Banned Books Webquest
Although this webquest contains the name of our school, IT IS A
FICTIONAL SCENARIO.
Recently, the school board and PTA of the HS of Art & Design decided that some of the books we have been teaching in our classrooms and have available for students to read in our library are inappropriate. They will be having a hearing on this issue in one month.
The students of our school are concerned that this decision could not only take away books that they like and are interested in, but also books that they could stand to learn a great deal from. They have decided to form committees, which will give presentations at this public hearing.
Each committee will be made up of four students. Each student in the committee will have a specific task and all students will be responsible for doing research to support their claim.
This project will be done both during class and on your own time. We will take a few class trips to the library at the start, but after that any additional research will be done on your own.
Half of the committees will be arguing FOR this censorship and half will be arguing AGAINST it. You will be assigned to a side, but may choose your own committee members.
Some thoughts and references to keep in mind:
**Books that we have read this year (such as Bodega Dreams & The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian) have been challenged in many schools.
**Wikipedia is NOT a reliable source.
** http://ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm This link is reliable as it is from the American Library Association and should be able to give you more background information on book banning.
