Lessons

These robust, ready-to-use classroom lessons offer breadth and depth, spanning essential social justice topics and reinforcing critical social emotional learning skills.

Search by keyword or browse our lesson bank—you can filter lessons by grade level, subject, topic or social justice domain. And remember, you can always create, save and share your own lessons with our Learning Plan Builder.

“Teaching Tolerance provides me with the means to promote social justice, challenge bias, and engage students in discussions about diversity that would perhaps not happen otherwise.”

Grade Level
Social Justice Domain
Subject
Topic

491 Lessons

The Philosopher's Stone

In my classroom, we engage in an activity that allows students to voice their ever-growing opinions about fairness and justice in a manner that not only promotes writing and oral skills but also fosters the ability to see other people's perspectives.
Grade Level
3-5 6-8
Social Justice Domain
Diversity
July 6, 2009

Friendship Without Barriers

This lesson lets students examine what it means to be a friend and explore ways in which people can make friends. The lesson explores stories that tell of building barriers between groups, such as the story presented in Spanish and English, "Papalotzin and the Monarchs/Papalotzin y las monarcas" and/or the folk tale "Old Joe and the Carpenter." You may adapt this lesson to discuss anti-bullying messages.
Grade Level
K-2
Topic
Bullying & Bias
Subject
Reading & Language Arts
SEL
Arts
ELL / ESL
Social Justice Domain
Diversity Action
July 6, 2009

Why Frogs and Snakes Never Play Together

In this lesson, students will read, act out, hear a reading, or watch a performance of a play that tells the story of a chance meeting in the woods of children from two families—one of frogs, the other of snakes. The frog and snake children develop a wonderful friendship. But when the siblings tell their parents about their new friends, they are told to never play together again. The play addresses the important topic of diversity and will spark a discussion about the topic of prejudice.
Grade Level
K-2 3-5
Subject
Reading & Language Arts
SEL
ELL / ESL
Social Justice Domain
Diversity Action
July 6, 2009

Writing Persuasive Letters About Immigration Reform

Latino workers from Central and South America, as well as Mexico, have long been part of the workforce in the United States. In response to calls for immigration reform, President G. W. Bush proposed a new temporary worker program. There was just one catch -- it would be based on existing guest worker initiatives, which civil rights advocates said were rife with abuse.
Grade Level
6-8 9-12
Topic
Immigration
Subject
Reading & Language Arts
Social Studies
Civics
Social Justice Domain
Action
July 6, 2009
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Welcome to Learning for Justice—Formerly Teaching Tolerance!

Our work has evolved in the last 30 years, from reducing prejudice to tackling systemic injustice. So we’ve chosen a new name that better reflects that evolution: Learning for Justice.

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