Some stories require a large amount of contextualization. Father Bob Begin’s story of his arrest on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is such a story. There are so many questions one can have from Fr. Begin’s account: Why was Fr. Begin arrested? Why was he arrested while serving communion to the congregation? Why was he one among many arrested that night? And does his arrest have any relation to the social unrest of the late 1960s?
The following lesson plan takes students through Fr. Bob Begin’s arrest, the reasons the United States fought a war in Vietnam, and the early years of Nixon’s presidency. This multiple-day lesson encourages students to connect these events together by formulating their own thesis with regards to the evidence presented during the lessons. It also features differentiation of process, learning environment, and products. As a note, one can adapt this lesson for gifted students by removing some of scaffolding for the background context and assigning them the audio clip, The Plain Dealer clips, and Background Knowledge Activity #2 sheets at the same time before class.
These lessons cover many topics, and therefore teachers are encouraged to split this lesson into three separate lessons or one flipped lesson plus two in-class lessons. Please see the below PDFs for more details.
The next 5 PDFs include the lesson plans, rubrics, and paper materials to complete the lesson.
Rubric for Bob Begin Arrest Story Lesson [All Activities]
Bob Begin Arrest Story Graphic Organizer
Bob Begin Arrest Lesson Classroom Background Knowledge- Activity #2 Context Questions
Bob Begin Class #2 Activity #2-5 Contextualization Questions for President Nixon Video
The next three PDFs include The Plain Dealer articles regarding the arrest of Father Bob Begin and others.
Priests PD19690127 Page 7 Front Page Cont.
Priests PD19690127 Page 7 detail
Happy planning!
[Photo Credit: Cleveland People. “Fr. Bob Begin honored on St. Colman Day Saint Colman Church – Cleveland November 2, 2014.” Clevelandpeople.com. November 2, 2014.]
