Media Smarts
Bias in News Sources
As young consumers of media, it is important for high schoolers to explore concepts of bias and prejudice, and how they may be present in media. After discussing ideological messages that media can contain, individuals complete a warm-up...
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.
Anti-Defamation League
What Is Weight Bias?
After setting rules and expectations to create a safe place to share thoughts and feelings, scholars define the terms; stereotype, basis, and discrimination. Using a web brainstorm, learners list words associated with overweight and...
Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Bias Mini-Film Festival
Imagine a resource that provides all the materials you need to organize a film festival. Imagination becomes a reality with a five-star resource that has done all the work for you. Eight different award-winning short films are featured...
Anti-Defamation League
Implicit Bias
Everyone has biases, both explicit—ones we are aware of—and implicit—ones we are unaware of. High schoolers learn the differences between explicit and implicit bias in a short lesson plan where pupils watch a short video, read articles...
Anti-Defamation League
Sneakers and Prejudice: Letters to Challenge Bias
After learning that NBA player Stephen Curry's shoes only come in boys' sizes, Riley wrote a letter sharing her concern, highlighting the gender bias and inviting Curry to take action. Scholars view a news clip, review the letters,...
Curated OER
Determining the Existence of Gender Bias in Daily Tasks
Help your kids explore gender bias. Learners design and conduct a survey examining role responsibilities within families. They determine the percentage of responsibilities for males vs. females and graph the results. Then they analyze...
Anti-Defamation League
Pink Collar Jobs: Gender Segregation and Pay Inequality in the Workplace
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...
Anti-Defamation League
Soccer, Salaries and Sexism
Call it soccer, call it football, but call it unfair! the US women's soccer team has called out the US Soccer Federation for unfair treatment in terms of salaries, support, and working conditions in a lawsuit filed in 2019. Young...
PBS
Who, Me? Biased?: Understanding Implicit Bias
A 10-page interactive explains different facets of implicit bias, demonstrates how implicit bias works, and how people can counteract its effects. The interactive tools permit users to save their information in "My Work" folders, to take...
Western Justice Center
Culture and Identity
To conclude a study of conflict resolution, class members watch and discuss a series of five videos that frame the conversation in terms of culture and identity, understanding bias, oppression, and interpersonal biases.
Anti-Defamation League
Understanding and Analyzing “The U.S. of Us” by Richard Blanco
Current immigration issues and the rhetoric surrounding the controversies come into focus with a lesson plan that uses Richard Blanco's anthem, "The U.S. of Us," written after the August 2019 attack in El Paso, Texas, to open a...
PBS
Keep Your Head Up | Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise
Change may be slow in coming, but things do change. Oprah Winfrey and Black Entertainment Television CEO, Robert L. Johnson, discuss the opportunities available to them due to the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil...
Learning for Justice
Beauty is Skin Deep
If you are in need of a lesson on tolerance or the impact of media, this plan could be useful. The class begins with a brainstorming session in which they reflect on their own experiences with bias based on appearance. Next, they...
Anti-Defamation League
Hair, Identity and Bias
Middle schoolers weigh in on dress codes, specifically those that apply to hair and make-up, with a lesson that uses a 2017 case from a charter school in Massachusetts. Class members read about two girls suspended for violating the...
Anti-Defamation League
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act
You, too, can prevent hate crimes! Middle and high schoolers read short biographies of Mathew Shepard and James Byrd, the two men for whom the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) is named. After learning...
Anti-Defamation League
“They Don’t Know Me”: Exposing the Myths and Establishing the Facts about Immigration
Middle schoolers engage in a lesson that teaches them to distinguish myths from facts about United States immigration. Class members take an immigration quiz, watch a "What Would You do" video, and discuss how they could be an ally to...
Facing History and Ourselves
Blending In and Standing Out
An excerpt from Sarfraz Manzoor's memoir about how his experiences as a Pakistani growing up in England shaped the way he though about his identify provides a stimulus for a discussion of how experiences can shape our concept of identity...
Center for History Education
Blockbusting: Social and Economic Change through Real Estate
"Redlining," "Blockbusting," and "White Flight" may not be terms familiar to young historians. Here's a lesson that introduces middle schoolers to these terms and the actions associated with them. Class members examine a series of...
Anti-Defamation League
Sexism and the Presidential Election
Young historians investigate how sexism impacted the 2020 United States presidential election. They examine media coverage of the six women candidates, engage in a four-corners debate reacting to statements about gender and the...
Anti-Defamation League
Hair Discrimination and the CROWN Act
The CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) is the subject of the lesson that asks groups to research the stories of five different women and share their insights in a jigsaw activity. Participants then craft...
Curated OER
How to Combat Harassment and Discrimination
Students discuss harassment and discrimination. In this harassment lesson, students define the terms and discuss ways to report harassment. They listen to stories and role play how they would act in that situation.
Curated OER
Gender Equity in the Classroom and the Workplace
Students research careers non-traditional to their genders. They job shadow at cooperating businesses and investigate gender bias, stereotyping, and discrimination.
Anti-Defamation League
The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas became a quick hit in the young adult literature genre before its adaptation in the 2018 film of the same name. Use a thorough lesson, discussion guide, and series of activities to discuss the social...