American History X (movie trailer)

A former neo-nazi skinhead tries to prevent his younger brother from going down the same wrong path that he did.

 

Worksheet
Here is a worksheet based on the trailer of the film American History X. There is a gap-fill exercise and a set of comprehension questions for class discussion. Answer key as well as some teacher's notes are provided.

To download the worksheet click here.

 

Nelson Mandela's Life Story (video + comprehension exercises)

Dec. 5 - South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela dies at the age of 95.

 

Here is a short documentary about Nelson Mandela and his legacy.

Comprehension questions

1. Why was Nelson Mandela able to get a good education?
2. Where did he work while he studied law in Johannesburg?
3. When did the Nationalist Government come to power in South Africa?
4. What was the Freedom Charter?
5. What charge did the Freedom Charter organisers face in 1956?
6. What happened in Sharpeville in 1960?
7. What sentence did Mandela receive in 1964?
8. Where was he sent as a prisoner?
9. What event signalled the beginning of the end to apartheid?
10. When was Mandela released from prison?

Vocabulary

• apartheid: a former social system in South Africa in which black people and people from other racial groups did not have the same political and economic rights as white people and were forced to live separately from white people
• blueprint: a detailed plan of how to do something e.g.  a blueprint for reforming the public school system
• martial law: control of an area by military forces rather than by the police e.g. The government has imposed/declared martial law throughout the city to stop the riots.  

Now you can try the following quiz:

Nelson Mandela's Life Story

Related Articles

South Africa's Nelson Mandela dies in Johannesburg
Nelson Mandela death: A life in pictures
Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid icon and father of modern South Africa, dies 

Related Resources

10 Memorable Quotes spoken by Nelson Mandela – RIP Madiba
World mourns Nelson Mandela (8th December, 2013)
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Nelson Mandela free lesson plan
http://www.henry4school.fr/History/mandela2.htm
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21 March, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

A Class Divided

SOURCE:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/

One day in 1968, Jane Elliott, a teacher in a small, all-white Iowa town, divided her third-grade class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups and gave them a daring lesson in discrimination. 

Click on the image below to watch the video on YouTube. (English captions)

 

Class Discussion Questions

1. What scene or scenes are likely to stick in your mind for a long time?
2. Did any part of the film surprise you?
3. Does the children's body language reveal how they feel during the exercise? Can you give some examples?
4. How do the negative and positive labels the teacher puts on the two groups become self-fulfilling prophecies? (a self-fulfilling prophecy is one that becomes true because people expect it to be true and behave in a way that will make it happen. e.g.If you expect to fail, you will fail. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.)
5. What characteristics does the teacher attach to the superior and inferior groups? How do those characteristics reflect stereotypes about blacks and whites?
6. At recess, two of the boys from different groups get in a fight. How does the teacher make the two boys reflect on their actions?
7. How is the blue eyes/brown eyes exercise related to the Sioux prayer, "Help me not judge a person until I have walked in his shoes"? 

(adapted from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/divided/postviewing.html#first)  

Now try the following crossword to practise some vocabulary related to racial discrimination.  

Racism crossword puzzle game » crossword maker

RELATED ARTICLES

• Discrimination and Xenophobia
• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination