Real World Censorship – Banned Books Week – 25 News Events to Discuss

Description

See the full PDF preview of this Real World Censorship activity.

FAST FACTS ABOUT THIS REAL WORLD CENSORSHIP ACTIVITY:

• Recommended for: Grades 8+
• Lesson duration: 3-4 lessons of 40 minutes each
• Editable: YES, most text is editable.
• Formats: PDF, PPT, Google Slides

A WORD OF CAUTION

Discussing censorship can be sensitive in certain settings. Banned Books Week exists just so we can talk about censorship. The discussion is necessary, but it also important that you know your audience and school community before doing this lesson.

Please have a look at the Preview (linked above) before you buy to make sure this presentation will fit the needs of your school.

LOOKING FOR AN ACTIVITY FOR THE HISTORY OF CENSORSHIP?

Try my History of Censorship presentation for Grades 8-12! It’s a great introduction to book censorship, beginning in ancient times and going through to today. Includes 9 historical events.

THIS CENSORSHIP DISCUSSION ACTIVITY INCLUDES:

• Detailed lesson plan (5 pages, PDF only)
• 8 group discussion cards (2 pages, all three formats)
• “Is It Censorship” worksheets (5 pages, 25 total situations, all three formats)
• Assignment graphic organizer: Research one of the situations. (1 page, all three formats)

DAY 1 – GROUP DISCUSSION OF CENSORSHIP SCENARIOS

• Group discussion cards
• Includes 8 hypothetical questions about different kinds of censorship

DAY 2 – IS IT CENSORSHIP? OPINION WORKSHEETS

• “Is It Censorship?” worksheet and group discussion
• Includes 25 scenarios taken straight from current events. Students have to determine if these are censorship and whether or not they are acceptable.
• There are five different worksheets, each with five different situations. Students can complete one worksheet, then group according to which worksheet they did.
• All worksheets are labeled with a letter in the corner so students can group quickly by the letter of their worksheet.

DAYS 3-4 – RESEARCH REAL CENSORSHIP NEWS ARTICLES

• Researching the real-life situations behind the scenarios on the worksheet.
• I provided links to news articles about all 25 current events.
• This activity could be extended further into a class debate or a written research paper about the event.

SAMPLE SITUATIONS:

• 10 situations occurred outside school. These are stories in global and USA news. Example: A celebrity sues a newspaper for publishing unauthorized photos of her minor child.
• 15 situations occurred at school. All of these are in USA schools, but the states vary. Example: At graduation, the Valedictorian’s microphone is cut off when she starts to say things that were not in her pre-approved speech.

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