Lesson Plan: Who Gets to Regulate #*%&? Free Speech in Popular Culture (E.L.A.)

Subjects:

English Language Arts, Social Studies, Fine Arts

Lesson Duration:

• 2-5 class periods
  • One class period will be necessary to watch the film and begin the research phase of the process. From there, timing will vary depending on how much research time is given in class and how presentations are handled.

Essential Questions:

• What are free speech and censorship and how have these ideas been in opposition over time?
• When is speech harmful and who gets to determine what qualifies as harm?
• How have aspects of popular culture been challenged over time and how have our views about those challenges changed?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Analyze free speech and how it applies to popular culture.
• Create a list of challenges against free speech and organize them into a timeline.
• Research and present on a challenge to free speech/censorship incident.

Materials:

• Retro Report video “Who Gets to Regulate #*%&? Free Speech in Popular Culture?” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout
• Sample PechaKucha Rubric
• Additional PechaKucha resources:
  • How to Make a Presentation
  • What is a PechaKucha Presentation?
  • Google Slides PechaKucha Template
  • PechaKucha Style PPT Template

Procedure:

1. Students will engage in Think-Pair-Share on the Student Activity handout to explore the warm-up questions “What is free speech?” and “What is harm?”
2. When students share responses with the class, ask students to consider how their definitions differ from that of others (if at all), and why that might be.
   1. Additionally, the teacher can share other resources with students:
   2. What Does Free Speech Mean? | United States Courts
   3. Freedom of Speech | Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
   4. Expression is Essential to Liberty | Freedom Forum
3. Watch the Retro Report video “Who Gets to Regulate #*%&? Free Speech in Popular Culture?” (Transcript)
4.  and have students answer the provided questions.
5. A class discussion should then be conducted focus on the following questions and aspects of the video:
   1. What is free speech?
   2. Is free speech ever harmful? When might it be and what harm might it produce?
   3. Does free speech ever need to be challenged or censored?
   4. Who gets to decide what gets challenged or censored?
6. After watching and discussing the video, have students create a list of challenges against free speech discussed in the video. Some events might include: Greek tragedies, comic book censorship, 2 Live Crew and Trigger/Content Warnings on college campuses. Students can write each event on a white sheet of paper or cardstock and put the events in order by taping them to a wall, in order. This can also be done via a Google doc, with all students on a shared document, or by writing on a white or chalkboard.
   1. Note: If this works in your classroom, students can also discuss challenges against free speech they know about not discussed in the video, but they know about it and want to share.
   2. Look at the timeline of censorship created. Choose a topic to research. Questions to answer in the presentation: What is being censored? Is this censorship? Why or why not? How has this event changed the way we look at pop culture now (think of positive and negative aspects)?
7. Over the next few class periods (1-2), in pairs or small groups, students will complete a PechaKucha (or see PechaKucha) presentation for the class. You may need to demonstrate how to create one. You can then use class time to present (1-2 periods) or they can be recorded using an app such as Flip.
   1. Depending on student and educational needs, students could complete PechaKuchas individually, shorten to a mini (3 minute, 20 second) PechaKucha or use the information to write a paper (research or informative) instead of presenting.

Extension Activities:

1. Research an aspect of challenges against free speech not addressed in the video and write an informative paper about this event.
2. Read the LA Times Article “Op-Ed: Why is pop music the people’s poetry? That’s what they like”. Compare and contrast what is said about music in the article with what is said in the video addressing pop culture.

About the Author:

Stephanie Hasty grew up in Mansfield, Missouri and studied at Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University). While she has moved to the Washington DC area, she understands it is important to be proud of where you come from, as that helps you determine where you are going. She wants to be part of the foundation of what students and faculty might see as diversity, equity and inclusion. She knows this starts with challenging our thinking and learning from others’ experiences.

Standards

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

• D2.Civ.12.9-12. Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.

• D2.Civ.14.9-12. Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
• D2.His.12.9-12. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources.

Common Core Literacy Standards

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.2: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.