CENSORSHIP: BOOK BANNING IN AMERICA

Teacher Page

Standards Of Learning:

Comprehension and Interpretation of text: Students will connect and clarify main ideas and concepts and identify their relationship to other sources (1.8.5.4)

Students will write to persuade an intended audience by supporting arguments with detailed evidence, examples and reasoning. differentiating between evidence and opinion (3.8.7.1)

Enduring Understanding:

Man's need to censor the written word has been evident for centuries. Reasons for censorship represent the cultural values of society and therefore change over time as these values change.

Essential Questions:

• How does the need to censor reflect the culture of society?
• In what ways have the reasons for censorship changed over time?
• Who determines what is right or wrong?

Skills and Knowledge

• Use of the Internet

Assessment:

• Completion of worksheet from Web lesson. This should be copied for each student. (rubric)
• Letter to persuade - optional enrichment activity (rubric)

Activities:

Students complete the web search from the student page and fill in the worksheet.

Additional activities: This is an enrichment activity which may be used  to differentiate the lesson.

Students write a letter to their school board defending the reading of a novel in the classroom. This may be a novel that they presently are reading or one that they know has been challenged, and they would like to see added to the curriculum.  In the case of this lesson, the book in question is The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. 

student page

lesson created by Vicki Seed

Humanities and Communications Magnet

Eastern Middle School

Vicki_Seed@fc.mcps.k12.md.us