West Virginia Coal - Black Lung Disease

Grade Level - 5th grade, Thomas Paine
Teacher of Lesson - Beth Anderson
Approximate Time - 60 minutes

Objectives:

1. The students will be able to debate the different sides of diagnosing black lung disease.
2. Students will know the opposing views of the law concerning black lung disease benefits.

Materials:

1. Company Owners fact sheets (enough for half the class)
2. Miners fact sheets (enough for half the class)

Procedures:

1. First, I will give the students an overview. I will explain to the students that during class today, they will be learning about something called black lung disease. I will then give the students some background information on black lung disease and how it is diagnosed. After that, I will explain that they will be participating in a debate.
2. The students will be asked to split themselves up into two groups and stand on opposite sides of the room. After they are split up, I will explain how the debate will be run. Each group will be given fact sheets and they must use these facts to explain their viewpoint and what they want from the other side. They must pick a group spokesperson. Anyone who wants to talk will be allowed to, but there must be an official person to keep track of the arguments on their side. They have to convince the judge (me) that their opinion is correct. I will give them a time limit (approx. 10-15 min.) to figure out what they want to say.
3. Once directions are given, I will pick one group to represent the miners, one group to represent the company owners. Then, I will give the students their respective fact sheets.
4. While the students are discussing what they will say, I will wander back and forth between the groups making sure that they are staying on task and that they understand the issues being presented.
5. At the end of the time limit, I will call the groups back together in the classroom. The groups will sit on opposite sides of the room.
6. The two groups will each give opening statements. The company owners will be allowed to give their first argument, and the miners will respond. The miners will then be allowed to give an argument, with the company owners responding. The students will keep discussing until all of their arguments have been addressed. At the end of the debate, the judge will give an opinion. Things to consider in this will be how well each point was addressed, how many points were addressed by each side, and which group used the best reasoning.
7. After the decision has been made, I will explain to the class about the bill that was filibustered in Congress and what that means for each of the different interest groups. Any student who wishes to write to a Congress person will be allowed to do so.
8. The class will then take out their journals and write an entry about the debate from the view of a company owner, a miner, or a family member from a miner's family.

Evaluation:

Informally, I will be listening to the student's discussions while they are preparing their arguments before the debate. During the debate, I will be watching to see who is participating and offering relevant comments. Even if the spokesperson does all the talking for the group, they will need group input. The formal evaluation will come when I read their journals. I will look for facts discussed in the debate, as well as personal opinion (and justification) of the arguments they raise.

Changes and revisions I would make: