Grades 6 to 8

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."

The activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Weighing In."

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Out of Bounds."

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.

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 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.

Through songs, stories and paintings, students explore how and why communities tell stories about heroes and heroines.

In 2011, 20 states permitted corporal punishment in public schools. Many students who live outside those states find it hard to believe that corporal punishment still exists.

The purpose of this activity is to discuss the bullying of LGBT students. It uses the Mexican tradition of El Paseo to begin that discussion.

This is the final lesson in the Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice series. Preceding lessons explored a variety of social justice issues through the lens of photographers and their pictures. This activity will offer students several different options for showcasing their understanding.

In A Time for Justice, four-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Charles Guggenheim captured the spirit of the civil rights movement through historical footage and the voices of those who participated in the struggle.

The photo shows two students collecting signatures to protest the treatment of women at the university. This lesson is part of the Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice series.