Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation Book — Non-fiction. By Linda Villarosa. 2022. 288 pages. This book details the racial health disparities in America, revealing the toll racism takes on individuals and the health of our nation. Continue reading
Harlan County USA Film. Directed and produced by Barbara Kopple. 1976. 103 minutes. This documentary tells the story of a Kentucky coal miners' strike and the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line. Continue reading
Standing with Standing Rock: Voices from the #NoDAPL Movement Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Nick Estes and Jaskiran Dhillon. 2019. 448 pages. Through poetry and prose, essays, photography, interviews, and polemical interventions, the contributors, including leaders of the Standing Rock movement, reflect on Indigenous history and politics and on the movement's significance. Continue reading
How to Change Everything: The Young Human’s Guide to Protecting the Planet and Each Other Book — Non-fiction. By Naomi Klein and Rebecca Stefoff. 2021. Young leaders are showing the world that this moment of increasingly dangerous climate change is also a moment of great opportunity — an opportunity to change everything for the better. Continue reading
From the New Deal to the Green New Deal: Stories of Crisis and Possibility Teaching Activity. By Suzanna Kassouf, Matt Reed, Tim Swinehart, Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, and Bill Bigelow. The stories of twenty people whose lives were touched by the New Deal of the 1930s come to life in this classroom activity, intended to open students' minds to the possibilities of a Green New Deal. Continue reading
Pacific Climate Warriors Speak at Climate Strike Film clip. Pacific Climate Warriors. 2019. During the Global Climate Strike on Sept. 20, 2019, the Pacific Climate Warriors in Portland showed up at their rally carrying their identity with pride and speaking their truths as Pacific islanders fighting for their homes. Continue reading
Video Poems by Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner Film clip. Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner. Various years. Video poems by a Marshallese artist show the injustices and harm of environmental racism, nuclear weapons, and climate change around the world. Continue reading
No Option Except Escape: A Role Play on the Struggles of Climate Refugees Teaching Activity. By WorldOregon's Young Leaders in Action. In this role-play, students explore the challenges and perspectives of people — climate refugees — who have "no option except escape" from homes devastated by climate change. Continue reading
Who’s to Blame? A People’s Tribunal on the Coronavirus Pandemic Teaching Activity. By Caneisha Mills. This people’s tribunal begins with the premise that a heinous crime is being committed as tens of millions of people’s lives are in danger due to COVID-19. But who was responsible for this crime? Students weigh the evidence. Continue reading
Teaching Critically About Lewis and Clark: Challenging Dominant Narratives in K–12 Curriculum Book — Non-fiction. By Alison Schmitke, Leilani Sabzalian, Jeff Edmundson. 2020. 216 pages. This much-needed guide unpacks the colonial narrative that dominates most mainstream histories of the Corps of Discovery expedition. Continue reading
Rad American History A-Z: Movements and Moments That Demonstrate the Power of the People Book — Non-fiction. By Kate Schatz and illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl. Ten Speed Press. 2020. 176 pages. Paired with dynamic paper-cut art, readers explore several centuries of U.S. politics, culture, art, activism, and liberation. Continue reading
NECESSITY: A Two-Part Documentary Series on Climate Resistance Films. Directed by Jan Haaken and Samantha Praus. 58 minutes & 57 minutes. Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance explores the work of attorneys, valve turners, and other water protectors in Minnesota. Climate Justice and the Thin Green Line examines climate resistance in the Pacific Northwest. Continue reading
Teachers vs. Climate Change: The Story of Teachers’ Work for Climate Justice in Portland, Oregon Article. By Bill Bigelow. The story of how teachers, parents, and students in Portland, Oregon organized to demand that climate change be taught honestly and to pass a climate justice resolution. Continue reading
Trinkets and Beads Film. By Christopher Walker. 1996. 52 minutes. This documentary reveals the funny, heartbreaking, and thrilling story of the battle waged by indigenous people to preserve their way of life in the Amazon, in the face of international capitalism and colonialism. Continue reading
Solar Power Comes to Math Class Teaching Activity. By Flannery Denny. Rethinking Schools, Summer 2019. A math educator brings data from a friend’s solar panels — and the story to win them in their community — into her 7th-grade classroom to build a bridge between math and climate justice education. Continue reading
Because Our Islands Are Our Life Article. By Moé Yonamine. Rethinking Schools, Summer, 2019. A high school ethnic studies teacher describes how students in the Pacific Island Club used poetry to refocus the narrative surrounding climate justice onto frontline communities. Continue reading
