Standards
1. Standard – CC.8.5.11-12.A
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole
2. Standard – CC.8.5.11-12.
Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources
3. Standard – CC.8.6.11-12.H
Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research
4. Standard – 6.1.12.B
Evaluate the economic reasoning behind a choice. Evaluate effective allocation of resources for the production of goods and services
5. Standard – 6.2.C.E
Analyze the characteristics of economic expansion, recession, and depression
Group Discussion: Recap of Day One Information
(5–10 minutes)
After yesterday’s lesson, students should have now learned about the key parts of the documentary:
- How these resource-dependent communities initially formed
- How the communities eventually declined
- What effects the removal of coal had on these communities
- How the communities took steps to build an identity after coal.
Start off this lesson by having students discuss what they believe are the answers to these questions, and write their thoughts on the whiteboard/blackboard (this information will be used later in the days’ lesson). This serves as a recap of the previous lesson and will ease them into day two’s lesson.
Lecture: Models for Sustainable Community Development and Recovery
(15–20 minutes)
Explain basics of sustainability and how they relate to resource-dependency. Introduce two models designed to promote sustainable development in rural, resource-dependent communities: the Community Capitals Framework and the 12-Step Recovery Program. Summarized information and explanations can be found on the Teacher Key document.
- Sustainability and Resource-Dependency
- Community Development and Recovery Models
- Community Capitals Framework
- 12-Step Recovery Program
NOTE: The point of this lecture is not to have students memorize the models perfectly. Rather, it is to introduce the models to the students so they have more concrete ways of conceptualizing and thinking about community recovery.
Group Activity: Applying Models to the Documentary Communities
(remainder of class)
Split class up into 4 groups. Each group will analyze the recovery efforts of one community by using one of the previously discussed models:
- Group 1 – Community Capitals Framework, Wales
- Group 2 – 12-Step Recovery Program, Wales
- Group 3 – Community Capitals Framework, Appalachia
- Group 4 – 12-Step Recovery Program, Appalachia
Students should know or remember enough about what the communities did from the lesson yesterday, the review this morning, and the information preserved on the whiteboard from the morning’s review. The teacher will also pass around handouts (found in the Teacher Key) to each group with a summary of their recovery model on it as a reference.
For the Community Capitals Framework, the groups can identify which community capitals they had, and which were most developed. For the 12-Step Recovery Program, the groups can identify which of the steps were attempted and if they were successful. Please note that the students do not have to find an example for each step or category in the models. The models are not meant to be perfect checklists, but rather ways of introducing students to other perspectives through which they can view the communities’ recovery actions.
In the last 5 or 10 minutes of class, Groups 1+2 (Wales) and Groups 3+4 (Appalachia) will join together and share how they used their models to interpret the actions of their community. This way, students get to learn more about the other recovery model while still talking about the same community they had just analyzed.