Peaceful Protest Project

Introduction

Throughout history, our world has experienced a wide range of violent actions. These actions may have emerged in the forms of war, oppression, terrorism, and discrimination. At times violence has been used to combat these instances, however others in our world have chosen the path of peaceful resistance. These nonviolent warriors have helped to show the world that fighting and killing is not always the correct answer.

Your Task

Your task is to step into the shoes of the people like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Sadako Sasaki, who presented some of the most influential peaceful reactions to violence in history. Your project will be completed in a series of four tasks. First, you will research the aforementioned leaders and fill out the corresponding worksheet in cooperative groups. Next you will individually create your own version of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. Your group will then try to follow in the peacekeeper's footsteps by creating your own nonviolent reaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11th. And finally, your groups will present these projects to the class, which will also be accompanied by an individual reaction paper to be turned in by each group member.

The Process

First, you must click here to print out a worksheet to fill in on your peaceful journey.

* * * * *

***YOUR FIRST TASK- To be done within your group***

Research the lives and influences of these three important peaceful protesters and fill in the worksheet as you find the appropriate information.

Information on Dr. Martin Luther King

The King Papers Project is a major research effort to assemble and disseminate historical information concerning Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the social movements in which he participated.

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

I Have a Dream

http://web66.coled.umn.edu/new/MLK/MLK.html

Read Dr. King's Thoughts

http://users.rcn.com/tstrong.massed/Martin2000.html#war

Information on Mahatma Gandhi

A brief biography of Gandhi

http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/95oct/mkgandhi.html

More about Gandhi's life

http://www.mkgandhi.org/biography_content/index.htm

About his philosophy

http://www.mkgandhi.org/philosophy/index.htm

How Gandhi lived his life

http://gandhi.virtualave.net/life.html

Information on Sadako Sasaki and Japanese people in WWII

This webpage is full of great information about the story of Sadako Sasaki. It includes some relevant dates and nice pictures.

http://www.sadako.org/sadakostory.htm

Brief version of the story of Sadako (The number of cranes appears to be incorrect, but follow links for good information about atomic bombs)

http://www.sadako.com/story.html

More about Sadako

http://burn.ucsd.edu/sadako.htm

Information about Pearl Harbor

http://www.ibiscom.com/pearl.htm

Information about the atomic bombs

http://www.csi.ad.jp/ABOMB/index.html

Information about the atomic bombs

http://www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/japan/i/q4.html

* * * * *

***YOUR SECOND TASK-To be done individually***

Create your own "I Have a Dream" speech by clicking on this link: (When you get to this site, you need to click on "Stamp on Black History")

http://library.thinkquest.org/10320/Starter.htm

--Make sure to print out a copy and fill out the worksheet for an individual project.

Note: If you are using Netscape on a PC, you may have trouble getting back to the webquest page. Make sure to write down this address just in case.

* * * * *

***YOUR THIRD TASK-To be done within your group***

--September 11th is a day that will be remembered throughout history forever. Think about the kinds of peaceful resistance you have researched. How do you think your group could help promote peace in response to the terrorist attacks? How can you be a peaceful warrior for our country? You must think of group activity that will demonstrate a nonviolent reaction to the actions of September 11th. Your teacher will assign a designated due date for this task. This project may involve your small group, your 7th grade class, or your entire school. Try to be creative, and don't be afraid to use some of the suggestions that are provided below. You must use several valid sources (such as the ones provided) or you may find your own. Record these sources; you will need them for your individual paper.

Click here for a timeline of the September 11th events

Project Ideas:

Ideas to make Paper Cranes like Sadako Sasaki and Paper Lanterns

Many project ideas including ideas about paper cranes for peace like Sadako Sasaki

http://www.rosella.apana.org.au/~mlb/cranes/index.htm

Instructions on how to make a paper crane

http://www.sadako.com/statue.html

Ideas for paper cranes

http://he.net/~sparker/cranes.html

Information on Floating Paper Lanterns for Peace; Click on Hiroshima Peace Message 2000

http://www.csi.ad.jp/ABOMB/index.html

Promoting Tolerance

To help Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy live on

http://www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/act/activity.jsp?cid=71

10 ways to encourage tolerance

http://www.tolerance.org/10_ways/index.html

The methods of non violent action

http://www.peacemagazine.org/198.htm

How Youth Can Help Violence

Memorials, Activities and Rituals following traumatic events

http://www.nasponline.org/neat/memorials.html

How kids can help

http://www.libertyunites.org/kids.adp

Salvation Army Ideas for Youth

http://www.ysa.org/howtohelp-vol.html#ideas

* * * * *

***YOUR FOURTH TASK-To be performed within your group and later individually***

1) Create a presentation to inform the rest of your class about the project you chose to pursue. This presentation may be in the form of powerpoint, persuasive speech, or poster board format. The main purpose of this task is for you to share your ideas with others and to give your classmates insights on why this was important to you as a project.

Click here to view a rubric for the Group Project/Presentation and Worksheet

2) You must then write an individual response paper about the project your group chose. Each group member must write their own paper. In this paper you must address:

Why you chose this particular project

The process you went through to carry out your chosen task

What kind of impact you thought it had in response to violence

The sources you used to complete the project

Your insights and personal feelings that were gained from this experience Click here to view a rubric for the "I Have a Dream" speech and Response Paper

Conclusion

Throughout your webquest experience, you have seen that people can react to their circumstances violently or peacefully. We hope that by studying some examples of peaceful protests, you have learned that violence is not always the best path. Maybe by engaging in peaceful activities you have designed yourselves, your perspective on problem solving has been broadened to include more peaceful solutions. Our additional resources and ideas section can give you motivation for engaging in further peaceful actions beyond the classroom.

* * * * *

Additional Resources and Ideas

Audio clips of speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

http://www.archervalerie.com/mlk.html

Quotes from Gandhi

http://www.sfheart.com/Ghandi.html

Information about WWII in the form of a detailed timeline

http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm

Oppression of Japanese Americans

http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/

More about Japanese Americans

http://www.pbs.org/conscience/

Letters from Japanese American prisoners

http://www.ncss.org/resources/moments/pearlharbor.shtml

Promoting peace, a teachers' guide

http://www.pbs.org/journeytopeace/teachers/index.html

This webquest was created by Kate Cross, Gina Rossi, Aaron Keim and Nicole Thiel.