What Does College, Career and Civic Readiness look like?
Grades 9-10
1.0 College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards
1.1 READING: Key Ideas and Details: Read closely to determine what the
text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific
textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn
from the text.
1.2 WRITING: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of
substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and
sufficient evidence.
1.3 SPEAKING AND LISTENING: Prepare for and participate effectively in a
range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building
on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
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2.0 TEXT ONE: Ich bin ein Berliner by President John F. Kennedy
Ich bin ein Berliner ("I am a 'Berliner'") Remarks delivered 26 June 1963, in
the Rudolph Wilde Platz, at the Berlin Wall, West Berlin, Germany
American Rhetoric—Best 100 Speeches (americanrhetoric.com)
Video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6nQhss4Yc or
http.//www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKWHA-200-001.aspx
Lexile: 1320
Placement: High Complexity
Word Count: 724 words
I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who
has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I
am proud -- And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your
distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to
democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of
my fellow American, General Clay, who --
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-- who has been in this city during its great
moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.
Two thousand years ago -- Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was
"civis Romanus sum."¹ Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is
"Ich bin ein Berliner."
(I appreciate my interpreter translating my German.)
There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say
they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the
Communist world.
Let them come to Berlin.
There are some who say -- There are some who say that communism is the
wave of the future.
Let them come to Berlin.
And there are some who say, in Europe and elsewhere, we can work with the
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Communists.
Let them come to Berlin.
And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil
system, but it permits us to make economic progress.
Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen.
Let them come to Berlin.
Freedom has many
difficulties and
democracy is not
perfect. But we have
never had to put a wall
up to keep our people in
-- to prevent them from
leaving us. I want to say
on behalf of my
countrymen who live
many miles away on the
other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the
greatest pride, that they have been able to share with you, even from a
distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has
been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and
the hope, and the determination of the city of West Berlin.
While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of
the Communist system -- for all the world to see -- we take no satisfaction in
it; for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an
offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives
and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined
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together.
What is -- What is true of this city is true of Germany: Real, lasting peace in
Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the
elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of
peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be
free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting
peace, with good will to all people.
You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So
let me ask you, as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the
hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your
country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall
to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all
mankind.
Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When
all are free, then we look -- can look forward to that day when this city will
be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a
peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the
people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were
in the front lines for almost two decades.
All -- All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin.
And, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner: I
am a ‘Berliner’.
3.0 Learning Task: Analysis (DOK 3)
3.1 After doing a close reading of Ich bin ein Berliner, decide what claim
President Kennedy is making.
3.2 Talk with the person next to you and be ready to cite the explicit textual
evidence from the speech that supports your conclusion. AND why you
selected this particular evidence! Listen carefully to your partner’s selection
of evidence and the rationale for selection.
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4.0 TEXT TWO: Excerpts from Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate by
President Ronald Reagan, delivered 12 June, l987 at the Brandenburg Gate,
West Berlin, Germany.
(Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down this Wall: The Beginning of the End of the Cold
War)
American Rhetoric—Best 100 Speeches (americanrhetoric.com)
A transcript of the entire address can be found on the Reagan Foundation
Website at: http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/wall.asp
Full text of speech can also be found on
www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganbrandenburggate.htm
Lexile: 870
Placement: High Complexity
Word Court: 459 words (including commentary)
Watch and listen to this speech on “You Tube” and then read the
accompanying commentary.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjWDrTXMgF8
Commentary by Robert Longley, About.com Guide
On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan spoke to the people of West
Berlin at the base of the Brandenburg Gate, near the Berlin Wall. Due to the
amplification system being used, the President's words could also be heard
on the Eastern (Communist-controlled) side of the wall. The address Reagan
delivered that day is considered by many to have affirmed the beginning of
the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism. On Nov. 9-11, 1989, the
people of a free Berlin tore down that wall.
Of all his speeches, Ronald Reagan's "tear down that wall," address may well
become the "Great Communicator's" best remembered. The following is an
excerpt from President Reagan's address.
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"In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: 'We will bury you.' But in the West today,
we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being
unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure,
technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the
most basic kind--too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed
itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one
great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom
replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace.
Freedom is the victor.
And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to
understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a
new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been
released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some
economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom
from state control.
Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they
token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the
Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we
believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human
liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the
Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance
dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the
Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this
gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
………When President Kennedy spoke at the City hall those 24 years ago,
freedom was encircled; Berlin was under siege. And today, despite all the
pressures upon this city, Berlin stands secure in its liberty. And freedom itself
is transforming the globe.”
5.0 Learning Task: Analysis (DOK 3)
5.1 How is President Kennedy’s claim LIKE and UNLIKE President Reagan’s
claim? Using textual evidence from both speeches, use a Venn diagram to
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compare and contrast Presidents Kennedy and Reagan’s speeches. You may
also organize your information in a graphic organizer of your choice, if you
wish, rather than using a Venn diagram.
