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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Stacey Abrams: Changing the Trajectory of Protecting People’s Voices and Votes

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
For this project-based learning lesson, young social scientists investigate Stacey Abrams' campaign to protect the voting rights of people across the nation. Investigators learn how to annotate assigned articles, watch videos, and...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Impact of the U.S. Expansion on Indigenous People and Stereotypes About Native American People

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
The 2004 U.S. bicentennial sparks a discussion about its meaning and importance to United States history. Readings, maps, tables, and reflective writing prompt small groups to explore the westward expansion, Lewis and Clark, and how...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

8 Ideas for Teaching National Hispanic Heritage Month

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Here are eight ideas to celebrate National Hispanic Month! Scholars have the opportunity to read and discuss literature, include people and events in history, examine art, watch and discuss films, listen to and dance to music, explore...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Women’s Inequity in Pay: Could It Be Sexism, Implicit Bias or Both?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Equal pay for equal work? High schoolers research the reasons for the inequity in women's pay. They read articles, examine graphs, engage in discussion, and then craft an essay in which they suggest a way to address the gender wage gap.
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

What are Reparations and Should We Enact Them?

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Young social scientists investigate recent legislative proposals for reparations for African Americans. They examine the rationale behind the proposals by viewing videos and reading related articles. To close the lesson, scholars craft a...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Pink Collar Jobs: Gender Segregation and Pay Inequality in the Workplace

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Cartoons showing women in the workplace spark a discussion about being a business executive and claiming the corporate ladder. Small groups analyze data and create graphs that display essential information from the handouts. The class...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Major League Baseball and the Negro Leagues: Correcting an Injustice

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
It's been a long time coming! In 2020, MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manifred, Jr. stated that "the Negro Leagues would be recognized as official major leagues." Middle schoolers investigate the history of the Negro Leagues and use evidence...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Identity and Diversity in My Generation

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, according to research, is the "most racially and ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history." Gen Z high schoolers are challenged to consider how they identify themselves. They select a photo...
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Unit Plan
C3 Teachers

Civil Rights: What Made Nonviolent Protest Effective during the Civil Rights Movement?

For Teachers 11th Standards
Sit-ins and boycotts, marches and speeches, songs and demonstrations were hallmarks of nonviolent protest of the civil rights movement. Young scholars research primary and secondary source documents to determine what made nonviolent...
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Lesson Plan
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Anti-Defamation League

We Were Strangers Too: Learning About Refugees Through Art

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Did you know that "in the largest refugee crisis since World War II, more the 64 million people have been forced from their homes"? The Anti-Defamation League presents an activity that asks class members to examine a series of artworks...
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Activity
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Anti-Defamation League

7 Ideas for Teaching Women's History Month

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Celebrate Women's History Month with hands on-learning. The resource provides seven strategies to help educators teach Women's History Month, ranging from watching films to reading books written by women. Activities including writing...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Analyzing Primary Source Documents to Understand U.S. Expansionism and 19th Century U.S.-Indian Relations

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Historical events can be viewed from multiple perspectives. This simple truth is brought home in a lesson that examines primary source documents related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Doctrine of Discovery and Manifest Destiny,...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Hair Discrimination and the CROWN Act

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) is the subject of the lesson plan that asks groups to research the stories of five different women and share their insights in a jigsaw activity. Participants then...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Who Was César Chávez?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars complete a KWL chart to indicate what they know about Cesar Chavez and then research what they want to know about this farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist. To complete the lesson, scholars research modern civil...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Understanding and Analyzing “The U.S. of Us” by Richard Blanco

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Current immigration issues and the rhetoric surrounding the controversies come into focus with a lesson that uses Richard Blanco's anthem, "The U.S. of Us," written after the August 2019 attack in El Paso, Texas, to open a discussion of...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

“Walling Out the Unwanted”: Understanding the Barriers that Perpetuate Anti-Immigrant Bias

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of immigrant bias, high schoolers investigate the language used in blogs, readings, media reports, and current legislation whose language perpetuates xenophobia. They then consider ways they can get involved in...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

"What is it Like to be an Outsider?”: Building Empathy for the Experiences of Immigrants

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
This lesson highlights the struggles of immigrants and the importance of showing empathy. Beginning with a read-aloud of a book in another language and a poem, scholars take part in a thoughtful discussion. Then, the class examines a...
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Lesson Plan
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Anti-Defamation League

Sixty Years Later

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Has any progress been made in desegregating schools since 1954's Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education? To find out, class members examine charts and graphs representing U.S. schools' racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic...
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Lesson Plan
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Anti-Defamation League

With All Deliberate Speed

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Has the integration of U.S. schools proceeded "with all deliberate speed?" Has progress been made? Those are the questions young historians must consider as they examine the barriers to and opportunities revealed in a study of timelines...
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Lesson Plan
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Anti-Defamation League

The Road to Brown

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As part of the study of segregation in U.S. schools, scholars research and create a timeline of events that led to the historic Supreme Court case, Brown V. Board of Education. Groups research a topic or event that led to the decision,...
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

What is Poetry? Contrasting Poetry and Prose

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce middle schoolers to the different strategies used when reading prose versus poetry. Groups use a Venn diagram and a poetry analysis handout to compare the characteristics of an informational text and a  poem on the same subject...
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Persuasive Essay: Environmental Issues

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Young environmentalists learn how to craft a persuasive essay about an environmental issue they consider important. After studying the components of a persuasive essay and examining a student model, writers brainstorm possible topics and...
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Unit Plan
ReadWriteThink

Let It Grow: An Inquiry-Based Organic Gardening Research Project

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How does your garden grow? An inquiry-based, organic gardening unit asks young scientists to research a vegetable or flower, create an environment for it, and then plant and tend to the seedling. Gardeners develop their own research...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Suffragist: Educator's Guide for Classroom Video

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Class members take on the role of historical investigators to determine why it took 40 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Sleuths view videos and analyze primary sources and images to gather evidence to answer...