About This Lesson
This Gabby Giffords lesson plan introduces students to one of the most powerful resilience and civics stories in recent American history. Through a short video from educator Sari Beth Rosenberg's "A History Chat" series, students follow Giffords from her career in Congress, through her recovery after the 2011 Tucson shooting, to her work founding a national gun violence prevention organization.
Students build vocabulary, practice comprehension, and analyze how one person turned personal tragedy into public service. Two leveled worksheets guide the work: a Grades 6-8 version focused on vocabulary, comprehension, and reflection, and a Grades 9-12 version centered on rhetoric, civic engagement, and policy analysis.
Designed for a single class period, this resource pairs a short video with print-ready worksheets, making it easy to drop into a Social Studies, Civics, or US History unit. It is an ideal fit for June, recognized as Gun Violence Awareness Month.