The Green New Deal and Our Schools Article. By the Rethinking Schools Editorial Board. Rethinking Schools, Summer 2019. The Green New Deal will only be brought to life by people who grasp the enormity of the crisis that humanity faces and the radical changes necessary to address it. This requires that we teach a climate justice curriculum. Continue reading
Young Voices for the Planet: “Words Have Power” Film. By Lynne Cherry and Young Voices for the Planet. 2019. 6 minutes. This short documentary features the activism of Jaysa Mellers, a young adolescent girl who rallied her community to challenge local air polluters. Continue reading
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People Book — Non-fiction. By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz; adapted by Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza. 2019. 244 pages. The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers. Continue reading
Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology Poetry. Edited by Melissa Tuckey. 2018. 460 pages. A collection of poetry about colonial dispossession, the environmental crime of war, food and culture, resource extraction, resistance, and the Global South. Continue reading
All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life Book — Non-fiction. By Winona LaDuke. 1999. Native American activists provide testimonies to indigenous efforts to resist oppression and fight both cultural and environmental degradation in the face of U.S. colonialism. Continue reading
Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents: Reading, Writing, and Making a Difference Teaching Guide. By Richard Beach, Jeff Share, and Allen Webb. 2017. 148 pages. This book offers essential resources for English language and literature teachers to teach climate justice. Continue reading
The Thingamabob Game: A Simulation on Capitalism vs. the Climate Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. The Thingamabob Game helps students grasp the essential relationship between climate and capitalism. Continue reading
A Message from the Future with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Film. Narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and illustrated by Molly Crabapple. The Intercept. 2019. 7 minutes. The film flips the script on our future by illustrating one where we survive climate change and thrive because we took action today. Continue reading
Meet Today’s Climate Justice Activists: A Mixer on the People Saving the World Teaching Activity Draft. By Matt Reed and Tim Swinehart. 2019. Students learn the names and stories of dozens of climate justice activists. Continue reading
Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation Book — Non-fiction. By Linda Villarosa. 2022. 288 pages. This book details the racial health disparities in America, revealing the toll racism takes on individuals and the health of our nation. Continue reading
Harlan County USA Film. Directed and produced by Barbara Kopple. 1976. 103 minutes. This documentary tells the story of a Kentucky coal miners' strike and the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line. Continue reading
Standing with Standing Rock: Voices from the #NoDAPL Movement Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Nick Estes and Jaskiran Dhillon. 2019. 448 pages. Through poetry and prose, essays, photography, interviews, and polemical interventions, the contributors, including leaders of the Standing Rock movement, reflect on Indigenous history and politics and on the movement's significance. Continue reading
How to Change Everything: The Young Human’s Guide to Protecting the Planet and Each Other Book — Non-fiction. By Naomi Klein and Rebecca Stefoff. 2021. Young leaders are showing the world that this moment of increasingly dangerous climate change is also a moment of great opportunity — an opportunity to change everything for the better. Continue reading
From the New Deal to the Green New Deal: Stories of Crisis and Possibility Teaching Activity. By Suzanna Kassouf, Matt Reed, Tim Swinehart, Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, and Bill Bigelow. The stories of twenty people whose lives were touched by the New Deal of the 1930s come to life in this classroom activity, intended to open students' minds to the possibilities of a Green New Deal. Continue reading
Pacific Climate Warriors Speak at Climate Strike Film clip. Pacific Climate Warriors. 2019. During the Global Climate Strike on Sept. 20, 2019, the Pacific Climate Warriors in Portland showed up at their rally carrying their identity with pride and speaking their truths as Pacific islanders fighting for their homes. Continue reading
Video Poems by Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner Film clip. Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner. Various years. Video poems by a Marshallese artist show the injustices and harm of environmental racism, nuclear weapons, and climate change around the world. Continue reading
No Option Except Escape: A Role Play on the Struggles of Climate Refugees Teaching Activity. By WorldOregon's Young Leaders in Action. In this role-play, students explore the challenges and perspectives of people — climate refugees — who have "no option except escape" from homes devastated by climate change. Continue reading
