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 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 Google resource for students to use with this lesson.

  Handout: Graphic Organizer (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.

• WARM UP

  Pose the following brainstorming questions to your students, directing them to record their responses in their graphic organizer, share with a partner, and then with the class if they choose.

  • What types of information might the U.S. government want to keep secret?
  • When should the U.S. government make secret information public? Why?

• INTRODUCTION

  Play the following introductory video clip of Columbia University history professor and author of The Declassification Engine Matthew Connelly talking about recent events related to classified document security. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

  Clip #1: Recent Events (1:39).

  • Was Matthew Connelly “surprised” about the discovery of classified documents in the homes and offices of politicians?
  • What is at “the bottom” of the incidents?
  • Underneath each case, what is the “disturbing reality?”

• VOCABULARY

  Direct your students to their graphic organizers to view and define the vocabulary terms that will appear in the lesson in the chart in their graphic organizer handout. The vocabulary words are also listed to the right on this webpage.

  We recommend having your students completing the activity in a jigsaw format to save time. Or, depending on time and resources, you may consider having your students engage in a Frayer's Model activity, where each student is responsible for completing one or two items. Students can then post their models around the room for reference throughout the lesson.

  Note: this is not an all-encompassing list of terms included in each video. We recommend you preview the video clips to determine any necessary additions/subtractions to this list for your specific students.

• THE PROBLEM

  Direct students to the problem section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following four video clips that detail historical and contemporary problems with the governmental classification system. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #2: Statistics and Process (8:23).

  • According to Matthew Connelly, how many pieces of information were classified each year as of 2012?
  • Based on the clip, how many individuals are able to classify information?
  • As of 2017, how much money was spent each year protecting the “secrets?”
  • Where are the documents held, and what is “mind-boggling?”
  • What is the government also producing “huge numbers” of?
  • How is the declassification process “supposed” to work? Why?
  • Why does “tons of material” never get released from a classified status?
  • Summarize the volume of documents that the National Archives is expected to process and the related issues, as stated in the video clip excerpt.
  • What has “practically every President” said?” Summarize Connelly’s response.

• Clip #3: Presidential Libraries (3:09).

  • What are the purposes of the Presidential Library system, according to Matthew Connelly?
  • Why is the Presidential Library system “passing away?”
  • Based on the clip, what happened to the classified material that was remaining at each Presidential Library? How has this impacted journalists and the public?

• Clip #4: Levels of Classification (3:27).

  • What do Executive Orders “tell you” about the Top Secret classification process?
  • According to Matthew Connelly, what are the two levels of classification below Top Secret?
  • What other rules determine the “status of information?” Summarize the examples that Connelly describes.
  • Why is what “actually happens” dysfunctional?

• Clip #5: Data Dumps (6:32).

  • What is the “logical result” of the problems within the system?
  • According to Matthew Connelly, how is the issue psychological?
  • Based on the clip, what effects did the Pentagon Papers release have on the country?
  • How have recent leaks been “different?”
  • Summarize Julian Assange’s comments in the video clip excerpt.
  • Why do public officials often “circumvent” the system, and why should the public “insist” on rule-following?

• THE HISTORY

  Direct students to the history section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following four video clips that provide an overview of the history of governmental secrecy in the United States. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #6: Founding of Country (3:58).

  • What “doctrine” was the United States founded on? Summarize the evidence that Matthew Connelly provides to prove his claim.
  • According to Connelly, how does the history of the U.S. Census illustrate governmental transparency?
  • Based on the clip, what shift occurred during the American Civil War? How was Abraham Lincoln “radical?”
  • What would the Founding Fathers be “flabbergasted” about today?

• Clip #7: World War II (8:54).

  • What was the “turning point” of American governmental secrecy?
  • According to Matthew Connelly, how do we typically view archives? Why might this view be flawed?
  • How much of the “documentary record” does the National Archives preserve? What happens to the rest?
  • Based on the clip, what trends have been occurring in recent years? What evidence does Connelly provide?
  • What was the Manhattan Project a “full prototype” of?
  • What began to “replicate” across the rest of the U.S. government?
  • What “better way” could be used to classify the top secrets of nuclear weapons?
  • What is “training data,” and how could it be used?

• Clip #8: Joint Chiefs (2:02).

  • Based on the clip, what do the Joint Chiefs not keep records of?
  • What has Matthew Connelly gotten “confirmation” about? Why does he think this occurred?

• Clip #9: Presidents (4:42).

  • Based on the clip, what has nearly every President since Franklin D. Roosevelt done?
  • Why will the modern presidency not “reform itself?” Summarize the examples that Matthew Connelly shares to prove his point.
  • What has Connelly “come to believe?”
  • Who was the “exception” among contemporary U.S. Presidents? Why?
  • According to Connelly, what “novel” reform from the Carter Administration did Ronald Reagan’s advisers find?

• SOLUTIONS

  Direct students to the solutions section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following four video clips that illustrate potential solutions and future steps to fix issues related to governmental secrecy. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #10: Declassification Engine (4:42).

  • What have Matthew Connelly and his colleagues attempted to do?
  • What is the “Declassification Engine?”
  • Based on the clip, how does Connelly’s work differ from traditional approaches?
  • Summarize the example Connelly shares about UFOs.

• Clip #11: Congressional Solutions (4:07).

  • Summarize Avril Haines’ comments about the classification of documents in the video clip excerpt.
  • What has been the “attitude” in Congress about the issue?
  • What does Matthew Connelly want legislators to continue to do? Why?
  • Summarize Connelly’s comments about Leon Panetta.

• Clip #12: Journalists and AI (3:48).

  • What “role” do journalists play with regard to information access?
  • According to Matthew Connelly, why are few historians studying the 1990s?
  • Based on the clip, what impacts can new technologies have on the issue?

• Clip #13: A Dark Warning (2:03).

  • What is the “dark warning” that Matthew Connelly offers?
  • Based on the clips, what steps should people take in the future?

• CLOSURE

  After your students are finished with the lesson, direct them to complete the final culminating writing prompt in their graphic organizers, and have students share their responses, comparing their perspectives with their classmates' perspectives: Having now learned about the history of U.S. government secrecy and related modern problems, describe what you think will occur in the next 20 years. Be sure to include evidence from the video clips in the lesson to support your argument.