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Islam in the
News
A Group Activity
Religion: Islam
Purpose: to
explore and discuss the way Islam is presented in American news media Cognitive
Skills: comprehension, analysis, evaluation
Learning Styles: active,
sensing, verbal, global
Intelligences: linguistic,
interpersonal,
logical-mathematical
Use: homework
(preparation), in
classroom (discussion) For: small groups Estimated
time: 15 - 20 minutes (in classroom) Materials
needed: handouts and news articles brought in by students Notes:
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This activity uses "jigsaw" grouping, wherein students work
together in one group and then groups are shuffled so all students benefit
from the work done by all groups.
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This activity is
good to do toward the conclusion of a unit (or course) on Islam. Since
this activity asks students to apply their knowledge and understanding
about Islam to a real world situation they should have already gained
some understanding through learning that has already taken place in
the class.
The
Activity:
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Preparation: Students
are asked to be on the lookout for newspaper and newsmagazine articles
involving Islam. They should begin collecting these articles for
several weeks before the activity and bring them in on the day of the
activity. Prior to the activity, students should have read and be
able to summarize the articles they will share with their
classmates. As students read, they should make notes regarding the
following issues so they can share with their classmates (teacher may
wish to provide students with a handout of these, or similar, guiding
questions):
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Do you detect
anything inflammatory regarding the way the piece presents Islam?
(make a note of examples)
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Does the piece
present more fact or opinion? (note some passages which support your
conclusions)
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Do you detect
any statements that may be lies or misleading? One sided?
Exaggerations? Generalizations? Half-truths? (make a note of
examples)
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Does the piece
present Islam in a more positive or negative light? (note examples
of positive or negative statements)
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Does the
writer seem well informed about the religion? (how can you tell?)
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Can you tell
how the writer feels about Islam? (positive or negative or neutral
toward it?) (note statements that support your conclusion)
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Who wrote the
piece: a Muslim or non-Muslim? did the writer quote any Muslims or
Muslim sources?
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Divide class
into groups or 3 - 5. Have students in each group share with one
another the kind of content in the new articles they have brought in.
Groups should analyze this content and respond to several questions
(teacher might want to provide survey forms for each student with
these, or similar, questions for them to tally the group's
observations):
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What kinds of
issues/topics are discussed in these articles?
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Do the
articles support stereotypes or present an alternative perspective?
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How many of
the articles are informative (objective)?
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How many seem
biased?
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How many
pieces seem to reflect an informed position?
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How many seem
uninformed?
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Overall, how
would you rate media coverage of Islam:
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Should it be
the media's responsibility to better inform the American public
about Islam? why or why not?
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How
would you suggest the media do a better job informing Americans
about Islam?
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Regroup the
students so that each new
group has a representative from the original groups (this is best done
by counting off, all one's are in one group, all two's in another, all
three's in a third group).
In the case of an
odd numbering, some groups may have more than one student from the
first grouping. Just make sure that in the second set of groups, each
group has at least one person from each of the first groups.
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Have students in
the second grouping go around and share the observations and responses
to questions they discussed in their first group.
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Closure/debrief:
regroup class and discuss some of the most common issues that students
observed regarding American media coverage of Islam.
Alternative
possibilities: any hot topic currently in the news related to course
content in any discipline can use this activity. Most likely use might be
sociology, ethics, bio-medical ethics, current events in the world,
politics, etc...
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