Process Drama

Process drama is a great way to teach comprehension of this story.  Students are able to act out scenes of the story.  This allows students to learn without feeling like their learning because it's fun but it also lets the teachers do informal assessments of the students learnings.  This particular book is an excellent example of process drama.  On youtube there are so many movie trailers done by students, mostly middle school age, using the art of process drama.  The amount of creativity that I found in these videos was amazing and some of them seem to actually capture my own ideals of the story.  Below you will find a link to one of the many trailers that I enjoyed and I hope you will too!



Monster- Unofficial Trailer

Pressing Passage from Monster...

The mayor of the city is addressing the city via news cast and he says this:

"The idea that we're just trying to stop crime in white or middle-class areas is nonsense.  Everyone living in the city deserves the same protection." (pg. 123)


This passage opens up a lot of different thoughts.  What is this passage implying?  One possible interpretation of this could be that police are not just and in fact, are racist.  They target people in poverty and seem to often get away with things that other people don't.  

This could be brought into the classroom in many ways.  For example, in  Milwaukee, WI a police officer got charged with illegally strip searching people and only got sentenced to 20 days in jail!  Would it be this way had it not been a cop that illegally searched someone?  

Walter Dean Myers
An interesting man works behind the scenes of several books that address social justice issues




Walter Dean Myers is the author of several award winning books.  He has been writing for a majority of his life.  After reading his memoir, it is very apparent that Walter Dean Myers' life has an influence on a lot of his pieces.  He would not be who he is today without the experiences he had growing up.

Walter grew up with adoptive parents in Harlem.  He experienced a lot of issues regarding race, class, education, violence, crime, depression, and war.  His mother passed and he ended up being adopted, which explains his two last names.  While growing up in Harlem, Walter had a horrible situation in the schooling system.  He was often getting in trouble and was not treated well by teachers.  He also had a speech impediment, which was another hurdle Walter had to jump in his adolescent years.  He was continuously getting poor grades and had a negative relationship with school.  

As Walter grew older, that did not change.  He did however, have a teacher that knew he was smarter than what his grades were showing and she pushed him.  Another teacher also told Walter that no matter what happens, he should not stop writing.  That stayed with him as he grew older.  

Eventually Walter joined the army as a way to get out of school.  He went down the day he turned 17 and technically his birth mother was dead, so he did not need permission to join.  He scored the highest the recruiter had ever seen on the entrance exam and was quickly on his way.  When he came back, he found himself doing jobs here and there, but never feeling fully satisfied.  That is when he remember what one of his teachers told him, "No matter what, don't stop writing." 


http://www.walterdeanmyers.net



Walter Dean Myer and his writing process

The Court of Public Opinion

After reading Monster, I wondered if Steve was ever truly able to return to his life as if nothing had happened. I wondered if his friends and family would think he was guilty even though he was acquitted. This got me thinking about real life court cases that have had controversial endings that are still talked about today. 

O.J Simpson

OJ Simpson went to trial for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. Evidence found at the crime scene lead police to believe that OJ was involved. DNA evidence, witnesses and experts were called to the stand during the 10 month trial. After the long trial was concluded, jury members found OJ not guilty. Riots occurred throughout the county and this case is still talked about today. Many people today still believe that OJ Simpson committed the murders and got away with it. This case ignited a huge racial divide in our country. Many white believed that OJ had committed the murder. According to some, they saw this case as the death of a white man and a white women and a black man who did it. But to many black Americans, Simpson was set up by racist Los Angeles police, and the prosecution's case was riddled with holes. According to an ABC News-Washington Post poll at the time of the case found that 70 percent of whites thought Simpson was guilty and 74 percent of blacks thought he was not guilty. Sixty-four percent of African Americans cited a "police conspiracy" to frame Simpson.

Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1177035
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/simpson/simpson.htm

Casey Anthony 

Casey Anthony was charged with the murder of her two year old daughter, Caylee. The disappearance and subsequent discovery of Caylee's remains captivated the country. The majority of evidence in this case was circumstantial- meaning that it relies on an inference to connect to the conclusion of a fact. Because of the nature of Caylee's remains, experts were unable to determine a cause of death or a murder weapon which lead to numerous theories presented in court. After a relatively short trial, only 6 weeks, the jury found Casey not guilty of the murder of her two year old daughter. Riots all over the country, but primarily in the cities surrounding the case, ensued. Casey Anthony was forced into hiding for her own safety. 

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/04/us/casey-anthony-trial-fast-facts/

http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2077969,00.html

George Zimmerman 

George Zimmerman was charged with the murder of 17 Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman admits that he shot Trayvon but claims it was in self defense. This case ignited huge public outcry as it took nearly 3 weeks for charges to be filed following Trayvon's death. There is a controversial law in Florida called the "Stand Your Ground" law. To my understanding, this law means that an individual can use whatever force is necessary to defend him/herself. This law was used heavily by the defense in George Zimmerman's trial. After roughly 4 weeks of trial, Zimmerman was found not guilty by a jury. This case ignited huge racial divides in our country. According to ABC News, by a vast 86-9 percent, African-Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll disapprove of the verdict acquitting George Zimmerman of criminal charges in Martin’s death, while whites approve by 51-31 percent. 

Sources:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-martin-shooter-teenager-gun/story?id=16000239

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/07/vast-racial-gap-on-trayvon-martin-case-marks-a-challenging-conversation/

Regardless of our opinions on these cases, one thing is certain. OJ Simpson, Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman are still seen by many as guilty even though a court of law found them not guilty. Following the court decisions, their lives were threatened and they were forced into hiding because of public outcry. Many still do not believe justice was served. The racial divides on these cases is really interesting to me. Why do you think there is such a huge divide amongst blacks and white in these cases?

Arrested for Being Black?!

Here's a link to the story I will be referencing:

Click here!

This is Trayon Christan. 



He is a 19 year old student from Queens, NY who was arrested after purchasing an expensive belt from Barneys in New York City. Trayon bought the belt and was barely 3 blocks away from the store when he was confronted by undercover police officers. These officers accused Trayon of stealing the belt and arrested him. Even though he purchased the belt using his own debit card and showed his ID when asked, a store clerk still called police to report a burglary. Trayon was arrested and taken to the police station. There are conflicting reports for how long Trayon was kept in custody. The official police documents state he was kept in the station for 42 minutes but Trayon says he was detained for 3 hours. He was eventually released and no charges were filed.

There are so many different parts of this story that are so ridiculous to me. 

1. After using a debit card (in his name) and then showing an ID that matches the debit card name, why was the store clerk still suspicious? 
2.  Why did the police still arrest him when he produced his debit card, ID, and receipt showing the purchase?
3. Why is there such a huge disparity in the time that Trayon says he was kept in custody and the time the NYPD says he was kept in custody?

Clearly Trayon is a victim of racial profiling. Why is this still happening in our society? Social injustice is all around us. 

Monster Bibliography

Have you ever made a choice and wish you could take it back? Have you ever found yourself accused of something you didn't do?  Well that is exactly what happened to Steven Harmon.  Steven is a teenage boy accused of murder and is on trial for this very act.  The author set up a contrast in his writing by having the story line told through the eyes of Steven but also through the lens of mock script and camera lens that Harmon takes on throughout the trial.  This book has won many accolades including the Coretta Scott King award.  This book is used throughout many classrooms because it allows for students to read a story that reflect different experiences and even cultures then themselves.  It allows students to be creative in order to gauge their level of understanding on this particular book.  Monster is dives into the process of being wrongfully accused and having everyone think you are guilty.  In the book the main character Steven talks about his experiences of going through a trial, his time in juvenile detention and his family and the toll this is taking on them.  This book is a page turner and it is interesting the way in which the author decided to write this book. 

Effects of Social Injustice

"After the trial, my father with tears in his eyes, held me close and said that he was thankful that I did not have to go to jail. He moved away, and the distance between us seemed to grow bigger and bigger. I understand the distance. My father is no longer sure of who I am. He doesn't understand me even knowing people like King or Bobo or Osvaldo. He wonders what else he doesn't know." (Myers, pg 281)

"Every word that has been said in court is burned into my brain. "Steve Harmon made a moral decision," Ms. Petrocelli said. I think about December of last year. What was the decision I made? To walk down the streets? To get up in the morning? To talk to king? What decision did I make? What decisions didn't I make? (Myers, pg 270)

"Nothing is real around me except the panic. The panic and the movies that dance through my mind. I keep editing the movies, making the scenes right. Sharpening the dialog. "A getover? I don't do getovers," I say in the movie in my mind, my chin tilted slight;y upward. "I know what right is, what truth is. I don't do tightropes, moral or otherwise." (Myers, pg 271)