A Lesson on the Japanese American Internment
Teaching Activity. By Mark Sweeting. Rethinking Schools. 4 pages.
How one teacher engaged his students in a critical examination of the language used in textbooks to describe the internment.
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How one teacher engaged his students in a critical examination of the language used in textbooks to describe the internment.
Presidents and the Enslaved: Helping Students Find the Truth
Teaching Activity. By Bob Peterson. Rethinking Schools. 7 pages.
How a 5th grade teacher and his students conducted research to answer the question: “Which presidents owned people?” Available in Spanish.
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How a 5th grade teacher and his students conducted research to answer the question: “Which presidents owned people?” Available in Spanish.
Testing, Tracking, and Toeing the Line: A Role Play on the Origins of the Modern High School
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 13 pages.
A role play on the origins of the modern high school allows students to question aspects of schooling they often take for granted, such as tracking (“ability grouping”) and standardized testing — and to reflect on the racial biases of these so-called reforms.
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A role play on the origins of the modern high school allows students to question aspects of schooling they often take for granted, such as tracking (“ability grouping”) and standardized testing — and to reflect on the racial biases of these so-called reforms.
Daughter of Earth: Reading, Writing, and Social Class
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
Students read a poignant excerpt from Agnes Smedley's novel, Daughter of Earth, and use it to think and write about how schooling—their own included—teaches lessons about social class.
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Students read a poignant excerpt from Agnes Smedley's novel, Daughter of Earth, and use it to think and write about how schooling—their own included—teaches lessons about social class.
Pump Up the Blowouts: Reflections on the 40th Anniversary of the Chicano/a School Blowouts
Teaching Activity. By Gilda L. Ochoa. Rethinking Schools. 5 pages.
Reflections on teaching students about the 1968 walkouts by Chicano students in California.
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Reflections on teaching students about the 1968 walkouts by Chicano students in California.
One Country! One Language! One Flag!
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 3 pages.
Discussion questions and teaching ideas for examining the history of the Pledge of Allegiance and the political milieu in which it was written.
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Discussion questions and teaching ideas for examining the history of the Pledge of Allegiance and the political milieu in which it was written.
Warriors Don’t Cry: Connecting History, Literature, and Our Lives
Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. 21 pages.
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.
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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.
The Singing Strike and the Rebel Students: Learning from the Industrial Workers of the World
Reading for Teachers. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
Author describes how students applied strategies from the Lawrence strike to their own present day activism.
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Author describes how students applied strategies from the Lawrence strike to their own present day activism.
Discovering Columbus: Re-reading the Past
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 6 pages.
How to engage students in a critical analysis of the textbook version of "discovery."
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How to engage students in a critical analysis of the textbook version of "discovery."
“A School Year Like No Other”: Eyes on the Prize: “Fighting Back: 1957-1962”
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 7 pages.
A companion lesson to the Eyes on the Prize segment on school integration.
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A companion lesson to the Eyes on the Prize segment on school integration.