B. Analyzing the Essay Prompt (8 minutes)

• Display the informational essay prompt with the document camera. Read the prompt aloud while students follow along silently:

*   "In the events surrounding the Little Rock Nine and the struggle to integrate Central High, various mediums played a newly powerful role. In what ways did these mediums serve to illuminate events for a national audience, and it what ways did they give an incomplete or even inaccurate picture of events?"

• Ask:

*   "What are the types of mediums you have been studying?" Cold call on several students and listen for them to identify mediums such as television, radio, newspaper, and photographs.

• Remind students that they have previously discussed the word illuminate. Ask:

*   "What does it mean to illuminate?"

• Use the word in a different context if necessary. For example: "The scientific study has served to illuminate the cause of the disease." Ask students to turn and talk about the definition and call on volunteers for an answer. Listen for students to understand that "illuminate" means "to bring to light," "to make something clear," and "to emphasize or highlight."
• Ask:

*   "What are some events that various mediums illuminated for the public?"

• Encourage students to use their Gathering Evidence note-catchers as a reference, and allow them to turn and talk before responding. Cold call on student pairs for a response. Listen for examples such as: "Photographs illuminated the violence against the reporter outside the high school," "Television illuminated the sights and sounds of protests outside the high school," etc.
• Draw students' attention to the second part of the question in the essay prompt. Ask:

*   "What events on your note-catcher might you consider to have been an incomplete or partial picture of what happened? What events could have been an inaccurate or misleading picture of what happened?" 

• Again, provide students time to review their note-catchers and talk about what they find with their partner. Cold call on student pairs for a response, listening for students to mention something like: "The televised event of President Eisenhower and Governor Faubus only showed a partial moment in their meeting and this was misleading because it made it appear that they had reached an agreement when they had not."
• Remind students that this essay prompt has two parts: the first part asks them to tell about how various mediums illuminated or revealed the story of the Little Rock Nine and the second part asks them to tell about how various mediums either gave an incomplete or inaccurate picture of events surrounding the Little Rock Nine. They have been gathering evidence related to this question on their Gathering Evidence note-catcher.