Five Years After the Levees Broke: Bearing Witness Through Poetry
Teaching Activity. By Renée Watson. 7 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A teacher's reflection on the power of poetry to spark critical discussion and reflection on current issues of inequality surrounding disaster response in the United States.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: African American, Climate Justice, Environment, Art & Music, Language Arts, Laws & Citizen Rights, Media, Racism & Racial Identity
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Haiku and Hiroshima: Teaching About the Atomic Bomb
Teaching Activity. By Wayne Au. 3 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Lesson for high school students on the bombing of Hiroshima using the film Barefoot Gen and haiku.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Prosperity, Depression, & World War II: 1920 - 1944, Cold War: 1945 - 1960
Themes: Language Arts, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
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Poetry of Defiance: How the Enslaved Resisted
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez.
Through a mixer activity, students are introduced to the various ways that enslaved people resisted the brutal exploitation of slavery. The lesson culminates in a collective class poem highlighting the defiance of the enslaved.
Time Periods: Revolution & Constitution: 1765 - 1799, 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849, Civil War Era: 1850 - 1864
Themes: African American, Language Arts, Slavery and Resistance
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Promoting Social Imagination Through Interior Monologues
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Linda Christensen. 3 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Empathy, or "social imagination," allows students to connect to "the other" with whom, on the surface, they may appear to have little in common.
Time Periods: All US History
Themes: Language Arts, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
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Teaching to the Heart: Poetry, Climate Change, and Sacred Spaces
Teaching Activity & Article. By Michelle Nicola. Rethinking Schools.
Using Marshallese poet and climate justice activist Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner’s poem “Dear Matafele Peinam,” a teacher helps 7th graders think about the sacred spaces in their own lives and how they will be affected by climate change.
Time Periods: 21st Century
Themes: Climate Justice, Language Arts
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Unleashing Sorrow and Joy: Writing Poetry from History and Literature
Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools.
Teacher reflection on different ways to effectively incorporate poetry into history or literature classes.
Time Periods: 20th Century, All US History
Themes: Language Arts, Racism & Racial Identity, Women's History
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Warriors Don’t Cry: Connecting History, Literature, and Our Lives
Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools.
Role play and writing activities for language arts and social studies on the Little Rock Nine, Brown v. Board, and schooling in general. Designed for use with the memoir Warriors Don’t Cry.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Language Arts, Racism & Racial Identity
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The Power of the Story: The Voice of Witness Teacher’s Guide to Oral History
Teaching Guide. Edited by Cliff Mayotte. 2013 (2nd edition).
A guide to explore contemporary issues through oral history, and to develop the communication skills necessary for creating oral history projects in communities.
Themes: Language Arts, World History/Global Studies
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Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Teaching About Social Justice and the Power of the Written Word
Teaching Guide. By Linda Christensen. 314 pages. 2017, 2nd edition. Rethinking Schools.
Lessons for teaching a range of writing genres while addressing social justice themes.
Themes: Education, Language Arts
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Rhythm and Resistance: Teaching Poetry for Social Justice
Teaching Guide. Edited by Linda Christensen and Dyan Watson. 262 pages. 2015. Rethinking Schools.
Lessons and poetry to help students develop writing skills, build community, and create a vision of a future with justice.
Themes: Art & Music, Language Arts
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Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents: Reading, Writing, and Making a Difference
Teaching guide. By Richard Beach, Jeff Share, and Allen Webb. 148 pages. 2017.
This book offers essential resources for English language and literature teachers to teach climate justice.
Time Periods: 20th Century, 21st Century
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Language Arts
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Teaching for Joy and Justice: Re-imagining the Language Arts Classroom
Teaching Guide. By Linda Christensen. 287 pages. 2009. Rethinking Schools.
Through stories, Christensen demonstrates how to draw on students' lives and the world to teach poetry, essay, narrative, and critical literacy skills. Published by Rethinking Schools.
Themes: Language Arts
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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.
Time Periods: 21st Century
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Language Arts, Pacific Islander
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101 Changemakers: Rebels and Radicals Who Changed US History
Book – Non-fiction. By Michele Bollinger and Dao Tran. 2012.
A collection of 101 brief and accessible profiles of rebels, radicals, and fighters for social justice.
Time Periods: All US History
Themes: African American, Asian American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Disability, Immigration, Labor, Language Arts, Latinx, LGBTQ, Media, Native American, Organizing, Pacific Islander, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class, Women's History
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Counting Descent
Book — Non-fiction. By Clint Smith. 84 pages. 2016.
A teacher and scholar celebrates Black humanity, and guides readers toward self-reflection through his coming-of-age poems that are political, historical, and deeply personal.
Time Periods: 20th Century, 21st Century
Themes: African American, Art & Music, Language Arts
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To Write in the Light of Freedom: The Newspapers of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools
Book - Non-fiction. Edited by William Sturkey and Jon N. Hale. 2015.
A collection and examination of the creative literary work of students published during 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Language Arts, Media, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
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The Dreamer
Book - Fiction. By Pam Muñoz Ryan. 2010. 384 pages.
An introduction to the life of Pablo Neruda as a child in historical fiction for young adults.
Time Periods: 20th Century, World War I: 1910 - 1919
Themes: Art & Music, Language Arts, World History/Global Studies
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The Wild Book
Book - Fiction. By Margarita Engle. 2012. 144 pages.
A portrait in verse of a young girl struggling with dyslexia in Cuba at the turn of the 20th century.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Turn of the Century: 1900 - 1909
Themes: Language Arts, World History/Global Studies
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Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology
Poetry. Edited by Melissa Tuckey. 460 pages. 2018.
A collection of poetry about colonial dispossession, the environmental crime of war, food and culture, resource extraction, resistance, and the Global South.
Time Periods: 20th Century, 21st Century
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Art & Music, Language Arts
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May 23, 1968: Acclaimed Writer Henry Dumas Fatally Shot by Police
Henry Dumas, a critically acclaimed author, was fatally shot by the New York Transit police.
Time Periods: People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Language Arts, Racism & Racial Identity
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