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Teaching Tolerance

Parallels Between Mass Incarceration and Jim Crow

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Is history repeating itself? A riveting lesson examines the parallels between mass incarceration in the U.S. and the Jim Crow Laws of the past. Academics review Jim Crow Laws and compare them to mass incarcerations of African Americans....
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Teaching Tolerance

Dismantling Racial Caste

For Teachers 9th - 12th
It's time to end racism. The final installment of the series encourages scholars to consider what is needed to ended the racial caste system in the U.S. Young historians complete group discussion, written prompt, and a hands-on-activity...
Lesson Plan
Facing History and Ourselves

After Charlottesville: Contested History and the Fight against Bigotry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
History doesn't always reflect all sides. Academics discover how the remembered history of the Civil War differs for White and African Americans. The lesson explores how Civil War monuments and celebrations have racist connotations for...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Making a Change: Letter From Birmingham Jail

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" was written in response to "A Call for Unity," written by eight white ministers from Birmingham and published in the local newspaper. After reading both letters and following a list...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Exploring Identity and Intersectionality in Poetry

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Just as Kermit the Frog notes, "It isn't easy being green!" it isn't easy occupying "multiple Identity spaces." Class members read and discuss poems by writers detailing what it is like when their identities are "oppressed."
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Learning for Justice

The Color of Law: Creating Racially Segregated Communities

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
It is pointed, powerful, and painful! The first of three lessons about laws and practices that support inequality looks at how government policies created and reinforced segregated communities. Young social scientists read excerpts from...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: KWHL

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
After completing the 11th chapter of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, take part in a KWHL chart driven by the question,When is it appropriate and admirable to defy authority? Focusing on codes of conduct,...
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Museum of Tolerance

Creating an Ideal World

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
To conclude a study of social justice and tolerance designed to prepare classes for a visit to the Museum of Tolerance, class members brainstorm a safe and peaceful world. They then write about their own vision of this world.
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Teaching Tolerance

Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Exposing Racism

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Photographs capture a moment in time. And some of the best pictures demand that viewers not only ask questions about why the photo packs such an emotional wallop, but also about what happened before and after it was taken. A photograph...
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Teaching Tolerance

Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Exposing Anti-Immigration Sentiment

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The debate about immigration reform continues. To gain a deeper understanding of the issues involved, class members first examine a photo of an anti-immigration rally. Groups then conduct an internet search for an image that presents an...
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Teaching Tolerance

Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Exposing Homelessness and Poverty

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Photos can capture a complete story in a single image. Class members closely examine a photo of a homeless camp and attempt to read the story told by the picture. They then read the caption for the photograph and compare their notes with...
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Facing History and Ourselves

Responding to Difference

For Teachers 6th - 12th
James Berry's poem, "What Do We Do With a Difference?" launches a instructional activity that asks class members to consider the ways people respond when they encounter someone different from themselves. After analyzing the poem and...
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Facing History and Ourselves

When Differences Matter

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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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Facing History and Ourselves

Defining Our Obligations to Others

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Introduce young learners to the concept of a Universe of Obligation, a term coined by sociologist Helen Fein, with a activity that asks learners to consider the extent to which they feel a responsibility for others. Class members read...
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Just Health Action

Environmental Justice Matters: Mapping Cumulative Impacts (Part 2)

For Teachers 6th - 12th
A case study enables class members to confirm whether different geographic parts of Seattle, Washington have disproportionate environmental burdens and benefits. Groups use the EPA's Cumulative Health Impact Analysis formula and...
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Just Health Action

Environmental Justice Matters: Mapping Environmental Justice Impacts (Part 1)

For Teachers 6th - 12th
A case study of Seattle, Washington permits class members to compare and rank how different areas of Seattle are impacted by environment burdens. Groups investigate different zip codes, collect data on five categories, and color-code a...
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Just Health Action

Causes of the Causes: What Are the Root Causes of This Problem?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
A "Causes of the Causes" diagram enables class members to examine the contributing factors to a problem. After reading a poem that models the process, class members, either in gorps or individually, diagram an issues they are passionate...
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Just Health Action

Introduction to Stormwater Pollution and a Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI)

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Sometimes when it rains, pollutants pour into sewers which overflow and contaminate the environment. The final two lessons in the Environmental Justice series looks at actions being taken to address stormwater pollution. Class members...
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Just Health Action

Equity Impact Review: Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Seattle

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Using an Equity Impact Review (EIR) tool, developed by Washington state's King County to "identify, evaluate, and communicate issues of equity when making a decision," class members design a GSI program for two Seattle neighborhoods.
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Just Health Action

How are Equality and Equity Different?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Equality does not equal equity. That's the take-away from a lesson that asks young people to consider what could be done to make a variety of situations more just, more equitable. After examining images that illustrate the difference...
Lesson Plan
Teaching for Change

Stepping into Selma

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The 1964 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama voting rights marches are the focus of a lesson designed to introduce learners to people who took part in the Civil Rights Movement. Class members set into the role of one of the participants,...
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Facing History and Ourselves

Defining Democracy

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
For democracies, it is both the best and the worst of times. As part of a study of the challenges facing democracies, young political scientists seek first to define democracy, and then to consider the relationship between democracy and...
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Facing History and Ourselves

The Legacies of Reconstruction

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The final lesson in the seven-resource Reconstruction Era collection examines the legacies of Reconstruction. Class members investigate why the period has been called an "unfinished revolution," "a splendid failure," and "the second...
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Teaching Tolerance

Introducing 'The New Jim Crow'

For Teachers 9th - 12th
When Jim Crow Laws ended, the intent behind them did not. Academics read "The New Jim Crow Laws" and an interview from the author to understand how racism has not ended, but rather changed over time. The lesson explains how prejudices in...

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