Social Justice Faces: Take a Stand Against Hate!

A WebQuest on individuals who have worked (or are currently working) for
social justice
Introduction: How can you make a difference in your community?
One way to make a different in your community is to be an advocate for social
justice issues. To learn more about social justice, let's investigate some important
figures who have worked to promote social justice in their communities.
After completing this WebQuest, you will be able to define social justice, research
a social justice figure, create a Wordle about this figure, and write a letter about
their cause!
Like Mahatma Gandhi says: "you must be the change you wish to see in the
world."
Task:
Select an individual who has made progress working for social justice. Research
this individual and their cause. Who is this important figure? How have they
worked for social justice? After completing the research:
1. Create a Wordle illustrating this individual and their cause

2. Write a letter to this individual describing how you could support their cause? If
you are not interested in supporting their cause, explain why not.

"Unite the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility
for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained" -- Helen Keller
Procedure:
1. Research Social Justice Organizations
Research a couple of social justice organizations in order to gain an
understanding of what social justice activism involves.
Some suggested websites include:
The Free Child Project Social Justice Definitions
Children's Defense Fund Wikipedia: Social Justice
Community Alliance for Diversity What is Social Justice?
ACLU Georgia

ADL Georgia
2. Select & Research an Influential Advocate: Select an influential advocate
for social justice change. You may select someone you come across during the
search above. Or, select an individual from the list below:
Amartya Sen
Ralph Nader
Jesse Jackson
Noam Chomsky
Ronald Takaki
Harvey Milk
Audre Lorde
Eleanor Roosevelt
Frances Fox Piven
Howard Zinn
John Muir
Rachel Carson
Julia Butterfly
Hill Wilma Mankiller

Naomi Klein
Dennis Banks
Cesar Chavez
John Lewis
Rosa Parks
Susan B. Anthony
Mahatma Gandhi
Helen Keller
Nelson Mandela
Rigoberta Menchu Tum
Frederick Douglass
Betty Friedan
Barbara Kruger
Marian Wright Edelman

These social justice figures can also be researched with Wikipedia, Bio, Heroes,
Meet Amazing Americans, or a general Bing search.
When completing your research, keep track of your sources in a word-processing
document (i.e. which websites you use). You should use at least (3) different
websites.
3. Create a Wordle: Based on your research, create a wordle including at least
15 words about the influential advocate for social justice change. Be sure to
include the name of your selected person in your Wordle.
How to create a Wordle: Go to http://www.wordle.net
Select "Create"
Insert at least 15 adjectives, verbs, sentences, quotes, and organizations to
describe the individual you researched.
Select "Randomize" to randomly change how your Wordle looks. Use the Edit,
Language, Font, Layout, and Color menus to change the appearance of your
Wordle.
Save to Gallery
Print
4. Print Wordle : After creating and arranging your Wordle, print it.

5. Write Letter to Inspirational Figure: Write a letter to this individual

describing how you could support their cause? If you are not interested in
supporting their cause, explain why not.The letter should be about a hand written
page.
6. Share:
After everyone has completed this project, students will be asked to share the
product with classmates. Evaluation

Evaluation

Beginni
ng

Develop Accomplis Exempl

ing
hed
ary

Sco
re

Organize
d
Research

Created
Wordle

Letter

Conventi
ons

Comple
ted
word
Complet
Completed processi
Did not ed word
word
ng
complet processi
processing docume
e word ng
document, nt, and
processi docume
only
include
ng
nt, only
included
d all (3)
docume included
(2)
resourc
nt
(1)
resources
es in an
resource
organiz
ed
format

Did not
create
Wordle

Created
Wordle,
included
<5
words,
includin
g name
of
individu
al

Did not
write
letter

Wrote
letter
Wrote
Wrote
and
letter and
letter,
connect
connected
but does
ed it to
it to social
not
social
justice
connect
justice
advocacy,
to social
advocac
but did not
justice
y, and
include
advocac
include
how you
y
d how
can help
you can
help

Many
Many
misspell misspell
ed
ed

Created
Wordle,
included
<10
words,
including
name of
individual

Created
Wordle,
include
d <15
words,
includin
g name
of
individu
al

Some
Words
misspelled are
words, has spelled

words,
many
incompl
ete
sentenc
es

words,
has
complet complete
e
sentences
sentence
s

correctl
y, letter
has
complet
e
sentenc
es

Conclusion

Now you should have an idea of what is means to work for social justice
and how important figures have changed their world.
Is there a specific person you found inspiring?
Can social justice change the world?
Can it change your community?
How can you help? Is there a cause close to your heart?