Slavery in India, Sudan, and Mauritania? What about in the United States? Groups research modern slavery in these four countries, collecting factual evidence (What), determine their feelings about this evidence (So what), and consider what actions can be taken for social justice (Now what). After presenting their findings to the class, individuals craft a persuasive essay encourages others to do their part to end slavery.

Concepts

slavery, justice, social justice, injustice

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Have class members post their essays on the class blog or submit them to a local paper

Classroom Considerations

• Requires access to Bertold Brecht's poem, "Questions from a Worker Who Reads," "Modern Day Slavery," a newspaper article by Rodrigo De Haro, Sonia Levitin's young adult novel, Dream Freedom, and "Kinds of Citizens" (Table 1) from "What Kind of Citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy" by Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne
• Be sensitive to the fact that some class members may have personal experience with some of the issues being researched
• The 16th in a series of 17 related resources
• No links are provided for the required resources; however, they are available on the Museum for Tolerance web site

Pros

• The three-page packet includes a list of related web sites, step-by-step directions for the activity, and a link to an essay rubric

Cons

• None

Common Core

RI.6.1