Teach students about the importance of diverse literature and engage them in a study on the diversity of books in their classroom or school library.
124 Results
GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School, Middle School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language Race and racism are topics that regularly come up in the news and populate our social media feeds. Whether we are discussing the lack of representation of people of color in media, immigration policies, the racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system or the events in Charlottesville, race is part of our public conversation. Race is an integral part of our…
GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Speaking and Listening, Language Ageism is a term that was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler as a way to describe bias against older people; the term was patterned on definitions of sexism and racism. Ageism is most commonly understood to describe bias and discrimination against older people but it can also include bias against young people or even specific age groups like millennials. Ageism can take many…
Teach students about the First Amendment, how these freedoms originated and how they function today.
Updated December 2020
Natural disasters have dominated the news headlines lately with powerful hurricanes in North Carolina and the Caribbean, a forceful earthquake in Mexico and severe wildfires in Oregon, California and other western states. These events have had significant and damaging impacts on the people, buildings and natural environment in those locations and resulted in injury, death, destruction of homes and businesses, displacement and homelessness, loss of food, water and…
Teach students what white supremacy is and explore historical and current day examples.
GRADE LEVEL: High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Speaking and Listening, Language The noose, also known as the “hangman’s noose,” has been in the news lately because there have been several noose-related incidents. Recent examples include nooses being found in K-12 public schools and colleges, the U.S. Mint, a construction site and ironically, an exhibit on segregation at the National Museum for African American History. The hangman's noose has come to…
Teach students about Confederate monuments and the push to remove them.
GRADE LEVEL: Middle School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening In May 2017, it was reported that a charter school in Massachusetts was disciplining several Black girls, including sisters Deanna and Mya Cook, for wearing their hair in braids with extensions. The students had been given detentions and were prohibited from participating in after-school activities, including sports, for violating the school’s Hair/Make-Up policy, a policy that many, including…
GRADE LEVEL: High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening Two studies published by the American Psychological Association (APA) about perceptions and race led to these headlines: “We Think Black Men are Bigger than White Men (Even When they're Not)” and “Black Boys Are Perceived as Older and Less Innocent than Their White Peers.” These studies, one in 2014 and the other in 2017, found that people’s perceptions of African-American…
GRADE LEVEL: High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Language We see symbols every day in all aspects of our lives. Symbols are used to convey ideas, qualities, emotions, material objects/products, opinions and beliefs. Unfortunately, symbols are also used to convey hate and bias. Lately, we have seen a lot of hate symbol graffiti in public spaces and specifically the swastika, which in most circumstances is understood as an expression of antisemitism. There has reportedly…
GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Speaking and Listening, Language The surge of antisemitic incidents in the United States is alarming to many. Several reported incidents include graffiti using swastikas, bomb threats, vandalism and shootings, targeting Jewish Community Centers (JCC) and institutions across the country. At the Chesed Shel Emeth Society cemetery, a historic century-old Jewish cemetery in University City, a suburb of St…
Teach students about non-violent resistance is and how it relates to issues in the news.
Engage students in watching and reflecting on the film, "The Present" to learn more about people with disabilities.
Teach students about the 2017 'Muslim Ban' executive order and the actions immediately following the signing of it.
GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language The Day of the Presidential Inauguration
The Presidential Inauguration, the ceremony where the new President takes the oath of office and officially their presidency, always takes place on January 20. It includes the swearing in ceremony where the President-elect and Vice President-elect take the oaths of office. This is followed by the inaugural address, which is…
Teach students how to critically examine certain media forms and their portrayals of women and girls.
Engage students in reflecting on their thoughts and feelings about the Presidential election and write a letter to the President-elect.
GRADE LEVEL: High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language The words that make up the First Amendment haven’t changed since they were adopted by the United States as part of the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791. For over 200 years, the First Amendment has been the cornerstone of freedom in the United States. Commonly referred to as the “five freedoms,” the First Amendment has helped people in the U.S. exercise their rights to…
Teach students about the 2016 Olympics, helping them assess the extent to which there is sexism and stereotypes in the media coverage of it.