Grades 3 to 5

This lesson explores the concept of fairness through questions such as: What is fair? Should all people be treated the same? What would you do if you saw someone treated unfairly? Students are encouraged to ...

The lessons that follow will start a conversation about material consumption.  Framework It happens in almost every classroom community: Someone has something someone else ...

In this lesson, students will first learn about disabilities. Then they will learn tips for communicating respectfully with people with disabilities. Framework People ...

In this lesson, students will learn about other religions as a starting point to promote religious tolerance.  Activities will help ...

This lesson helps children identify their own strengths and struggles. Students will work on ways to bring all their strengths together to build a classroom community. Building a ...

Based on Crossing Borders/Border Crossings and What's In a Name?" Have students go around their table and introduce themselves, and tell people about their name. ...

Loosely based on "What Are You?" Students bring a photograph to school with them that shows someone or something important to them. It might be a picture of them at an ...

Based on Musical Chairs Students sit at cafeteria tables with people they don’t usually sit with. (You can use a technique such as distributing playing cards, or “Life Savers in ...

Based on Mixing It Up with Purpose As students enter the cafeteria, give each student a playing card. Tell them to sit at a table where everyone has a card of the same suit or at ...

Based on Mixing It Up with Purpose Before students leave their classroom for lunch, give each student a Popsicle stick with a word on it. Within each class, each student ...

Based on Mix It Up: Score One for Humanity Give students lollipops and have them sit at a table with people who have the same color lollipop. Have each group solve a ...

This is one of my favorite tolerance activities. It helps students think about leaving others out of groups and tolerating differences within the classroom. You will need many small self-adhesive stars of six ...

Here is an activity that is fun and teaches kids to recognize the problems associated with bullying. They learn to use critical thinking and empathy skills to come up with ...

Sometimes students get stuck on superficial notions of identity, both in understanding themselves and in looking at their classmates. This activity uses literature to challenge stereotypes and help children ...

The beginning of the school year is such an exciting time. Students and teachers arrive   full of dreams, goals and enthusiasm. There are the prospects of new friends, interesting learning and becoming part of ...

Friendship circles are groups of people who share some common interests or values. They can be healthy, nurturing and supportive. Being bonded to others because of a shared love of sports, music or ...

The Chicago Tribune article, “Race Gap Seen in Restaurant Hiring,” explores the roles of race and class in staffing and uncovers examples and statistics pertaining to employment-related bias at our ...

It is often said that reading opens up new worlds. It also opens up the opportunity to ask deep questions about the world that we—and the literature we read—exist in. Book clubs or literature circles are one ...

Students often learn the importance of respecting people of different religions, and of respecting religious beliefs that are different from their own. But what about people who do not hold religious beliefs ...

Home Sweet Home . Home is that chipped teacup in the china cabinet that belonged to your grandmother. Home is your artwork proudly displayed on the refrigerator. Home is that favorite place you prefer to ...

David Brooks wrote an Op Ed piece for the New York Times called, “The Other Education.” In it, he reflected on the role of music in creating a different kind of education with lessons about personal ...

In the United States, different types of religious clothing exist just about everywhere. In this lesson, students will explore how articles of clothing are linked to different religions. First they will ...

Almost every teacher has heard students use the expression, “that’s so gay” as a way of putting down or insulting someone (or to describe something). These lessons will help students examine how inappropriate ...

Building on the common early grades theme of “neighborhood and community,” this lesson uses a free, downloadable children’s book, “The Gift,” to drive home the idea that people—and their diverse interests—are ...

In 1989 a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck San Francisco. Sixty-three people died. This year, a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. A month after the disaster the Haitian government estimates that more than ...

In October 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The new law expands the definition of hate-crime victims, requires additional ...

In these lessons, students will work toward understanding what it means to have a learning disability. The goal is make them aware of prejudice and discrimination aimed at those with learning disabilities. ...

In this lesson, students will learn about some of the 2008 government's report on hunger findings and identify ways to address the problem of hunger today. Framework ...

During my career unit with seventh-graders, I take the opportunity to look at gender stereotyping in the work force. After students have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with careers, I challenge their ...

We developed a unit based on common children’s  books on the Underground Railroad and the Civil Rights Movement. For each book we created a vocabulary list, active learning options ...