ETHICAL DILEMMAS

¨Have newspapers, scissors, and Ethical Dilemma Writing Assignments ready for distribution to students.

¨Divide students into small groups of two. Keep in mind students various strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles when pairing them. 

¨After assigning the students with a partner, allow them adequate time to move their desks or chairs to accommodate enough space for leafing though newspapers together.

¨Once students are settled, review what the class did the last time they completed a newspaper activity in Lesson 8. Review some of the articles students found during that lesson and write their responses on a flip chart or on the chalk board. Explain to the students that they will be looking, once again, for a good article that addresses an ethical dilemma. They will use this article to complete the Ethical Dilemmas Writing Assignment.

Group Activity:

¨Give each student a newspaper. Instruct the students to look through their newspaper and look for headlines and stories that appear to point out an ethical dilemma. Tell them to cut out any story that seems to apply. Encourage students to point out stories to each other and help each other with finding stories that look interesting.  Keep students moving along by giving such verbal cues as "At this time each group should have chosen an article to read." Or "At this time you should be reading your article to each other."

¨Once the students have each located a story, tell them to review the stories together and to choose one story to focus on when completing the Ethical Dilemmas Writing Assignment.  Ask students to read the story aloud to each other and to underline any key points or ethical issues presented in the story.

Ethical Dilemmas Writing Assignment:

¨Once students have read their article aloud to each other, hand out Part One of the Ethical Dilemmas Writing Assignment. Go over this handout with the class. For each point, ask the students to provide an example answer. Write these sample answers on the overhead so that students can see what a completed handout might look like. 

¨Instruct students to read over each of the questions presented in the Ethical Dilemmas Writing Assignment and to read their newspaper articles again.  Instruct students to begin answering the questions for Part One on the Ethical Dilemmas Writing Assignment handout.

¨Circulate around the room and assist students or get feedback from them on how they are doing. 

¨Once students have completed Part One of the Writing Assignment, review Part Two with them. Instruct them to individually answer the three questions in Part Two. Solicit some example answers from students for each of these three questions.

Group Presentations

¨After students have completed the Ethical Dilemmas Writing Assignment, ask for volunteers to present their stories and thoughts about their stories to the class. Students may choose to read their writings from Part 2 of the Writing Assignment aloud.

¨Collect the Ethical Dilemmas Writing Assignment from each group.

¨Work with a partner to find a newspaper article that addresses an ethical dilemma. 

¨Move desks and chairs to leave plenty of room for leafing through newspapers.

¨Review the process for selecting an article from the newspaper for this assignment. 

Group Activity:

¨Individually go through the newspaper the teacher has given you and look for stories that deal with an ethical dilemma. Cut out any article that you find that might be interesting to use in your group. 

¨Review all the stories you found with your partner and choose ONE to read together and use when answering the Ethical Dilemmas Writing Assignment.  Read the story aloud to each other and underline any key points or ethical issues presented in the story.  Ask any questions about the assignment that may confuse you.

Ethical Dilemmas Writing Assignment:

¨Review the Questions in Part One of the Writing Assignment and read your news story again with your partner, looking for answers to these questions. 

¨Answer the questions for Part One of the Writing Assignment. 

¨Review the questions for Part Two of the Writing Assignment. Answer these questions independently, but turn to your partner for help if needed. 

Group Presentations

¨Decide if you would like to present your findings or written responses to the class during group presentations and present them.

¨The teacher will collect the group activity sheet from each member of your group.