1. facinghistory.org

2. Note to Teachers: Getting Started
This PowerPoint presentation accompanies Lesson 15: Speaking Up and Speaking Out from the Standing Up for Democracy scheme of work. It is important to read the lesson plan in order to understand its rationale, extension activities, as well as additional resources and an optional assessment in the Notes to Teachers.
This presentation includes verbal instructions for the activities in the Notes beneath each slide. Accessing hyperlinks in PowerPoint involves extra steps: select View - Notes Page - right click on the hyperlink - and select Open Hyperlink. Alternatively, you can access the hyperlinks from Lesson 15: Speaking Up and Speaking Out or by viewing the presentation in Google Slides.
While you may need to modify this presentation to meet the needs of your students, please note that Facing History and Ourselves is not accountable for any changes that alter the presentation's content or original layout.
Information about Standing Up for Democracy PowerPoint Slides
Each PowerPoint accompanies a corresponding lesson plan that includes more detailed instructions about the activities and should be read in advance of teaching the lesson.
Wherever possible, we have used images in lieu of writing to encourage the verbal delivery of instructions as a means of boosting focus and to promote active listening skills.
The same image is used for each recurring teaching strategy throughout the scheme of work to facilitate recall and promote student independence.

3. Speaking Up and Speaking Out Day One

4. Guiding Question
How can spoken word poetry and other forms of creative expression be used to raise awareness about injustice and unfairness, and as a call to action for change?
Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Learning Objective
To consider the power of voice and creative expression as means of calling attention to an issue, and bringing about changes we would like to see in our schools and local communities.

5. Think . . .
What issues did the activists and community members in Bristol and East London confront when they took action and demanded change in their communities?
Ask students to recall what issues the activists and community members in Bristol and East London confronted when they took action and demanded change in their communities.
You can have them think silently or discuss quickly with a partner.

6. What is one positive change that you would like to see in your school, community, or world that would make it a kinder, more inclusive space?
Then ask students to reflect on the following question in a journal response: What is one positive change that you would like to see in your school, community, or world that would make it a kinder, more inclusive space?

7. Have students debrief their journal responses in a wraparound.
Inform students that they will be returning to these journal responses in a later lesson.

8. Shane Koyczan’s TED Talk (Minutes 05:03 - 11:57)
Tell students that they will hear from a young Canadian poet, Shane Koyczan, who is using his voice to raise awareness about bullying through spoken word poetry. Koyczan, who was bullied in school and who now speaks out about what he and some of his peers experienced, has also launched a website called the To This Day Project (link is external), which provides information and support for individuals who have experienced bullying.
Play Shane Koyczan’s TED Talk in which he performs his spoken word poem To This Day (link is external), starting from 05:03 (See Notes to Teacher) so that you skip the introduction to the poem, which contains an instance of strong profanity.
Shane Koyczan’s TED Talk
(Minutes 05: :57)

9. To This Day...For the Bullied
Reflect on
To This Day...For the Bullied
and the Beautiful
What was the most impactful, important, or memorable moment in the video for you?
What makes you say that?
Ask students to respond to the questions in their journals.

10. Talk to the Text Underline powerful images Circle new vocabulary words
Put question marks where you feel confused
Put exclamation marks in powerful places
Write words or phrases where you connect to the poem
Pass out the Transcript of Shane Koyczan’s TED Talk and have students read the poem to themselves.
You might invite them to annotate by underlining powerful images, circling new vocabulary words, writing question marks in the margin where they feel confused, exclamation marks in places that they find powerful, and writing words or phrases to explain personal connections to the poem.

11. Divide the class into small groups for a discussion of “To This Day
Divide the class into small groups for a discussion of “To This Day.” Discussion questions are on the next slide.

12. How does Koyczan use stories in his poem to help convey his purpose?
Share one of your powerful images with the group and explain why you underlined it. Then work as a group to address questions about vocabulary and confusing moments in the poem.
What is the purpose of Koyczan’s poem? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
How does Koyczan use stories in his poem to help convey his purpose?
Can spoken word poetry and other forms of creative expression help change society for the better?
What role can they play in addressing injustice and unfairness in your school, community, country, or world?
Ask students to discuss the questions in their small groups.

