Unsung Heroes: Encouraging Students to Appreciate Those Who Fought for Social Justice
Teaching Activity. Essay by Howard Zinn and lesson by Bill Bigelow. 17 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Students research and share stories about unsung heroes in U.S. history.
Time Periods: All US History
Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
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A War to Free the Slaves?
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow.
Students explore some of the myths of the Civil War through examining excerpts from Lincoln’s first inaugural address, the rarely mentioned original Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution that Lincoln promised to support, and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Civil War Era: 1850 - 1864
Themes: African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance
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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 Brown v. Board and the Little Rock Nine. 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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‘We Had Set Ourselves Free’: Lessons on the Civil Rights Movement
Teaching Activity. By Doug Sherman. Rethinking Schools.
The author describes how he uses biographies and film to introduce students to the role of people involved in the Civil Rights Movement beyond the familiar heroes. He emphasizes the role and experiences of young people in the Movement.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
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What Caused the Great Depression? The Widget Boom Game
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. Rethinking Schools.
A simulation helps students understand the causes of economic crises.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Prosperity, Depression, & World War II: 1920 - 1944
Themes: Economics, Labor, Social Class
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What Rights Do We Have?
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond.
This lesson teaches some of the nuts and bolts of labor unions and then moves beyond to ask students to consider what rights they have at work, and to recognize that “rights” depend in large part on what people have fought for and won.
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing
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What the Tour Guide Didn’t Tell Me: Tourism, Colonialism, and Resistance in Hawai’i
Teaching Activity. By Wayne Wah Kwai Au. 5 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Lesson on the history of Hawai'i and the impact of colonization and tourism.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Turn of the Century: 1900 - 1909
Themes: Asian American, Imperialism, Pacific Islander, Racism & Racial Identity, US Foreign Policy
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What We Don’t Learn About the Black Panther Party — but Should
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez and Jesse Hagopian. 33 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A mixer role play introduces students to the pivotal and largely untold history of the Black Panthers.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974, Post-Civil Rights Era: 1975 - 2000
Themes: African American, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class, Women's History
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‘What We Want, What We Believe’: Teaching with the Black Panthers’ Ten Point Program
Teaching Activity. By Wayne Au. 7 pages. Rethinking Schools.
How students can use the Black Panther Party's Ten Point Program to assess issues in their own communities and to develop Ten Point Programs of their own. Available in Spanish.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
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When the Impossible Suddenly Became Possible: A Reconstruction Mixer
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez and Nqobile Mthethwa. 25 pages.
A mixer role play explores the connections between different social movements during Reconstruction.
Time Periods: 19th Century, Civil War Era: 1850 - 1864, Reconstruction Period: 1865 - 1876
Themes: African American, Reconstruction, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance
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Where Are the Climate Change Superheroes? Systems Thinking and Climate Activism in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest
Teaching Activity. By Eric Fishman. Rethinking Schools.
An elementary school teacher developed the engaging Quetzal Conundrum game to help students understand the impact of climate change in Costa Rica.
Time Periods: 21st Century
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Food, World History/Global Studies
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Who Fought to End Slavery? Meet the Abolitionists
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez, Brady Bennon, Deb Delman, and Jessica Lovaas.
This mixer role play introduces students to the stories of famous and lesser-known abolitionists, through biography and investigation.
Time Periods: Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849, Civil War Era: 1850 - 1864
Themes: African American, Organizing, Slavery and Resistance
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Who Gets to Vote? Teaching About the Struggle for Voting Rights in the United States
Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. 2020.
Unit with three lessons on voting rights, including the history of the struggle against voter suppression in the United States.
Time Periods: All US History
Themes: Voting Rights, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship
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Who Made the New Deal? The Economic Recovery Conference Role Play
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. Rethinking Schools.
Through role play, students explore how different social groups influenced New Deal legislation.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Prosperity, Depression, & World War II: 1920 - 1944
Themes: Economics, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing
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Who Makes History?
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond.
This lesson introduces students to Bertolt Brecht’s poem, A Worker Reads History. Students reflect on the creative role of workers in making history.
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Labor, Social Class
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Whose “Terrorism”?
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 11 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Using scenarios based on real situations, this lesson helps middle and high school students examine the definition of terrorism and the use of the term terrorism in the media and U.S. foreign policy.
Time Periods: 21st Century, 2001 - Present
Themes: US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
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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.
Time Periods: 21st Century
Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class, US Foreign Policy, World History/Global Studies
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“Why Is This the Only Place in Portland I See Black People?”: Teaching Young Children About Redlining
Teaching Activity. By Katharine Johnson. 10 pages. Rethinking Schools.
An elementary school teacher introduces the history of redlining through a role play designed for 1st and 2nd graders.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960
Themes: African American, Economics, Social Class
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Witness to Apartheid: A Teaching Guide
Teaching Guide. By Bill Bigelow. 1987.
Lessons and activities that accompany the 1986 film Witness to Apartheid.
Time Periods: 20th Century
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, World History/Global Studies
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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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