Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Affirming Our Commonalities and Differences
Photos can challenge stereotypes. To gain an understanding of the big picture, groups examine a series of photographs and analyze how a photographer's choices can shape a viewer's reaction to an image. For the first set of photographs,...
Facing History and Ourselves
Why Little Things Are Big
Often our decisions are impacted by a fear of how others see us. That's the big idea in a two-day lesson that asks how false assumptions, how our fear of how others may see us, impact how we act. After watching a video about such a...
Facing History and Ourselves
When Differences Matter
Jane Elliott's controversial blue eyes/brown eyes experiment detailed in the film A Class Divided leads to a discussion of privilege, social power, and opportunity. Viewers note how the children react to the experiment, share their...
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Stereotypes
Assumptions and misconceptions are two things that underlie stereotypes. Introduce youngsters to the concept of stereotyping with a role-play activity. They pretend they are employees at a restaurant who have accused a person of...
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Explore Cultural Diversity Through Art
Explore cultural diversity and build tolerance. Learners view art representing various cultures by Canadian painters. (Adapt with images or artists that reflect your demographics.) The class creates a collage or mural depicting cultural...
Facing History and Ourselves
A Scene from a Middle School Classroom
Citizens in the modern world can't imagine making the same social choices made by many Germans in the 1920s and 1930s, but they don't realize that they actually do it every day by ostracizing others. A case study of middle schoolers...
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Debunking Stereotypes About Muslims and Islam
Students consider the impact of stereotypes. In this Islam lesson, students discuss the attributes that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism have in common. Students also discuss stereotypes about Islam and determine how to dispel them.
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Gender Stereotypes and Body Image
Young scholars discuss and become aware of the dangers of gender stereotyping and the media's role in perpetuating gender stereotypes. They view magazine advertisements and make entries in their journals after guided discussion.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckly: The Material and Emotional Realities of Childhood in Slavery
Young historians learn how to make generalizations based on primary sources in a instructional activity that uses the autobiographies of two women born into slavery. The class watches a historical re-enactment of scenes from the lives of...
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The Portrayal of Women in Media
This is an awesome exercise. Learners use this worksheet as they examine an advertisement from a past decade (you need to provide). They answer five questions that aid them in analyzing the ad and the portrayal of women from that time...
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Slave Narratives: Constructing U.S. History Through Analyzing Primary Sources
Learners access oral histories that contain slave narratives from the Library of Congress. They describe the lives of former slaves, sample varied individual experiences and make generalizations about their research in journal entries.
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Miscast and Seldom Seen
Consider how well high schoolers' favorite TV shows, movies and video games reflect the diversity of society. The instructional activity introduces your class to several media literacy concepts, such as how media conveys values and...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Challenge of Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias makes it difficult to overcome our preconceived notions of others. That's the big idea in a lesson that teaches learners strategies to recognize and question their biases.
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We're on the Map!
Students identify a variety of topographic map symbols. They make generalizations about an unidentified community by reading and interpreting map symbols.
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How Accurate Is It?
Students examine how generalizations can easily be invalid. They qualify generalizations to make them accurate and challenge generalizations made about people, insist on knowing the evidence that supports these, and modify their own...
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Can Girls Be Plumbers?
Students discover stereotypes in modern society. In this gender role lesson, students create a display of "school workers" and identify jobs as either male or female. The students discuss their choices and overcome these stereotypes.
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Respect, Prejudice, and Race
Students' examine their opinions about respect, race, and stereotypes and their beliefs as a group. They complete a short questionnaire and then write an essay on reducing prejudice and discrimination.
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Women's Roles in World War Two
Students explore the various roles of women in the armed forces and their experiences at work. They discuss stereotypes of men and women during World War Two. They read extracts of stories from World War Two in small groups and report...
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Muslim Women Through Time
Students examine the culture and stereotypes of Muslim women and discover a combination of items have affected the role of Muslim women as a group and individually over time. Groups research a famous Muslim woman, present their...
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Stereotypes: More Than Meets the Eye
Students explore the concept of stereotyping. They observe images and media that portray the Middle East and its inhabitants. Students make determinations about the impact of the images on their perceptions. They consider ways to...
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Propaganda/Stereotypes Used in the Media
Students write a character sketch on a television character who they feel is a stereotype. In this propaganda/stereotype lesson, students discuss the definition of the terms and ways that the media uses both. Students relate the use of...
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Unplanned Pregnancy: Parenting
High schoolers consider and discuss characteristics of an ideal parent. In small groups, they work together to examine the stereotypical roles of the father and the mother. The issues dealt with in this resource are thought-provoking and...
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Making a Bird's Eye-View
Students explore the bird's-eye views on the Texas Bird's-Eye Views website, and discuss why the views were created. They design and create a bird's-eye view of their classroom, school, or community.
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Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?
Fifth graders describe the changes in King George III's policy toward the American colonies by sequencing key events between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. They explain the colonial reactions to command decisions...