13. Facilitate a class discussion about “To This Day” and the small group discussion questions.
What is the purpose of Koyczan’s poem? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
How does Koyczan use stories in his poem to help convey his purpose?
Can spoken word poetry and other forms of creative expression help change society for the better?
What role can they play in addressing injustice and unfairness in your school, community, country, or world?
You might ask 1–2 groups to take the lead on a question before asking other students to add their ideas and observations.

14. How is the experience of learning about bullying through a spoken word poem different from reading an article, listening to a speaker in an assembly, or viewing a PowerPoint about the topic?
On an exit card, ask students to respond to the question.

15. Speaking Up and Speaking Out Day Two

16. Guiding Question
How can spoken word poetry and other forms of creative expression be used to raise awareness about injustice and unfairness, and as a call to action for change?
Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Learning Objective
To consider the power of voice and creative expression as means of calling attention to an issue, and bringing about changes we would like to see in our schools and local communities.

17. Speaking Up and Speaking Out
Take a few minutes at the start of class to share from some of the exit cards.
We recommend that you keep the students’ responses anonymous, unless they have given you permission in advance of the lesson to share their ideas.

18. Tell students that for the next activity, they will be working individually, in pairs, or in small groups to create their own spoken word poems that call attention to an issue that they feel passionate about addressing in their school, community, or world. They might choose the topic that they wrote about in the last lesson’s warm up, or they might decide to choose a new issue for this activity.
Pass out the Spoken Word Mind Map handout and ask students to respond to the questions on their own, with their partners, or in their groups.
Explain that the goal of this mind mapping exercise is to generate as many ideas as possible about their topic and why it interests them, so if they feel like they have answered a question, they should challenge themselves to add at least one more idea.
Then have students share their mind maps with another student or group of students. Encourage students to pose questions that will help their partners generate new ideas to add to their brainstorming handouts.

19. Explain to students that they will now have time to begin drafting their spoken word poems.
If they are having trouble getting started, prompt them to do a quick freewrite in their journals that takes ideas from their mind mapping sheet. For students working in pairs or groups, each student can freewrite, and then they might use phrases or lines from the freewrites to start their spoken word poem.
Depending on how much time you have, you might spread the writing process over multiple class periods (see Notes to Teachers for details).

20. Conclude the lesson by asking each student to underline a short section from the draft of their poem to share in a wraparound or popcorn.
You might have your students stand in a circle so they can all see and hear each other for this celebration of the spoken word.

21. Extension Activity

22. Strongly Agree Agree Strongly Disagree Disagree
Your school may already engage students in discussion and prevention of bullying. If not, you might feel that your students need the opportunity to explore this topic together either before or after hearing Shane Koyczan’s “To This Day.” If so, the following teaching strategy can provide a meaningful structure to the conversation:
Use the Four Corners strategy to spark discussion in your class about bullying, cyberbullying, and school climate and culture. You can choose from the following statements for this activity or create your own.
Bullying occurs at my school.
Teasing is different from bullying.
Cyberbullying is just as harmful as bullying.
There are clear consequences at my school for students who bully other students.
The adults at my school have the power to prevent bullying from happening.
The students at my school have the power to prevent bullying from happening.
If I see someone getting bullied at school, I have a responsibility to step in and try to stop it.
If I see someone getting bullied at school, I have a responsibility to tell an adult what I saw.
If I witness cyberbullying online, I have a responsibility to report it to an adult.
If I see someone getting bullied at school, I have a responsibility to offer support privately by talking to them outside of the moment, sending a text, or reaching out on social media.
Bystanders are responsible for the hurt caused by bullying if they do not take action to stop it.
Then debrief the activity in a class discussion (see next slide).
Strongly Disagree
Disagree

23. What does this activity suggest about bullying and cyberbullying at your school?
How does this activity help you think about the choices you have if you witness or are made aware of an incident of bullying or cyberbullying at your school?
Debrief the activity by leading a whole-group discussion based on the two questions.
Finally, review your school’s definition of bullying and the anti-bullying policy with your students and remind them where they can go for help and support if they are the victims of bullying or witness bullying inside or outside of school or online.
Facing History provides additional video and print resources if you would like to continue the discussion about bullying with your students. Using Bully in the Classroom includes information about how to create safe classrooms and schools, strategies to combat bullying, and a resource guide to supplement clips from the film Bully. It is important that you preview all of these materials in advance of teaching them to ensure that they are appropriate for your students.

24. @facinghistory | facinghistory.org