For Teachers: Activities and Lesson Plans:
Standing Together

Grade Level – 7-12
Ideal as is for Middle School; can be modified for secondary setting with additional reflective writing activity.

Standards

5.2.6.A; 5.2.9.A; 5.2.12.A; 5.2.6.B; 5.2.9.B; 5.2.12.B
PA Academic Standards for Civics and Government (PDF)

8.2.6.D;8.2.9.D;8.2.12.D; 8.3.6.D;8.3.9.D;8.3.12.D
PA Academic Standards for History (PDF)

Context and Content Knowledge

At critical points in history, Americans have the opportunity to prove what they’re made of. The American Revolution. The Underground Railroad.  World Wars I and II. The Civil Rights marches of the 1960s. And now the fight against terrorism. None of us will ever forget the human and physical destruction of September 11, 2001.  But we will also never forget the image that emerged the morning after – a group of New York City firefighters hoisting an American flag above the rubble. 

Do you believe the power to unite is stronger than the power to divide? 

Warmup Activity:

Start with all of your students on the right side of the classroom.  Then read a dozen or so statements, beginning with those that differentiate the members of the group and ending on two or three common traits that bind them together:

If you like rap music, move to my left.
Country’s your thing?  Stand on the right.
Are you a vegetarian?  Over to the right.
If you take the bus to school, go left.
Do you like to swim?  Then move to the right.
If your last name begins with a letter from A to G, move to the left.
Do you like reading mystery books?  Stand on my right.
Is ice cream your favorite dessert?  Go right.
If your family is Italian, stand to my right.
Are you an African American?  Move to the left.
Can’t live without headphones?  Go to the left.
Your best friend dropped by but you’d rather do homework? On the right.
If you’ve ever argued with your brother or sister, go to my left.
If you go to (name of school), stand on my left.
Are you glad you live in a free country?  Stand on my left. 

Discussion:

Living in a free society means sometimes overlooking our differences for the greater good.  Read what Professor Jim Horton has to say about standing together. 

Do you know the Greek translation of the word “democracy?”  Pittsburgh Attorney John Burt explains.

Our democracy also guarantees a free press, even when the press touts opinions you don’t necessarily like.  Examine two different newspaper accounts of Frederick Douglass’s visit to Erie on April 24, 1858 and his speech entitled, “Unity of the Human Race.”  Research the origins of both newspapers.  What do these newspapers tell us about anti-slavery sentiment in the North?

For a humorous but telling story about local politics before the Civil War, read “The Bonny Brown Mare: or the Way an Abolitionist was ‘Done Brown,” published in The Erie Observer on September 26, 1857.

Resources:

Safe Harbor documentary, DVD and web site
History of Erie County Vol. I.  Chicago:  Warner & Beers & Co.  1884.
The Erie Story magazine.  Erie, Pennsylvania.  August 1983
Microfilm collections from the Erie County History Center and Erie County Library