Procedures

• SET-UP:

  This lesson offers several options for you to use with your students whether you are teaching in class, using a hybrid model, or engaging through distance learning. It can be completed in steps as a class, as a jigsaw activity or students can move at their own pace and complete the activities independently.

  You can post links to the videos in the lesson along with the related handout and engage in discussion to share responses on a discussion board or learning management system.

  You can also save and share the following document for students to use with this lesson.

  Handout: Student Free Speech (Google Doc)

  In Google, choose "File" then "Make a Copy" to get your own copy. You can make any needed adjustments in the instructions such as which activities students need to complete, when it is due, etc. and then make it available to them via Google.

• INTRODUCTION:

  Use the Rapid-Fire Writing strategy (Facing History and Ourselves) to help students understand the following quote from the Supreme Court Case Keyishian v. Board of Education (1967):

  The classroom is peculiarly the “marketplace of ideas.” The Nation’s future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure to that robust exchange of ideas which discovers “truth out of a multitude of tongues, [rather] than through any kind of authoritative selection”.

  Once the Rapid-Fire Writing strategy has commenced, ask students to pair-up and share their responses to the following questions:

  • Which word did they box? Why?

  • How might the historical context of the 1960s shape the Court’s ruling?

  • Why might a teacher, a principal or a school official seek to limit the sharing of ideas in the classroom?

• EXPLORATION:

  Students will complete a jigsaw activity in which they watch one of the four videos below, engage in discussion with their assigned video group using the guiding questions, and then report back to their original group. They can use the handout to take notes and respond to the related questions as well.

  Video Clip 1: Tinker v. Des Moines (3:21)

  • What was the context of this case? How and why were the Tinkers using their 1st Amendment rights?

  • What did the court rule in Tinker? Did students have absolute free speech rights after Tinker?

• Video Clip 2: Bethel School District v. Fraser (3:33)

  • How did the Fraser case differ from the Tinker case? What type of speech did these students engage in?

  • How did the court rule in Fraser? Does this seem like a reasonable ruling? Why or why not?

• Video Clip 3: Hazelwood School District v Kuhlmeier (2:08)

  • How did the courts limit student free speech in this case?

  • Why do you think the Supreme Court focused on the curricular aspect of the newspaper?

• Video Clip 4: Morse v. Frederick (1:22)

  • Explain the context of this case. What do you think the students meant by “Bong Hits 4 Jesus?”

  • How did this case change the rights of students in public schools?

• ACTIVITY:

  Once each person in the group has shared their case, students should create a timeline to show how the case law has evolved over time.

• Students should read the following article in new groups and answer the accompanying questions. Mahanoy v. B.L. (NYT)

  • What is the legal question in this case, Mahanoy v. B.L.?

  • How are the four cases you studied earlier in class similar to Mahanoy?

  • How is Mahanoy different from the cases studied today?

  • What are two arguments in favor of the school district? The student?

  • How should the court rule? Why?

• CULMINATION:View the video clip below as a class and discuss the outcome of the case using the guiding questions.

  Video Clip 5: Mahanoy v. B.L. (3:56)

  • How did the Court rule in this case?

  • In what ways might this ruling be considered a narrow victory for students?

  • In your opinion, is there any off-campus free speech that should be regulated by schools? Why or why not?

• EXIT TICKET:

  Have students respond to the following prompt:

  *In what ways have the free speech rights of students evolved in schools? In what way do you expect this trajectory to evolve?”