Teaching Tips: Lessons in Social Justice
These sites provide interactive activities, simulations, and writing projects about many kinds of social injustices around the world and in the United States. Topics include homelessness, poverty, economic issues, civil rights, and citizenship responsibilities. A link to eThemes Resource on the Civil Rights Movement is given.
Grades
- 2,
- 3,
- 4,
- 5,
- 6
Links
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iCivics: Curriculum Units
These units are designed to teach students about their civic responsibilities and being a citizen. Provides detailed lesson plans, interactive games, and writing activities.
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How Big are "Martin's Big Words"? Thinking Big about the Future
Use the picture book, "Martin's Big Words", to promote student discussion and understanding of Dr. King's "big words". Students then write their own "big" words and dreams in stapled or stitched books.
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Crit Lit for Kids: From Critical Consciousness to Service Learning
Through this lesson, students are introduced to the concepts of social justice, planning a service-learning project, and then work in small groups to produce multimedia presentations to encourage community support for their projects.
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"If I Were President: Teaching Social Justice in the Primary Classroom"
This unit is the product of a teacher research project that resulted in a curriculum to promote social justice and can be applied to children's everyday lives.
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Learning to Give
See these links to numerous lessons about Global Citizenship and Community
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50 Books About Peace and Social Justice
Here is an annotated list of read-alouds and books to recommend for student reading.
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It's Not Fair!
This activity reviews historical and contemporary issues of discrimination as well as injustice to encourage students to discuss what can be done to make things more fair.
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Eyes on the Prize: Right Makes Might (Elementary)
Students take part in a simulated segregation activity and describe their feelings after being discriminated against.
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"Let it Shine" Lesson Plan
Using Andrea Davis Pinkney's book, "Let it Shine", students hear about ten African-American women who fought for equality, freedom, and social justice. Students interpret illustrations and make notes in their journals about the heroines.
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Humane Education Links
Use this page for links to sites with lesson plans, free teaching materials, and activities which focus on human rights, animal protection issues, prejudice and many more.
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Economic Justice: Scramble for Wealth and Power
This activity demonstrates to students how the distribution of wealth and power within society may affect someone's opportunities to achieve full human rights and live a life with dignity.
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Hunger, Homelessness, and Poverty
These activities may be used to educate children and adults on the subjects of hunger, homelessness, and poverty. The goal is to make students aware of these issues and ways to help. Lessons are broken down into elementary, middle school, and high school/college.
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Race Bridges for Schools
This site provides lessons and stories to help students learn how to value and respect people who are different from themselves. A teacher resource, "Including Everyone: Small Changes to Create a Welcoming Classroom", assists educators in structuring classrooms to be welcoming and less judgmental.
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Elementary School Classroom Activities
This page of activities is useful for teaching elementary-aged students about prejudice, civil rights, and diversity.
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eThemes Resource: Civil Rights Movement
These sites are about the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. from 1954-1971. Includes several timelines with the major events of the era explained. Take an online tour of several historical spots. Topics include the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Little Rock Central High School, Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. Read about civil rights leaders Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and a first-hand account of the Freedom Rides of 1961. There are links to eThemes Resources on Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Black History Month.
