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Beginning of a New Year

Amber Llewellyn

I can't believe that school is just around the corner. As I prepare for a new year, I always look back at my previous year's lessons and notes about what worked and what did not. One of the things that worked and sparked great discussions is one of my favorite videos in the OER project, The Danger of a Single Story. My students are from a very rural area, and our high school only has about 250 students, so these guys have known each other since kindergarten and do not know much about the world outside their little piece of it, so this video helps to get the conversations started about stereotypes and different perspectives. It also leads to great discussions about not only the stereotypes they have about other people but we also get to talk about the stereotypes people have about them because they come from a small community. This video also leads to the discussion about history as just stories and helps my students get a little more excited about the stories they will learn about this year. Have a great start to your new year, and if you haven't watched the video The Danger of Single Story, it's excellent, and I recommend it.

  •   I am also teaching in a small town, rural setting and share your appreciation of this resource!

    What kind of prompts do you use to elicit such rich discussion from your students?

  • I really like this video too, and I was considering showing it in the first week. Probably not day one because of the length, but I think in my second class with students. We've been given a little more time in our pacing this year, so I'm actually going to try to do a brief Unit 1 of 3-4 days. In the past I've just jumped right into Unit 2.

  • in reply to Anne Koschmider

    My prompts are really simple. I first ask them what the neighboring town, which is our rival in all things sports, thinks about students from our high school. We discuss what they think is true and then discuss what we think about the students in that school. Then, I make sure they have a working definition of stereotypes and ask about the stereotypes people have about our state, which leads to further discussion of stereotypes and why they are a problem. It's organic and always changes depending on the class and where the discussion takes us. 

  • This Google Slides I made is pretty straight forward.  But for those who would like to use it, feel free.  I printed each question separately, and gave these out to the students, and each person was looking for one only.  I put the times so they'd know when to focus in.  Then the open discussion at the end of the class was more engaging with all the student having focused on one of the questions.  Danger of a Single Story Slides

  • in reply to Bryan Dibble

    Thanks for sharing this slideshow  , I'm going to use these questions when I show it to my classes! I've used this video previously as a jumping off point to discuss different perceptions and even how certain phrases demonstrate a particular point of view. It usually leads to a great class discussion on defining certain words like bias, prejudice, and stereotypes which I like to make sure we have a good grasp on early in the year since it'll help as we explore more of the content.

  • I always use this in the first week too, and in addition to Ms. Adichie's themes, I ask students what kind of information they learned about Nigeria just from the video - her talk is rich in details that stick with students, and it sparks their inquiry for African history, which sets us up for further lessons. 

  • in reply to Marcella Sykucki

      AND be sure to share it back after you make edits, or especially if you do any spin-off with this great lesson idea. I'm not the only one who would appreciate any new takes.  Thanks!