5.2 Which of these responses BEST captures the similarities in Presidents
Kennedy and Reagan’s viewpoints (more than one answer can be used by
citing textual evidence.)
Peace is best secured on a foundation of freedom
As humans we are all connected, and no one is free if all are not free
Freedom and security go together, and the advance of human liberty
strengthens the cause of world peace
Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect
Freedom leads to peace and prosperity
5.3 Writing Prompt: Extend Your Thinking (DOK 4)
You and your classmates are discussing seminal American speeches in a
Socratic Circle or other group format used in your classroom. Explain your
reasons for selecting the BEST response that captures the similarities in
Presidents Kennedy and Reagan’s viewpoints. Use specific evidence from
both texts that explain your selection.
6.0 TEXT THREE: Letter of Greeting to the People of Berlin for the 40th
Anniversary Commemoration of Ich bin Ein Berliner, from Eunice Kennedy
Shriver, Vice President, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation, delivered June
30, 2003, Schoneberg City Hall, Berlin, Germany, by JFK School in Berlin
student Boin Cheong.
Lexile: 1300
Placement: High Complexity
Word Count: 551 words (including commentary)
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Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s Remarks Prepared for the 40th Anniversary
Commemoration of Ich bin Ein Berliner in Berlin in 2003. Mrs. Shriver, who
was the sister of President John F. Kennedy, attended this event with him in
1963 and was invited to participate in the 40th anniversary celebration and
make remarks. She was not able to attend but sent the following message
instead, which was read by the JFK School in Berlin American student
council president Boin Cheong. Berlin’s Mayor Klaus Wowereit asked U.S.
Ambassador Daniel Coats to convey thanks to Eunice Kennedy Shriver for
her special greeting.
I would like to offer my greetings to the many people who have gathered here
today to honor the memory and continuing legacy of my brother, John
Fitzgerald Kennedy. Some of you were not yet born when President Kennedy
spoke in this very place 40 years ago. Some of you lived on the other side of the
Berlin Wall, and were not allowed to see or hear news from the West. But
some of you, like me, were here on that day 40 years ago. You were among the
half-million West Berliners who lined the streets and filled this plaza to hear
President Kennedy’s message of hope for an anxious city situated at the
epicenter of the Cold War. His was a message of solidarity between likeminded nations, a message of courage and belief in freedom to help you live
through the difficult days and years ahead. For 26 years, much longer than my
brother would live to see, the Berlin Wall divided mother from daughter,
brother from sister, grandparents from grandchildren. I behold with great
satisfaction that the values of freedom and democracy implicit in my brother’s
message are embodied today in a Germany that is reunited, forward-looking
and free.
The words of our founders also stress equality. Thomas Jefferson, in his First
Inaugural Address, stresses equal rights when he said and I quote, “Equal
rights which equal laws must protect.’’ And Abraham Lincoln said, “The
leading object of government is to afford all an unfettered start and a fair
chance in the race of life.’’
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Freedom may be won on a battlefield, but equality is won every day, in every
nation, in every community, in every classroom, in every family where people
love and care for one another.
Although other commitments prevent my being here today, I treasure the
memory of my visit here on that historic day 40 years ago. Over my desk in
Washington, D.C. hangs a cherished photograph, a portrait of my brother
speaking here on June 26, 1963. His statement, “Ich bin ein Berliner’’ had a
resonance felt both here and around the world: the desire of people
everywhere to be free, and to discover justice that all people can develop their
own special abilities. What is wanted, as my son Timothy---the CEO of Special
Olympics---says so eloquently, is‚ “To unlock opportunity, to discover ability,
to celebrate giftedness, to welcome every person to the human community.’’
The values of freedom, justice, tolerance and human dignity symbolized by my
brother’s presence and his words are at least as vital today as they were 40
years ago, and they bear our esteem in brighter as well as darker times. I
applaud your presence here today to pay honor to these eternal values, and
bestow my best wishes for the unified city of Berlin.
7.0 Learning Task: Analysis (DOK 3)
Do a close reading of Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s letter and crystallize her
core message for the Berliner’s 40th Anniversary Commemoration of Ich bin
Ein Berliner, using evidence from the text. Did her message convey the spirit
of both President Kennedy and President Reagan’s speeches? Cite specific
textual evidence to support your conclusion.
7.1 Extension Activity: Writing Prompt/Focus Question (DOK 4)
Both Presidents, who represent the political spectrum across the aisle,
comment on core American beliefs, values, principles and ideals. Describe
what you think those ideals are and what their deeper takeaway message is.
What are some parallels to events happening in the world that affect our
nation’s decision-making now? Describe what you think they are, what your
position on those events is, and what you think we should do as a nation.
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