Facing History and Ourselves
Emmett Till: Connecting the History of Lynching to The Murder
Though the murder of Emmett Till shocked 1950's America into turning attention to the racial crimes of the South, it was far from the first time racism had erupted into violence. High schoolers examine the killing in context with the...
Facing History and Ourselves
Emmett Till: Confronting the Murder
The 1955 murder of Emmett Till is often regarded as the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. Learn more about the brutal crime—and, as many believe, the miscarriage of justice—that began a national conversation...
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Recognizing and Combating Segregation in U.S. Schools Today
Students explore the prevalence of racism and statistical segregation in America's schools. They design a project to investigate how the racial makeup of their school compares to other schools. In addition, they evaluate their design...
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The Fight to End "Separate but Equal" in American Schools
Middle schoolers study the court cases related to Brown v. Board of Education and the "separate but equal" standard established by Plessy v. Ferguson. They create an informational display that can be used to teach others the particulars...
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Using High Stakes Testing to Make Students and Schools Accountable for Learning
Students conduct an informal survey about their views on high stakes testing and use basic computation skills to evaluate results as a group. They participate in activities related to high stakes testing and "No Child Left Behind"...
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One Person CAN Make a Difference
Students illustrate how the actions of one person can make a difference. They identify school and community issues to address and complete group projects and action plans for making changes in the school or community.
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Martin Luther King, Jr.
First graders gather on the story rug to listen to a story about Martin Luther King, Jr. As they gather, the teacher gives a cookie to some of the students, but not all of them. They discuss the unfairness of the cookie situation and...
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The Hurricane
Young scholars analyze three different ways a story is told, determine truth and fiction in each story, and discover and apply techniques to narrate a good story.
Students listen to Bob Dylan's "The Hurricane" and watch the "R" rated...
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Terrible Things
Students reflect on the Holocaust in two lessons. Using prior knowledge, they investigate and make decisions dealing with human behavior before beginning their studies on the Holocaust. After examining different aspects of the event,...
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"Jazz is About Freedom": Billie Holiday's Anti-lynching Song Strange Fruit
Working in small teams, learners analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of...
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More Than Words: Racism, Identity And the Power of Words
Students explore how words can be powerful instruments of racism, and discuss ways to combat racism, prejudice and discrimination in their own lives.
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Kaffir Boy
Learners explore the concepts of intolerance and racism in the autobiography Kaffir Boy written by Mark Mathabane. The lesson plan reveals the story's depiction of the terrible toll of apartheid on the lives of individuals.
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Sixteenth Street: Civil Rights at the Crossroads
Students study the Civil Rights movement constructing definitions of discrimination, prejudice and racism. They use varied media to study the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, write a newspaper and complete a mock trial.
Ed Change
Exploring Language: Definitions Activity
Students find definitions for prejudice, discrimination, racism, sexism, and homophobia. Definitions should come from two sources: the person's opinion and a scholarly source.
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Rights-Minded
Learners expand their knowledge and understanding about the civil rights movement by investigating the lives of some of the people who contributed to it.
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Jackie Steals Home
Students read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan to...
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20th Century Civil Disobedience
Students write from varying perspectives in the American South about the civil rights movements in the 1950s. In this civics lesson plan, students view video clips and take notes. Students discuss the film and listen to a lecture on...
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Turning Historical Descriptions into Causal Claims
Eleventh graders study different political processes. In this American Government lesson, 11th graders read narratives about different political processes. Students write a sentence in their own words describing the concepts.
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Breaking the Color Barrier: Jackie Robinson's Combat Against Racism
High schoolers explore Jackie Robinson's career. In this 20th century American history lesson, students complete the provided analysis questions based on the provided primary documents about Jackie Robinson. High schoolers discuss...
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Esperanza Rising
Students explore foreign cultures by reading a story in class. In this Hispanic history lesson, students read the story Radio Man by Arthur Dorros and identify the times discrimination is used in the story. Students discuss labor...
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Diversity
Eleventh graders research the meaning of diversity and human rights in various countries. For this Social Studies lesson, 11th graders reflect on the aspects that can negatively affect First Nations people, then select a country that...
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What Does Racism Mean in Europe Today?
Students consider race relations in modern-day Europe. In this current events lesson, students visit selected websites to understand the impact of Nazi symbolism, the Holocaust denial, and the stories of Holocaust survivors.
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The Patchwork Path
Fourth graders investigate slavery by reading a book with their classmates. In this abolitionist movement lesson, 4th graders read the story The Patchwork Path, and discuss the creation of the Underground Railroad. Students create...
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Word Art with King's Words
Students investigate equality and racism by creating a word art project. In this civil rights activity, students discover the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and create a word art project using the Internet site Wordle Web. Students...