Who’s to Blame? A People’s Tribunal on the Coronavirus Pandemic Teaching Activity. By Caneisha Mills. This people’s tribunal begins with the premise that a heinous crime is being committed as tens of millions of people’s lives are in danger due to COVID-19. But who was responsible for this crime? Students weigh the evidence. Continue reading
Teaching Critically About Lewis and Clark: Challenging Dominant Narratives in K–12 Curriculum Book — Non-fiction. By Alison Schmitke, Leilani Sabzalian, Jeff Edmundson. 2020. 216 pages. This much-needed guide unpacks the colonial narrative that dominates most mainstream histories of the Corps of Discovery expedition. Continue reading
Rad American History A-Z: Movements and Moments That Demonstrate the Power of the People Book — Non-fiction. By Kate Schatz and illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl. Ten Speed Press. 2020. 176 pages. Paired with dynamic paper-cut art, readers explore several centuries of U.S. politics, culture, art, activism, and liberation. Continue reading
NECESSITY: A Two-Part Documentary Series on Climate Resistance Films. Directed by Jan Haaken and Samantha Praus. 58 minutes & 57 minutes. Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance explores the work of attorneys, valve turners, and other water protectors in Minnesota. Climate Justice and the Thin Green Line examines climate resistance in the Pacific Northwest. Continue reading
Teachers vs. Climate Change: The Story of Teachers’ Work for Climate Justice in Portland, Oregon Article. By Bill Bigelow. The story of how teachers, parents, and students in Portland, Oregon organized to demand that climate change be taught honestly and to pass a climate justice resolution. Continue reading
Trinkets and Beads Film. By Christopher Walker. 1996. 52 minutes. This documentary reveals the funny, heartbreaking, and thrilling story of the battle waged by indigenous people to preserve their way of life in the Amazon, in the face of international capitalism and colonialism. Continue reading
Solar Power Comes to Math Class Teaching Activity. By Flannery Denny. Rethinking Schools, Summer 2019. A math educator brings data from a friend’s solar panels — and the story to win them in their community — into her 7th-grade classroom to build a bridge between math and climate justice education. Continue reading
Because Our Islands Are Our Life Article. By Moé Yonamine. Rethinking Schools, Summer, 2019. A high school ethnic studies teacher describes how students in the Pacific Island Club used poetry to refocus the narrative surrounding climate justice onto frontline communities. Continue reading
The Green New Deal and Our Schools Article. By the Rethinking Schools Editorial Board. Rethinking Schools, Summer 2019. The Green New Deal will only be brought to life by people who grasp the enormity of the crisis that humanity faces and the radical changes necessary to address it. This requires that we teach a climate justice curriculum. Continue reading
Young Voices for the Planet: “Words Have Power” Film. By Lynne Cherry and Young Voices for the Planet. 2019. 6 minutes. This short documentary features the activism of Jaysa Mellers, a young adolescent girl who rallied her community to challenge local air polluters. Continue reading
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People Book — Non-fiction. By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz; adapted by Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza. 2019. 244 pages. The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers. Continue reading
Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology Poetry. Edited by Melissa Tuckey. 2018. 460 pages. A collection of poetry about colonial dispossession, the environmental crime of war, food and culture, resource extraction, resistance, and the Global South. Continue reading
All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life Book — Non-fiction. By Winona LaDuke. 1999. Native American activists provide testimonies to indigenous efforts to resist oppression and fight both cultural and environmental degradation in the face of U.S. colonialism. Continue reading
Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents: Reading, Writing, and Making a Difference Teaching Guide. By Richard Beach, Jeff Share, and Allen Webb. 2017. 148 pages. This book offers essential resources for English language and literature teachers to teach climate justice. Continue reading
The Thingamabob Game: A Simulation on Capitalism vs. the Climate Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. The Thingamabob Game helps students grasp the essential relationship between climate and capitalism. Continue reading
A Message from the Future with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Film. Narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and illustrated by Molly Crabapple. The Intercept. 2019. 7 minutes. The film flips the script on our future by illustrating one where we survive climate change and thrive because we took action today. Continue reading
Meet Today’s Climate Justice Activists: A Mixer on the People Saving the World Teaching Activity Draft. By Matt Reed and Tim Swinehart. 2019. Students learn the names and stories of dozens of climate justice activists. Continue reading
