Social Studies

In this lesson, students will learn that race is a factor often connected to poverty and that institutions can create obstacles for the poor—and for people of color who live in poverty—that block participation and achievement.

This lesson is the third in a series called “Issues of Poverty.” Students explore the causes of poverty in the United States and the structural factors that perpetuate it. Students will examine the ways poverty is closely related to economic and political policy, and will work to discover why it disproportionately affects members of nondominant groups—that is, groups that have historically been oppressed.

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Civil Rights Road Trip."

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Civil Rights Road Trip."

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Class Outing."

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Suspending Hope."

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "The Poverty Myth."

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Identity."

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "From Awareness to Action."

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Give Bigotry No Sanction."

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Possession Obsession." 

This lesson is the second in a series of lessons called “Issues of Poverty.” Students explore the causes of poverty in the United States and the structural factors that perpetuate it. Students will examine the ways poverty is closely related to economic and political policy, and will work to discover why it disproportionately affects members of non-dominant groups—that is, groups that have historically oppressed groups.

This lesson is the first in a series of lessons called “Issues of Poverty.” Students explore the causes of poverty in the United States and the factors that perpetuate it. The four lessons aim to challenge the idea that poverty is simply the result of individual shortcomings. Students will examine the ways poverty is closely related to economic and political policy, and will work to discover why it disproportionately affects members of non-dominant groups—that is, groups that have historically been oppressed.

This lesson is the fourth and final in a series called “Family Tapestry.” One goal of these lessons is to help students recognize and accept differences among themselves and within the larger community. Another is to recognize how each student’s unique family contributes to a richer society. As students begin to understand themselves better, learning opportunities to explore biases and prejudices will likely emerge. In this lesson, students will synthesize everything they’ve learned throughout the series to create a quilt that tells the story of their families and how those families contribute to their overall classroom community.

The Augusta Films documentary The Loving Story recounts an important and often-overlooked element of the struggle to end racial segregation in the United States. Mildred and Richard Loving, married in 1958, were arrested because he was white and she was part African-American and part Native American. In Virginia, where they lived, their marriage was illegal. Their desire to live together as husband and wife in their home state led to a Supreme Court ruling that declared state laws that prohibited inter-racial marriage unconstitutional. 

This lesson is the third in a series called “Family Tapestry.” One goal of these lessons is to help students recognize and accept differences among themselves and within the larger community. Another is to recognize how each student’s unique family contributes to a richer society. As students begin to understand themselves better, learning opportunities to explore biases and prejudices will likely emerge. In this lesson, students learn the concepts of “same” and “different,” read and answer questions about two types of families, and create a “same and different” graphic organizer that reflects similarities and differences between their family and a classmate’s family.

This lesson is the second in the series “Family Tapestry.” One goal of these lessons is to help students recognize and accept differences among themselves and within the larger community. Another is to recognize how each student’s unique family contributes to a richer society. As students begin to understand themselves better, learning opportunities will likely emerge to explore biases and prejudices. In this lesson, students explore how their family’s ethnic and cultural journey contributes to their lives and to their community.

This lesson is the first in the series “Family Tapestry.” One goal of these lessons is to help students recognize and accept differences among themselves and within the larger community. Another is to recognize how each student’s unique family contributes to a richer society. As students begin to understand themselves better, learning opportunities will likely emerge to explore biases and prejudices. In this introductory lesson, students explore the definition of family, learn about different kinds of family structures and explore what makes their own family unique.

This is the fifth and final lesson in a series called “Expanding Voting Rights.” The overall goal of the series is for students to explore the complicated history of voting rights in the United States.

This lesson is the fourth in a series called Expanding Voting Rights. The overall goal of the series is for students to explore the complicated history of voting rights in the United States. Two characteristics of that history stand out: First, in fits and starts, more and more Americans have gained the right to vote. Second, over time, the federal government's role in securing these rights has expanded considerably.

This lesson is the third in a series called Expanding Voting Rights. The overall goal of the series is for students to explore the complicated history of voting rights in this country. Two characteristics of that history stand out: First, in fits and starts, more and more Americans have gained the right to vote; and second, the federal government has played an increasing role over time in securing these rights.