Lesson Plans

Echoes & Reflections is dedicated to reshaping the way that teachers and students understand, process and navigate the world through the events of the Holocaust. They partner with educators to help them introduce students to the complex themes of the Holocaust and to understand its lasting effect on the world. GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening This unit provides students with an opportunity to learn about the…

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric and PoliciesThe U.S. has a long history of anti-immigrant bias. Years of anti-immigrant rhetoric, bias, discrimination and policies have permeated our country. In August 2019, a deadly shooting that killed twenty-two people in El Paso, Texas highlighted this anti-immigrant bigotry. The suspected gunman drove more than 650 miles from his…

Echoes & Reflections is dedicated to reshaping the way that teachers and students understand, process, and navigate the world through the events of the Holocaust. We partner with educators to help them introduce students to the complex themes of the Holocaust and to understand its lasting effect on the world. GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening This unit provides an opportunity for students to explore Jewish…

GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School, Middle School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language Does Entertainment Represent Our Increasingly Diverse Society? In September 2019, Kodi Lee won America's Got Talent, which was a groundbreaking and emotional victory. Lee is a person who is Asian-American, blind and has autism. While he is one example of on-screen diversity, there is still more work to be done to ensure that the stories told reflect all people…

Civics Lesson GRADE LEVEL: High School What is ‘Fake News’ and How Can We Identify it on Social Media? What is Our Role and Responsibility to Identify and Stop the Spread of Fake News?   The term “fake news” refers to misinformation that presents false, inaccurate, or intentionally misleading information in news stories, current events and other issues. Many of these stories are spread through online sites and social media platforms that…

Echoes & Reflections is dedicated to reshaping the way that teachers and students understand, process and navigate the world through the events of the Holocaust. They partner with educators to help them introduce students to the complex themes of the Holocaust and to understand its lasting effect on the world. GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening In this unit, students learn about the ghettos established throughout Nazi…

Engage students in reflecting on some of the underlying problems and issues that emerged from these cases involving police use of force, undertaking research and presenting viable solutions.

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language SEL STANDARDS*: Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making Expressions of Justice through PoetryThroughout our nation’s history, poetry and song have been used to express thoughts and feelings about injustice and to envision a world where freedom, fairness and justice are universal for all.  Amanda Gorman, Youngest Inaugural PoetDuring President…

GRADE LEVEL: High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening, Language On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall uprising took place. It began in the early morning at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. As was typical during that time period, police officers entered the bar and arrested employees for selling alcohol without a liquor license, roughed up customers, cleared the bar and arrested customers for not wearing at least three articles of …

Teach students about the role algorithms play in our everyday lives and explore how algorithmic bias functions in society.

GRADE LEVEL: High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language Reflections of Biased Incidents in Basketball and White Privilege In April 2019, Kyle Korver, a U.S. professional basketball player who plays with the Utah Jazz, wrote an essay on racism and white privilege that received a lot of acclaim and attention. In the essay, Korver, who is white, reflects on several biased incidents involving his African-American teammates and his…

Teach students about the U.S. women’s soccer team’s lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation and explore how sexism manifests in a variety of ways in women’s sports.

GRADE LEVEL: High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening Reports Show an Alarming Rise of Antisemitism in EuropeAntisemitism in Europe has been on the rise and continues to persist. In a 2024 report, the EU (European Union) Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) reports rising antisemitism, high levels of antisemitism online, and more than three-quarters of Jewish people hide their Jewish identity at least occasionally--with many avoiding  Jewish events or…

GRADE LEVEL: High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Speaking and Listening Antisemitism: Surging in the 21st Century  The ADL Global 100: An Index of Antisemitism™ is the most extensive poll on antisemitic attitudes and opinions toward Jewish people ever conducted. It consists of surveys of the general public in over 100 countries and territories gauging levels of antisemitic attitudes and adherence to traditional antisemitic stereotypes. First conducted in 2014, ADL…

Teach students about the importance of diverse literature and engage them in a study on the diversity of books in their classroom or school library.

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Speaking and Listening, Language Ageism is a term that was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler as a way to describe bias against older people; the term was patterned on definitions of sexism and racism. Ageism is most commonly understood to describe bias and discrimination against older people but it can also include bias against young people or even specific age groups like millennials. Ageism can take many…

Teach students about the First Amendment, how these freedoms originated and how they function today.

Teach students what white supremacy is and explore historical and current day examples.

Teach students about why slurs are and why they are harmful, helping them explore possible responses to slurs when they hear them.

GRADE LEVEL: High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Language We see symbols every day in all aspects of our lives. Symbols are used to convey ideas, qualities, emotions, material objects/products, opinions and beliefs. Unfortunately, symbols are also used to convey hate and bias. Lately, we have seen a lot of hate symbol graffiti in public spaces and specifically the swastika, which in most circumstances is understood as an expression of antisemitism. There has reportedly…