
In your group, do you agree on the answers to these questions? Write about what you agree on, and what you don't, on this page: Titanpad
e. Read the following page. It says blacks and whites were "separate but equal". What do you think that means? What time period are we talking about here? One hundred years ago, five years ago? Write your answers in your Titanpad. Then, in pairs or individually, work on one of the following writing activities:
(i) Imagine you are an black child and that you have only been to a segregated, all black school all your life, until today, when you went to a school where blacks and whites mix. Write a letter to your grandfather, who used to be the headmaster of an all black school, telling him about your day.
(ii) Write a poem or short story about one persons experience of living under segregation. Focus on the person's emotions and feelings.
Add your written work to the group Titanpad.
Task 2. We watch the movie Freedom Riders in class.
While watching focus tasks: in the film, you will see young people riding buses. You will also see policemen. The class will now be divided into two groups, prior to watching the film. One group is the police, and after the film, they have to decide what to put in a police report on the Freedom Riders.
Another group is the actual Freedom Riders. After the film, they have to explain to their parents why they are skipping college ( the very first members of the family who got the chance of education ) to do something so dangerous.
Pay attention while watching the film and make sure you find out as much as you can to fulfil the task afterwards.
Task 3 Post film: Police Report and Discussion with Parents
The half of the class who are policeman talk about what should be in the police report.
The Freedom Riders half decide on what to tell their parents about their reasons for being Freedom Riders, and missing college.
After they come the police come to verbal agreement, they give their spoken report to the other half of the class, who collectively act the part of the head of police.
Then the Freedom Riders explain themselves to the other half of the class, who now act as their parents.
Task 4 . Song
Use the song "The Buses are A'Comin" as inspiration to write your own protest song about the treatment of the Freedom Riders.
You could make the song in the form of a chant from the Freedom Riders in jail, aimed at the warders.
Task 5. Preparing for the trial
Divide yourselves into new groups:
A group of witnesses : policemen, Freedom Riders, members of the public who saw events, Martin Luther King ( yes, he is also still alive!), any others from the film who may have something to say).
A group for the defence, who will ask questions of witnesses, and try to build a case that President Kennedy and the authorities did what they should have done under the circumstances, and that there was no deriliction of duty.
A group for the prosecution, who will ask questions of witnesses, and try to build a case that President Kennedy failed in his duty and is guilty of negligence.
A judge, who controls the activity in the court.
A jury, who after listening to the prosecution and the defence, decide whether President Kennedy is guilty.
This is not a real trial, and you don't have to make it exactly like a real trial! As a whole class activity, decide how you will do it. Decide if you want someone to play the part of President Kennedy, speaking up to defend himself at the trial, or if you want him to be tried in absentia, which means he is elsewhere while the trial is held. To make sure you all know what to do, each group has to explain its role to the whole class.
Task 6. Hold the trial; don't forget to film it.
Hold the trial following the procedure that you agree on in Task 4. After the jury has come to a verdict, the judge can sum up and finish the trial.
Task 7. Post the film on YouTube
Task 8. Debate
The whole class has a debate, where everybody can express their views on the trial. Was it a fair trial? Does everybody agree with the verdict? After the debate, working individually, write your views on the trial and post them as a comment to the film on YouTube.
Task 9. Answer Oprah's Question:
In 1961, hundreds of brave Americans embarked on Freedom Rides through the South. This diverse group of men and women demonstrated great courage, and without raising a fist, they changed the course of history. In honour of their journey, consider what you can do to make a difference. Oprah wants to know: " What's wrong with the world? What can we do to change it?"
First, watch these film where Freedom Riders give their answer to that question, in interviews made 50 years after the Freedom Rides:
Then consider and write your answer, and post it on the web page where Oprah posed the question:
Task 10. What did we learn?
In groups, discuss the whole process of doing the webquest from start to finish. What did we learn? Was it interesting and fun? What could be better? Make a critical Prezzi about the WebQuest, where the focus is on an evaluation of the activities involved with the webquest, and on your own learning process.
Attachments
Web Link
-
http://web.archive.org/web/20101212204621/http://bestwebquests.com/what_webquests_are.asp
Description: what_webquests_are.
The Public URL for this WebQuest:
http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=181738
WebQuest Hits: 1,304
Save WebQuest as PDF
