This educator believes creating a school environment where it’s OK for students to share their stories is of the utmost importance—for students and educators.
Emotions can be frightening for all of us, especially for children. But if students don’t have the vocabulary to express their feelings, they may turn to acting out. This fails to resolve the feelings and makes a teacher’s life much more difficult.
Tens of thousands of unaccompanied children have fled to the United States. What does this mean for communities, including schools, across the country?
This lesson focuses on questions of identity as students read and analyze Angelou’s inspirational poem “Still I Rise” and apply its message to their own lives. Students learn how Maya Angelou overcame hardship and discrimination to find her own voice and to influence others to believe in themselves and use their voices for positive change.
This lesson focuses on questions of justice and the role youth have played in social and political movements. By reading a combination of primary and secondary sources, students will learn how the Little Rock Nine came to play their important role. These teenagers’ participation in school integration stemmed not from the prodding of the parents or activists, but from within themselves.
Based in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain States, Western States Center works nationwide to strengthen inclusive democracy so all people can live, love, worship and work free from fear. We strengthen the organizing capacity of often-marginalized communities, with a particular emphasis on gender justice, racial justice and tribal sovereignty work. We provide training, leadership development and organizational capacity support to social movements and leaders committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. We convene culture-makers to shift the narrative and use culture as a vehicle for base- and
Agree/disagree statements challenge students to think critically about their knowledge of a topic, theme or text. The strategy exposes students to the major ideas in a text before reading—engaging their thinking and motivating them to learn more. It also requires them to reconsider their original thinking after reading the text and to use textual evidence to support and explain their thinking.
A structured discussion in which students examine issues and respond to open-ended questions about a text. Students use dialogue rather than debate to communicate with each other.