The (Young) People’s Climate Conference: Teaching Global Warming to 3rd Graders
Teaching Activity. By Rowan Shafer. Rethinking Schools.
A teacher adapts the “Climate Change Mixer” designed for older students as a springboard for a unit on global warming and climate justice. She asks, "How could I bring up an issue so big and abstract, so gloom and doom, with 3rd graders? How could I not?"
Time Periods: 21st Century
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Organizing, World History/Global Studies
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Andrew Jackson and the “Children of the Forest”
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow.
A lesson in which students develop critical literacy skills by responding to Andrew Jackson's speech on "Indian Removal."
Time Periods: 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849
Themes: Native American, Racism & Racial Identity
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The Cherokee/Seminole Removal Role Play
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow.
What led up to the Trail of Tears? In this lesson, students learn about the decision to remove the Cherokee and Seminole people from their lands.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Native American, Racism & Racial Identity
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The Color Line
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow.
A lesson on the countless colonial laws enacted to create division and inequality based on race. This helps students understand the origins of racism in the United States and who benefits.
Time Periods: Colonization: 1492 - 1764, 18th Century, Revolution & Constitution: 1765 - 1799
Themes: African American, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance
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Dirty Oil and Shovel-Ready Jobs: A Role Play on Tar Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline
Teaching Activity. By Abby Mac Phail. 17 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A role play on the Keystone XL Pipeline battle.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Native American, Organizing, US Foreign Policy, World History/Global Studies
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Discovering Columbus: Re-reading the Past
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools.
How to engage students in a critical analysis of the textbook version of "discovery."
Time Periods: Colonization: 1492 - 1764
Themes: Education, Imperialism, Native American
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‘Don’t Take Our Voices Away’: A Role Play on the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change
Teaching Activity. By Julie Treick O’Neill and Tim Swinehart. 16 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A role play on the Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change asks students to develop a list of demands to present to the rest of the world at a climate change meeting.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Native American, Pacific Islander, Science, World History/Global Studies
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How to Make Amends: A Lesson on Reparations
Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, Alex Stegner, Chris Buehler, Angela DiPasquale, and Tom McKenna.
Students meet dozens of advocates and recipients of reparations from a variety of historical eras to grapple with the possibility of reparations now and in the future.
Time Periods: 20th Century, 21st Century
Themes: African American, Asian American, Native American, Organizing, World History/Global Studies
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The People vs. Columbus, et al.
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 8 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A trial role play asks students to determine who is responsible for the death of millions of Taínos on the island of Hispaniola in the late 15th century. Roles available in Spanish.
Time Periods: Colonization: 1492 - 1764
Themes: Imperialism, Native American
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Rethinking the U.S. Constitutional Convention: A Role Play
Teaching Activity. By Bob Peterson. 14 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A role play on the Constitutional Convention which brings to life the social forces active during and immediately following the American Revolution with focus on two key topics: suffrage and slavery. An elementary school adaptation of the Constitution Role Play by Bill Bigelow. Roles available in Spanish.
Time Periods: 18th Century, Revolution & Constitution: 1765 - 1799
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Slavery and Resistance, Women's History
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Standing with Standing Rock: A Role Play on the Dakota Access Pipeline
Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, Bill Bigelow, and Andrew Duden. Article by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. 15 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A role play helps students recognize the issues at stake in the historic struggle of the Standing Rock Sioux to block construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Imperialism, Native American, Organizing
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Bartolomé de Las Casas: “Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account”
Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Dramatic reading of Bartolome de las Casas' "Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account" (1542) by John Sayles, Viggo Mortensen, and Staceyann Chin.
Time Periods: Colonization: 1492 - 1764
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Native American, Slavery and Resistance
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Chief Joseph: “Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C.”
Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Dramatic reading of Chief Joseph's "Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C." (1879) by Q'Orianka Kilcher.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Industrial Revolution: 1877 - 1899
Themes: Environment, Democracy & Citizenship, Native American
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Chief Tecumseh: “Speech to the Osages”
Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Dramatic reading of Chief Tecumseh's "Speech to the Osages" (Winter 1811-1812) by Deepa Fernandes.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849
Themes: Environment, Native American
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Columbus and Las Casas
Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 15 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 1 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on Columbus' arrival in the "New World," and the contrasting accounts of Bartolome de Las Casas and Eduardo Galeano.
Time Periods: Colonization: 1492 - 1764
Themes: Native American
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Indian Removal
Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 18 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 7 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on the American policy of "Manifest Destiny" and Native American resistance to their own displacement.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849, Civil War Era: 1850 - 1864, Reconstruction Period: 1865 - 1876, Industrial Revolution: 1877 - 1899
Themes: Imperialism, Native American, Racism & Racial Identity
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Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years
Teaching Guide. Edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson. 192 pages. 2003. Rethinking Schools.
Readings and lessons for grades 5 to 12 about the impact and legacy of the arrival of Columbus in the Americas.
Time Periods: Colonization: 1492 - 1764
Themes: Native American
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Climate Change and School in a Yup’ik Fishing Village
Article. By Jill Howdyshell.
The author describes how climate change is hitting Indigenous communities in Alaska much harder than other places in the world. And yet, administrators still insist that school discussions should focus on student test scores.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Economics, Native American
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The Export of Colors
Article. By Manlio Argueta. From Cuzcatlán, Donde bate la mar del sur.
An excerpt from a novel of historical fiction about the impact of an export economy on peasants in El Salvador.
Time Periods: 20th Century
Themes: Imperialism, Latinx, Native American
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How to Abolish Columbus Day and Get an Indigenous Peoples’ Day Resolution Passed
Article. By Mahtowin Munro.
Campaign guidelines from the organizer of a successful effort to abolish Columbus Day and establish Indigenous Peoples' Day in Cambridge, Mass.
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Native American, Organizing
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