About This Lesson
Inspire student journalists with this advanced journalism lesson that includes a press conference activity!
This lesson for Searching for Amani was created for journalism classes, journalism after-school film clubs, service-learning educational spaces, and other spaces looking to engage in activities related to gathering and reporting information.
About the Lesson
This lesson asks students to research the Indigenous inhabitants of the land where their school is located. Students explore the social, political, and economic characteristics of those communities. Students also research how the government institutions recognize and interact with those communities. Using that research, students will prepare a press conference interview modeled after the daily White House press briefing. Students will have the opportunity to interview a designated speaker at the briefing.
The lesson includes a Native Lands Worksheet and an Interview Tips Handout.
About the Film
Set in a Kenyan conservancy facing extreme drought, documentary film Searching for Amani follows a 13-year-old’s pursuit of truth as he uncovers the invisible forces of climate change threatening his home and future. Climate change affects Indigenous communities, impacting practices, identities, and ways of life. The conflict between environmentalists and Indigenous people, in this case Kenyan pastoralists, lies at the heart of the film’s story.
Learn more about teaching with Searching for Amani across the curriculum.
