For Educators Teaching All We Can Save
Assignments to use your voice
“We youth know we need to make our voices heard now — because our generation will feel climate impacts the most.”
—Alexandria Villaseñor
Each essay in All We Can Save is one instance of someone using the power of voice, speaking up and sharing their climate stories and wisdom. As the “Begin” reminds us, “What this moment calls for is a mosaic of voices — the full spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can turn things around.” Our individual voices can be powerful forces for collective change.
The following assignments seek to expand students’ public communication skills and give them an opportunity to hone and share their unique voices.
(Dr. Katharine Wilkinson originally developed these assignments for the undergraduate course on “The Call of Climate,” taught at Sewanee in fall 2020.)
Craft a climate op-ed
Assignment
Write a tight, persuasive essay in the style of an op-ed. This piece will be an opportunity for you to use your unique voice to take a stance on a timely topic related to the climate crisis. (Suggested length: 800–1200 words)
Learning objective
Develop knowledge of and skill in effective public communication through op-ed writing — bringing your voice to life.
Tips for educators
We suggest using two class sessions to support this assignment:
Class session 1: (A) help students understand the form of op-eds and (B) brainstorm op-ed topics.
Class session 2: workshop students’ draft op-eds.
If you’re teaching the entirety of All We Can Save, this assignment works well following the “Reframe” section or at midterm.
You may want to encourage students to submit their op-eds to a school, local, or national newspaper or online publication.
Gratitude and credit
The OpEd Project has trained thousands of people, including some on our team, and this assignment is inspired and informed by that training. Learn more about their work.
Create a TED-style climate talk
Assignment
Articulate an “idea worth spreading” about a relevant climate topic. Write a script and then bring it to life in a recorded video. (Suggested length: 800-1200 words, ~7-10 minutes)
Learning objective
Develop knowledge of and skill in effective public communication through writing and delivering a TED-style talk — bringing your voice to life.
Tips for educators
It can be helpful to introduce students to the form of TED-style talks over time. We’ve prepared a list of climate-focused talks that pair well with different sections of All We Can Save in these materials.
We suggest using two class sessions to support this assignment:
Class session 1: (A) help students understand the form of TED-style talks and (B) brainstorm talk topics.
Class session 2: workshop students’ talk topics.
If you’re teaching the entirety of All We Can Save, this assignment works well following the “Rise” section or as a final.
It also works well to have students submit their script on one date and their video a week later, to break up the component parts of the assignment.
You may want to encourage students to apply to a local TEDx or similar event to share their talk publicly.
Gratitude and credit
This assignment is inspired and informed by the work of TED curators and speakers, which you’ll learn more about in these materials.
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