Teaching Materials

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The First Slaves

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 2 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on early American slavery, resistance, and rebellion.

Time Periods: Colonization: 1492 - 1764, 19th Century, Civil War Era: 1850 - 1864

Themes: Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance

Photo of La Via Campesina women | Zinn Education Project

Food, Farming, and Justice: A Role Play on La Vía Campesina

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow, Chris Buehler, Julie Treick O'Neill, and Tim Swinehart. Rethinking Schools. This role play invites students to take on identities of La Vía Campesina activists around the world, to compare/contrast circumstances in order to discover the common goal of “food sovereignty.”

Time Periods: 20th Century, 21st Century

Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Food, Organizing, World History/Global Studies

Freedom’s Unfinished Revolution: An Inquiry Into the Civil War and Reconstruction

Teaching Guide. By American Social History Project with foreword by Eric Foner. 1996. Primary documents, essays, and questions to teach the untold story of Reconstruction.

Time Periods: 19th Century, Reconstruction Period: 1865 - 1876

Themes: African American, Reconstruction, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

Half a Revolution

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 16 pages. Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 5 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on the Revolutionary War as "a rich man's war and a poor man's fight," as well as the failure of early Americans to complete a full revolution.

Time Periods: 18th Century, Revolution & Constitution: 1765 - 1799

Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Social Class

History in the Present Tense: Engaging Students Through Inquiry and Action

Teaching Guide. By Douglas Selwyn and Jan Maher. 2003. A guide to a different way of teaching history—start from today and keep asking questions.

Time Periods: All US History

Themes: Media

Irish Potato Famine | Zinn Education Project

Hunger on Trial: An Activity on the Irish Potato Famine and Its Meaning for Today

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. A trial role play helps students reflect on responsibility for the deaths of Irish peasants during the so-called potato famine.

Time Periods: 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849

Themes: Food, Immigration, Social Class, World History/Global Studies

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

Inside the Volcano (Teaching Guide) | Zinn Education Project

Inside the Volcano: A Curriculum on Nicaragua

Teaching Guide. Edited by Bill Bigelow and Jeff Edmundson. 1990. 130 pages. Fourteen interactive lessons on the history of Nicaragua.

Time Periods: 20th Century, Post-Civil Rights Era: 1975 - 2000

Themes: US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies

Labor Matters

Teaching Activity. By Teaching Tolerance. Introduces students to the role of the labor movement in securing contemporary benefits such as the 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, and workplace safety regulations.

Time Periods: 20th Century, Turn of the Century: 1900 - 1909, World War I: 1910 - 1919, Prosperity, Depression, & World War II: 1920 - 1944

Themes: Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing

Lessons from Freedom Summer: Ordinary People Building Extraordinary Movements

Teaching Guide. Edited by Kathy Emery, Linda Reid Gold and Sylvia Braselmann. Foreword by Howard Zinn. 2008. 456 pages. Readings and lessons on the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project.

Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974

Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Education, Organizing

Lets Talk About Climate | Zinn Education Project

Let’s Talk About Climate! Interdisciplinary Teaching Ideas

Teaching Guide. Project coordinator: Peter Crownfield. In collaboration with the Alliance for Sustainable Communities–Lehigh Valley. Teaching ideas to integrate climate and sustainability concepts in all subjects and grade levels.

Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Science

The Line Between Us (Book) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

The Line Between Us: Teaching About the Border and Mexican Immigration

Teaching Guide. By Bill Bigelow. 2006. 160 pages. Rethinking Schools. Lessons for teaching about the history of U.S.–Mexico relations and current border and immigration issues.

Time Periods: 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849, 20th Century

Themes: Immigration, Latinx, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

Losing Control in the 1970s

Teaching Activity. By Jennifer Rosebrook. Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 20 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on the legacy of scandal since the end of the Vietnam War and the Watergate break-in.

Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974

Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions

Teaching Guide. By Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana. Foreword by Wendy D. Puriefoy. 2011. The uses and methods of the Question Formulation Technique.

Themes: Education

The New Teacher Book (Book) | Zinn Education Project

The New Teacher Book: Finding Purpose, Balance, and Hope During Your First Years in the Classroom

Teaching Guide. Edited By Linda Christensen, Stan Karp, Bob Peterson, Moé Yonamine. 376 pages. 2019. Rethinking Schools. Offers practical guidance on how to flourish in schools and classrooms and connect in meaningful ways with students and families from all cultures and backgrounds.

Time Periods: 21st Century

Themes: Education

New York and Slavery: Time to Teach the Truth

Teaching Guide. By Alan J. Singer. 2008. Narrative description of slavery in the north and strategies for engaging young people as historians on the topic.

Time Periods: 18th Century, 19th Century

Themes: African American, Slavery and Resistance

Open Minds to Equality: A Sourcebook of Learning Activities to Affirm Diversity and Promote Equity

Teaching Guide. By Nancy Schniedewind and Ellen Davidson. 4th Edition. 408 pages. 2014. Rethinking Schools. Full of activities to help students explore inequalities and cooperation.

Themes: Racism & Racial Identity

Panama, the 1991 Gulf War, and the War at Home

Teaching Activity. By Robert Standish. Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 22 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on Panama, the 1991 Gulf War, and the War on the Poor in the United States.

Time Periods: 20th Century, Post-Civil Rights Era: 1975 - 2000

Themes: US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

A People’s Curriculum for the Earth: Teaching Climate Change and the Environmental Crisis

Teaching Guide. Edited by Bill Bigelow and Tim Swinehart. 400 pages. 2014. Rethinking Schools. Articles, student readings, and teaching activities to understand environmental problems and imagine solutions.

Themes: Climate Justice, Environment, Science

A People’s History for the Classroom

Teaching Guide. By Bill Bigelow. 120 pages. 2008. Rethinking Schools. Lessons to introduce students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of U.S. history than is found in traditional textbooks and curricula. Published by Rethinking Schools.

Time Periods: All US History

Themes: Education