Burned Out of Homes and History: Unearthing the Silenced Voices of the Tulsa Massacre
Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools.
Teaching about racist patterns of murder, theft, displacement, and wealth inequality through the 1921 Tulsa Massacre.
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Organic Goodie Simulation
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 7 pages.
Lesson engages students in a lively simulation that helps them experience some of the pressures that lead workers to organize.
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Paper Airplane Simulation
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond.
In this simulation, students make paper airplanes to learn about the origins and effects of “scientific management”—owners’ attempt to capture workers’ skills and knowledge, and then to exploit that knowledge to reorganize work and cut costs by deskilling workers.
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Modern Times
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond.
This lesson uses Charlie Chaplin’s hilarious classic film, Modern Times, to help students think about the impact of “scientific management” on the workplace.
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“Taylorizing” Burgers: A Fantasy
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 8 pages.
In this playful activity, students utilize the principles of “scientific management” to restructure a burger joint—one that has been run a good deal more democratically and imaginatively.
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Shutdown!—Confronting Plant Closures
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond.
In this role play activity, students assume the roles of union members and attempt to figure out how to respond to a threatened plant closure.
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Greed as a Weapon: Teaching the Other Iraq War
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. 14 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A role play investigating the economic consequences of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
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Plotting Inequalities, Building Resistance: High School Students Use Math to Reflect on Social Inequality
Teaching Activity. By Adam Renner, Bridget Brew, and Crystal Proctor. Rethinking Schools.
An article describing how math teachers in a San Francisco high school shed light on the ways economics and racism affect education, housing, and job opportunities.
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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.
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Stealing Home: Eminent Domain, Urban Renewal, and the Loss of Community
Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools.
Teaching about patterns of displacement and wealth inequality through the history of Chávez Ravine and the building of Dodger Stadium.
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