This article describes the actions taken by Alaska Native youth to create awareness about climate change and Indigenous rights.
There is a read-aloud function, suggested writing prompts, and an interactive quiz available.
The article and activities are also provided in Spanish.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This article is easy to comprehend, and the read-aloud function highlights the words as they are spoken.
The article is available at five different reading levels in both English and Spanish to allow for differentiation.
Additional Prerequisites
Students may benefit from learning about the wildlife areas, natural resources, and economic drivers in Alaska before reading this article.
You must have an account with Newsela to access and distribute the article. To create an account, you must provide some basic information, including the name and location of your school.
Differentiation
This article brings up the need for clean energy jobs and other forms of employment in areas dominated by oil and gas activities, which could be addressed in social studies, economics, and civics classes.
Other resources related to this topic include this video about Indigenous rights and the personal stories of activism presented by Our Climate Voices.
Scientist Notes
The resource describes ways young Indigenous people take actions to address climate change and fight for their rights to be heard and be integrated into governments' climate discourse, policies, actions, and plans. This is recommended for teaching.
Standards
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Civics
D2.Civ.12.6-8 Assess specific rules and laws (both actual and proposed) as means of addressing public problems.
D2.Civ.13.9-12 Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.6 Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.10 By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (ACTFL)
Communication: Communicate effectively in more than one language in order to function in a variety of situations and for multiple purposes.
1.2 Interpretive Communication: Learners understand,interpret, and analyze what is heard, read, or viewed on a variety of topics.
