Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Although children are not born with prejudice, by early childhood they have already acquired stereotypes or negative attitudes toward those that they perceive as “others.” An article in The Buffalo News reports that about 85 percent of the brain develops between ages 3 and 5, and that impressions and ideas formed between ages 2 and 4 are lasting (Lessons in Respect, 2003). Researchers tracking the…
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Early Childhood Question Corner
Common themes appear in holidays and celebrations across many cultures. By connecting themes, as suggested in the Question Corner installment "How can I plan inclusive holiday celebrations?" you can show children that holidays and celebrations are an expression of cultural and religious pride, and help them understand the commonality of certain human feelings, celebrations and their meaning. For example, by trying the following activity, Looking…
Engage students in activities that get them to think broadly and critically about the Black experience in all of its complexity.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is Monday, January 16, and many educators will take the opportunity to teach about King and his enormous contributions to our society. As educators, how we approach the teaching of this holiday makes an impact on how students understand the larger context of the Civil Rights Movement and whether they make a connection between the past struggles to the current day and their own lives. Here are some thoughts about teaching the topic in a meaningful way…
GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School, Middle School, High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, History/Social Studies In commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, this curriculum for grades 3–12 provides grade-specific lessons, resources and extension activities to provide your students opportunities to examine civil rights in the United States past and present. The lessons provide an opportunity for students to delve deeper into Martin Luther King Jr…
For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Winter is a festive time of year because so many holidays are celebrated by people from different religions, cultures and races. We spend time with family and friends, connect with our faith or culture, give and receive gifts and enjoy special foods and treats. However, this time of year—especially in schools and whether it's in-person, online or hybrid—can be a time where some children can feel uncomfortable, excluded, insulted…
GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School, Middle School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Writing, Speaking & Listening SEL STANDARDS*: Self Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making Bullying is a major problem in our schools. When it targets aspects of a person’s identity, it is called identity-based bullying, and may include bias about appearance, race, culture, gender and gender expression, language, religion, socioeconomic status,…
October is National Bullying Prevention Month
National Bullying Prevention Month is an opportunity to reflect on the classroom and school culture and assess the extent to which bullying is part of that culture. It is a time to examine best practices when it comes to creating respectful school environments that foster inclusion and respect. The large body of research on effective responses to name-calling and bullying concurs that schools and other educational institutions can best…
GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Language Using Poetry to Teach about Identity
Reading and writing poetry can provide an opening for young people to explore the various aspects of their identity, including their name, race and ethnicity, physical characteristics and more.
April is National Poetry Month, a good opportunity to explore poetry with your students. Because poetry does not require strict sentence structure or the usual grammar rules…
Teach and commemorate the culture, traditions and history of Asian American and Pacific Islander people in the United States in school, communities and at home.
Use these resources to honor women around the world, explore women’s achievements and struggles throughout history, and acknowledge women’s contributions to our society.
GRADE LEVEL: High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language Since its contrivance at the turn of the twentieth century by the Russian secret police, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion (or The Protocols of the Elders of Zion) has taken root in bigoted and uneducated minds around the world. The booklet’s twenty-four sections spell out the alleged confidential plans of a Jewish conclave seeking to attain world domination. They represent…
The repeated anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views of Iran's leadership place the Iranian regime among the foremost threats to Jews and the state of Israel. Iran's leaders repeatedly demonize the state of Israel and openly call for its destruction at every opportunity. Most notoriously, they describe Israel as a "fake regime" that "must be wiped off the map." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has termed Zionists "the most detested people in all humanity" and called the extermination…
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been one of the biggest propagators of anti-Zionist, antisemitic and anti-US rhetoric in recent decades. Following the brutal Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Khamenei’s inflammatory rhetoric further escalated - reaching new and dangerous heights in both tone and volume. The following examples are from Khamenei’s official English X account (select Hebrew language posts have also been included)…
On a daily basis—in the lunchroom, at the grocery store, in school hallways, in our political rhetoric and even at home—people hear and sometimes use words and phrases that demean, ridicule, offend or show ignorance about people from different groups and backgrounds. Regardless of whether the comments are deliberately malicious, said because the person lacks knowledge, or thought to be "a joke," such words are harmful and not only impact those on the receiving end but also everyone…
Share and discuss with middle and high school students war-time experiences of three child survivors and how the Holocaust affected them.
Background: For decades, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has been criticized for institutionalizing the Palestinian refugee crisis, the problematic anti-Israel and antisemitic content taught in its schools, the terrorist affiliations of some of its staff, and for its complicity with terrorist activities - including the use of its premises by terrorist groups. As a UN entity, UNRWA is obligated to uphold neutrality which includes…
Background on HRF: The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) was formed in Belgium in September 2024 by Lebanese-Belgian activists Dyab Abou Jahjah and Karim Hassoun. The organization is named after 6-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed in Gaza in February 2024 allegedly by Israel, though an initial Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) probe found there were no troops in the area at the time. In an article in The Nation, in December 2024, Abou Jahjah claimed the mission of the HRF is “to make sure that…
What is AfD? Founded in 2013 as an anti-European Union party, AfD has since radicalized and become an extremist, anti-immigrant party whose aim is “to eliminate the free democratic basic order,” according to a 2023 report by the German Institute for Human Rights. AfD leaders have made antisemitic, anti-Muslim and anti-democratic statements, detailed below. The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz or BfV), its domestic…
Lea las respuestas de ADL en español a las acusaciones comunes hechas sobre Israel, especialmente en el contexto de los eventos del 7 de octubre.