Lesson Plans

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…

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Speaking and Listening, Language The surge of antisemitic incidents in the United States is alarming to many. Several reported incidents include graffiti using swastikas, bomb threats, vandalism and shootings, targeting Jewish Community Centers (JCC) and institutions across the country. At the Chesed Shel Emeth Society cemetery, a historic century-old Jewish cemetery in University City, a suburb of St…

Engage students in exploring the topic bullying in the U.S., using children's literature as a foundation for discussion.

GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Speaking and Listening The First Girl to Pitch a Shutout in the Little League World Series In 2014 Mo’Ne Davis, a 13-year-old girl, made news headlines as the first girl to ever pitch a shutout in the Little League World series. At that time she was considered the “most talked about baseball player on earth right now” according to many observers in the sports world. Mo’Ne (pronounced Moh-nay…

GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School, Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, History/Social Studies In commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, this curriculum for grades 3–12 provides grade-specific lessons, resources and extension activities to provide your students opportunities to examine civil rights in the United States past and present. The lessons provide an opportunity for students to delve deeper into Martin Luther King Jr…

Engage students in understanding and exploring cyberbullying and the issues raised by online bullying.

Teach students about the history of discrimination and racism in the U.S., the struggle for civil rights and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Language Using Poetry to Teach about Identity Reading and writing poetry can provide an opening for young people to explore the various aspects of their identity, including their name, race and ethnicity, physical characteristics and more. April is National Poetry Month, a good opportunity to explore poetry with your students. Because poetry does not require strict sentence structure or the usual grammar rules…