This video provides strategies for how to be involved in climate action and how to talk about climate change without feeling defeated.
Students will learn that approaching climate change skeptics with compassion and empathy can lead to more open dialogue.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This balanced and approachable method for discussing climate change will encourage students to be active listeners and thoughtful speakers.
The video is broken up into chapters, making it easy to navigate.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be familiar with the concept of "flight, fight, or freeze."
Students should be familiar with the terms perennial, collective action, apathetic, agitate, and empathetic.
Differentiation
English language arts and life skills classes could role play climate change conversations to practice using the skills in the video.
English and writing classes could do a writing exercise where students write about a time when they changed their mind about something and what led them to make that change.
Other resources on this topic include this lesson and activity on writing a personal narrative on climate change, this guidebook on having climate change conversations, and this video on effective climate change dialogue.
Scientist Notes
The video underscores better ways in handling climate discourse. It presents scenarios where climate conversations become difficult and activists get a freeze response. Ultimately climate conversations should not be forceful. We need to understand people's perceptions and perspectives towards climate change and introduce the conversations carefully, and gradually they get along. This resource is suitable and recommended for teaching.
Standards
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
