On January 6, 2021, the nation witnessed a grave breach of its democratic traditions. For the first time in American history, supporters of the losing presidential candidate forcibly disrupted the official counting of electoral votes. PBS NewsHour Extra has provided a classroom resource that includes three activities to teach about the breach of the US Capitol.
The Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence has developed a social–emotional learning program called RULER, which teaches students to do daily check-ins, identifying the energy level and pleasantness of their emotions on a color-coded “mood meter.”
PBS affiliate WETA has made available a list of propaganda techniques that make false connections (such as the techniques of “transfer” and “testimonial”), or constitute special appeals (such as “bandwagon” and “fear”), or are types of logical fallacy (for example, “unwarranted extrapolation”).
January 6, 2021, will certainly be a day for the history books. For all teachers grappling with how to address the day’s events with students, this Teaching Idea from Facing History and Ourselves is designed to help guide an initial classroom reflection on the insurrection at the United States Capitol on that day.
In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students read or view a literary text, and then identify and discuss examples of propaganda techniques in the text. Students then explore the use of propaganda in popular culture by looking at examples in the media.