Introduction
George Floyd. I'm sure at some point during this year, 2020, this is a name you have seen or heard. Whether you know who George Floyd was exactly, or you have just heard or seen his name in the news, you probably have some thoughts that comes to mind when you come across this man's name. Maybe when you see or hear the name George Floyd you're thinking about the Black Lives Matter movement, maybe you're thinking about protest, riots, peace, violence, maybe it's thoughts of systemic racism, police brutality, civilian violence, maybe what comes to your mind is when this happened, during a global pandemic, or where in happened, in Minnesota. The point is, George Floyd and his recent death this past year in 2020 has sparked protests not only in Minnesota in the United States but in cities and countries all over the world. This was a situation that has impacted the whole world in many different ways and like never before. This is a situation that must be talked about, as we have seen the many different extensive George Floyd protests that have taken place over the past year.
In this lesson students will be individually completing a web quest. First, students will research five web sources to discover more about who George Floyd was, what happened to him, and what followed his death. Four of these web sources will be provided, and the fifth source is the students choice. Next, after researching the web sources, students will be taking the information they found to create a timeline of the George Floyd events including his death, officer arrest, facts about protests and riots. In the final part of this assignment, students will write a 1-2 page reflection about the factors found in their web research that they believe contributed to these extensive protest/riots, these factors include economic, geographic, and any other factors found in student's independent research.
Task
In this assignment, students will be working individually on their computers or devices to explore 5 web sources; 4 different assigned websites and 1 other website of their choice to research about the George Floyd protests that have just recently occurred this year in 2020. Students will be gathering information from these articles involving what happened to George Floyd, what followed his death and what kinds of factors might have contributed to what followed. After this web quest students will create a timeline of events of the information that they found. Events on this timeline should include when George Floyd was killed, when/if officers were arrested, when protest/riots started, and any other information that they found and thought was necessary to add to their timeline of events.
Students will finish this assignment by writing a 1-2 page reflection which includes what factors they believed contributed to these extensive protest and riots that followed his death in the U.S. and all around the world. These factors can be found within these four articles researched, and these would include the civil, economical, geographical, and any other factors that prompted these protests to occur. One example of a factor or contributor to these extensive protests would be the systemic racism that our country faces, and the amount of black people that are arrested and face police brutality. This is one of the contributors to these protest that in mentioned throughout the articles. In this 1-2 page reflection, students will also write about the issues that they believe are worth protesting for. These can be issues that are also factors and connected to the fuel behind the George Floyd protest, and they can also be other issues that students are passionate about.
Objectives:
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Students will complete a web quest in which they gather information from 5 different internet sources (4 provided and 1 source of their choosing,) about George Floyd Protests and use the information found to create a timeline of the events surrounding Floyd’s death.
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Students will use the information gathered in this web quests to write a 1-2 page reflection about what different factors may have influenced and prompted these events to occur, and write about what issues they believe are worth protesting.
Process
1) Students will begin by visiting and researching each of the four articles to gather information. Remember, you are looking for facts about George Floyd's death and what followed. What exactly happed, who was involved, what followed, and when these things happened. I recommend using a note paper to help keep track of notes, facts and dates you gather. When you record your facts, please cite which website they are coming from.
Articles for research:
www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/what-we-know-about-george-floyds-death-in-minneapolis-police-custody
www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd-protests-timeline.html
*Don't forget to research a website of your choosing!
2) When you are finished gathering information, let your teacher know and you will receive a poster board page to record your information and create your timeline. You may use art supplies from around the room to help create your timeline (crayons, markers, etc.) To receive full credit, your timeline must have 5 accurate events included on it that help tell the story of George Floyd's death and the protests that followed.
3) When your timeline of the George Floyd protest is complete, either come back to your computer to type your 1-2 page reflection, or appropriate shut down your computer and complete your handwritten reflection. Remember, this reflection includes the factors/contributors that you gathered in your web quest research that contributed to the George Floyd protest. These will be economic, geographic, and any other factors found in the web sources. To receive full credit, this reflection must also include issues that you are passionate enough about to protest for. These can be the same issues discussed in this lesson that were protested for in the George Floyd protest, and they can also be other issues that weren't focused on during this lesson.
Evaluation
| 3 | 2 | 1 | |
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Timeline
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There are at least 5 events on the timeline that help tell the story of the George Floyd protests. The timeline begins with George Floyd's death, includes the officer's involved arrest dates and includes other accurate facts that help tell the story of the protests. | There are 3-4 events on the timeline that help tell the story of the George Floyd protests. The timeline begins with George Floyd's death, includes the officer's involved arrest dates and includes other accurate facts that help tell the story of these protest. | There are 2 or less than 2 events on the timeline to help tell the story of the George Floyd protests. |
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Reflection
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A 1- 2 page reflection that includes multiple different factors that might have prompted these protests (for example, economic contributors) found in their web quest research. This reflection also includes students opinion of what issues they believe are worth protesting. | A 1-2 reflection that includes only 1 factor that may have prompted these George Floyd protests found in web quest research. Student includes opinion of what issues they believe are worth protesting. | A reflection that does not include contributors that might have prompted these protest found from the web quest. A student would receive a 1 if their reflection only includes their thoughts on what issues they believe are worth protesting. |
Conclusion
Great Work!
The purpose of this lesson was to gather information found in a web quest, organize this information into a timeline, as well as use the information found to reflect on why these protests might have happened the way that they did. I think it's very important to talk about George Floyd and the George Floyd protest in our classroom, especially after seeing the way these protest occurred all around the world. It is important to talk about these things that may be uncomfortable for some in our classroom, like George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. It is important to talk about these things so that change can occur in our world. In this lesson we can see the effect this situation really did have on the whole world. I am excited to hear what you all have to say about about what kinds of issues you believe are worth protesting for.
Credits
Sources
RT.com. “Riots in Covid-19 Era Are the 'Language of the Unheard', Looted Bare by White Elite.” RT International, www.rt.com/op-ed/490233-black-riots-covihttps://www.rt.com/op-ed/490233-black-riots-covid-white-looting/d-white-looting/
Noah Higgins-Dunn, Will Feuer. “Coronavirus Pandemic and George Floyd Protests Highlight Health Disparities for Black People.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 June 2020,
Alcindor, Yamiche, and Amna Nawaz. “What We Know about George Floyd's Death in Minneapolis Police Custody.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 26 May 2020, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/what-we-know-about-george-floyds-death-in-minneapolis-police-custody
Taylor, Derrick Bryson. “George Floyd Protests: A Timeline.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 May 2020, www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd-protests-timeline.html