Lesson Plan: Tinker v. Des Moines – Teaching With Primary Sources (Scaffolded Writing Resources)

Subjects:

U.S. History, Civics/Government, English

Grade Level:

7-12

Lesson Duration:

• Two 40-55 minute class periods

Essential Questions:

• Should schools be allowed to punish student speech before it causes a disruption?

• How does the free speech clause of the First Amendment apply to students in schools?

• What limitations/boundaries exist for speech when applied to students?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Develop a position and present a viewpoint based on historical evidence.

• Explain whether schools should be allowed to limit or punish student speech before it causes a disruption by watching a video, answering questions, completing an outline, and drafting a paragraph.

Materials:

• Retro Report video “How Tinker v. Des Moines Established Students’ Free Speech Rights” (Transcript)

• Video Guide and Question Sheet

• Video Guide Key

• Paragraph Outlines

  • No scaffolds

  • Partial w/Topic and Concluding Sentence

  • Partial w/Evidence to Sort

  • Full Scaffolding – Sorted Evidence

• Primary Source Pack

• Primary Source Analysis Activity

Key Vocabulary:

• First Amendment: The part of the Constitution that protects free speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition.

• Free Speech: The right to express your thoughts and opinions without being punished by the government.

• Civil Liberties: Basic freedoms that are protected by law, like free speech and privacy.

• Landmark Case: A court case that is very important and sets a rule for future cases.

• Precedent: A decision that guides future court cases and becomes an example to follow.

Procedure:

1. Review: Activate prior knowledge and get students thinking about limits on student speech with a revised Human Continuum activity.

   1. Write one of these statements on the board or projector: “Students should be allowed to say anything they want at a public school, even if it might upset others.” OR “Public schools should stop students from speaking if their words might cause a problem.”

   2. Ask students to stand on one side of the room for ‘Agree’ or the other side for ‘Disagree’. If they are unsure, they can stand in the middle until they hear more from their peers.

   3. Pick 2–3 students from different sides to explain in one sentence why they chose that side.

   4. As an optional twist, ask students “Imagine you were a principal. Would it change your answer?”

2. Guided Instruction: Have students watch the “How Tinker v. Des Moines Established Students’ Free Speech Rights” video.

   1. This can be done as a whole class, or individually on computers or using the EdPuzzle platform.

   2. The video guide and question sheet poses two guiding questions for the whole film, along with several sentence stems that students can complete as they watch.

   3. After reviewing responses, and highlighting exemplary answers, the teacher will distribute the scaffolded outlines to students.

3. Outline and Writing Prompt: Each version of the outline has the same writing prompt. For this activity, students will respond to the following prompt:

   1. Should public schools be allowed to punish student speech before it causes a disruption?

   2. Demonstrate how responses on the video guide and question sheet could be used to craft topic and concluding sentences.

   3. Guide students through creating categories and details on their version of the Outline form.

      1. Depending on time and classroom set-up, students can work together or independently to turn their categories and details into full sentences.

      2. Be sure to emphasize that each detail can be more than one sentence.

4. Primary Source Analysis: Have students complete one or more of the Primary Source Analysis activities provided for this lesson.

   1. Students are encouraged to draw upon one or more primary sources to support their answer and evidence while constructing their outline.

5. Outline Construction: Have students complete whichever scaffolded outline they were given.

6. Paragraph Construction: Using the outline that students completed, have them construct their full paragraph.

To learn more about the evidence-based instructional methodology used here for teaching writing, see: The Hochman Method | The Writing Revolution

About the Author:

Lauren Sanders has taught AP Seminar, AP Research and English in Florida since 2017.

Standards

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

• D1.5.6-8. Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling and supporting questions, taking into consideration multiple points of views represented in the sources.

• D2.Civ.2.9-12. Analyze the role of citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention to various theories of democracy, changes in Americans’ participation over time, and alternative models from other countries, past and present.

• D2.Civ.5.9-12. Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.

• D2.Civ.13.9-12. Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.

• D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.

• D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.

• D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.

• D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.

• D3.1.6-8. Gather relevant information from multiple sources while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.

• D3.3.6-8. Identify evidence that draws information from multiple sources to support claims, noting evidentiary limitations.

• D4.1.6-8. Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging the strengths and limitations of the arguments.

Common Core Literacy Standards

• CCSS.ELA.LITERACY.RI.11-12.3: Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequences of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact or develop over the course of a text.

• CCSS.ELA.LITERACY.RH.11-12.7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.