Lesson Topics: racism, hate groups, conflict resolution
Skill Focus: Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary, Writing
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: daryl-davis-kkk-racism-upper-intermediate.docx
- The lesson begins with warm-up questions about hate groups and methods to resolve conflict.
- Next, students read a 259-word passage about Daryl Davis, a Black American man who made a documentary on the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), an American white supremacist group. Through his relational approach, Davis has helped twenty members quit the KKK. At the end of the passage, there are two links to short trailers of Davis's documentary.
- The video is followed by comprehension questions.
- Next, students match 10 vocabulary items from the video to their corresponding definitions.
- After vocabulary matching, students form discussion questions with the target vocabulary.
- The lesson has two debate prompts: one about fighting racism, and another about whether one person can change the system.
- This is followed by an anti-hate taskforce activity where students discuss several methods (provided) for reducing the rise of hate groups in their country.
- The roleplay scenario involves a teenager and a parent. The teenager, inspired by Davis's relational approach, seeks his parent's approval to spend time documenting a local hate group.
- Next, students review famous quotations related to nature and nurture.
- Finally, students review vocabulary and collocations before discussing some final discussion questions and two writing prompts.
UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) Lesson on Daryl Davis & The KKK
Warm-up-Questions
- Can a conversation change someone's beliefs? Have you ever seen this happen?
- Are there any dangerous groups (e.g. religious or political) in your home country? If so, what do you know about them?
- Would you be willing to talk with someone who holds hateful or racist views? Why or why not?
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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. ChatGPT was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Comprehension Question Answer Key
1) …
2) He’s struggled with the question: “How can you hate me if you don’t even know me?”
3) Because Davis had impressed him with his music, and the man was open enough to connect despite his racist background.
4) It means Davis didn’t try to argue or persuade them — the KKK members changed their own views through the conversations.
5) Davis uses respectful, one-on-one dialogue; other groups focus more on protest and legal change. Answers may vary.
Vocabulary: 1-g, 2-j, 3-h, 4-c, 5-f, 6-d, 7-b, 8-a, 9-e, 10-i
[1] Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7fh5J_mo5E, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_NHt480W20