Teach students what biased language is and help them reflect on the reasons why people use it and how they can address and challenge biased words and language.
Teach students about what gossip and rumors are and the impact they have on others, especially those identity groups which may be more vulnerable to and marginalized by rumors and gossip.
9 Ideas for Teaching Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Lesson Plan
Use these activities to bring the history, culture and experience of the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) people and community to your classroom.
Use the short evocative videos and films in this lesson plan to engage young people in conversations about identity, diversity, bias and social justice.
Why are Children’s and Young Adult Books Challenged and Banned?
Lesson Plan
GRADE LEVEL: Middle School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Speaking and Listening, Language
SEL STANDARDS*: Self-Awareness, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making What are Reasons and Explanations for Challenging and Banning Books?
Challenging and banning books goes back centuries. In recent times, children’s and young adult books have been challenged and banned. The reasons and explanations are many and varied and include profanity, “values,…
Civics Lesson
GRADE LEVEL: High School How Were Youth Involved in the Civil Rights Movement?
Throughout history, young people have stepped up and into leadership roles during different civil rights and social movements. This was never more evident than in the Civil Rights Movement, where young people were on the frontlines of the Montgomery bus boycotts, Freedom Rides and sit-ins. Given that student activism is on the rise again across the U.S., understanding how those young voices…
Civics Lesson
GRADE LEVEL: High School What is Bias? What is Implicit Bias?In What Ways Could Bias Have an Impact on Your Civic Participation? The U.S. Constitution embodies ideals of equal opportunity and fair treatment for all and is reinforced by laws like the Civil Rights Act and Title IX. Yet, marginalized people who have experienced discrimination and unfair treatment historically, continue to do so in the present day. The stories in the news and social media seem to…
Echoes & Reflections: Teaching the HolocaustGRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language The lessons in this unit increase students’ understanding of Jewish people and awareness that antisemitism did not end after the Holocaust, and provide them with opportunities to learn about the persistence of antisemitism in its contemporary forms. Students investigate the ways in which old ideas about Jews and Judaism have…
On-Screen Diversity: Why Visibility in Media Matters
Lesson Plan
GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School, Middle School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language Does Entertainment Represent Our Increasingly Diverse Society?In recent years, we have seen some progress made in terms of the diversity and representation of characters and actors we see in movies and on television. For example, over the last sixteen years, the percentage of Asian characters with speaking roles increased from 3.4% to 15.9%. However, there is still much…
White Supremacist Terrorist Acts, Conspiracies and Plots against Jews
News
May 13, 2021 Over the past 25 years, numerous white supremacists have targeted the Jewish community in the U.S. through terrorist acts, conspiracies and plots. Here is a selection of significant incidents from 1994 through 2021.
Assumption, Illinois, 2020: Federal agents charged Randall Burrus with weapons offenses in connection with an alleged white supremacist plot to attack a synagogue or mosque. This is linked to the April 15, 2020 incident involving John Michael Rathbun in…
GRADE LEVEL: High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening, Language On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall uprising took place. It began in the early morning at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. As was typical during that time period, police officers entered the bar and arrested employees for selling alcohol without a liquor license, roughed up customers, cleared the bar and arrested customers for not wearing at least three articles of …
Teach students about the U.S. women’s soccer team’s lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation and explore how sexism manifests in a variety of ways in women’s sports.
March 01, 2019 The Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) has a well-earned reputation as one of America's most reviled hate groups. The small, virulently homophobic group stages vitriolic, highly visible protests nationwide against groups and individuals they’ve identified as supporters of “homosexuality,” or who otherwise subvert what they refer to as “God’s law.”
Through outrageous statements and postings on their various websites, the…
GRADE LEVEL: High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Language We see symbols every day in all aspects of our lives. Symbols are used to convey ideas, qualities, emotions, material objects/products, opinions and beliefs. Unfortunately, symbols are also used to convey hate and bias. Lately, we have seen a lot of hate symbol graffiti in public spaces and specifically the swastika, which in most circumstances is understood as an expression of antisemitism. There has reportedly…
Antisemitic Incidents: Being an Ally, Advocate and Activist
Lesson Plan
GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Speaking and Listening, Language The surge of antisemitic incidents in the United States is alarming to many. Several reported incidents include graffiti using swastikas, bomb threats, vandalism and shootings, bomb threats targeting Jewish Community Centers (JCC) and Jewish institutions across the country. Over the past 10 years, ADL has recorded a record number of antisemitic incidents across the U.S. Since 2015,…