Lesson Plan: Art Censorship: An Editorial

Lesson Plan

Before Exploring

Bring to class several examples of recent editorials. Explain that an editorial is a column in a publication that argues an opinion, based on facts, on a current issue. Discuss the purpose, tone, and style of an editorial. Have the editorials available for students to use as reference when they complete the remainder of the activity.

If students have completed the activity Supporting an Opinion on Censoring Art, they can review the decision they made about censorship. Otherwise, have students examine the clips on the Artists Busted: Censorship in Canada topic on the CBC Digital Archives website. From this examination, they should determine their own position on whether art should be censored.

Outline the Opportunity

Ask students to write an editorial about art and censorship. From the Artists Busted: Censorship in Canada topic on the CBC Digital Archives website, they can choose any topic they wish. They should record relevant information about the topic, then develop their argument and substantiate it with facts from the clips they viewed. When they are finished, they should check that their content is fair and accurate. Finally have them check their writing style, specifically, their grammar, word choice, punctuation, and spelling.

Revisit and Reflect

Have students read their editorial aloud. Encourage questioning from the rest of the class. Note as a class what topics students chose, and how opinions in the class compare. Were any facts used to support two opposing views on an issue? Why might this be the case?

 Extension

Students can write brief news articles based on clips of their choice from the website. Using these articles and the editorials they have written students can create a newsletter or newspaper on the topic of art censorship in Canada. Students can experiment with design to create a masthead, headlines, and art, and to choose appropriate column widths and fonts.

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