“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” —Anais Nin

Dear Educators,
I’m delighted to introduce myself as YES! Magazine’s new education outreach manager. There’s a constellation of inspiring curriculum and people out there, and I’m keen to connect you with these effective resources.

The current issue of YES! Magazine, Superpower? Get Over It, focuses on the role of the U.S. in the world, and you’ll find many stories, interviews and ideas to stimulate your students’ thinking about how we relate to other countries. To complement these YES! articles, we’re pleased to feature “Teaching with the News” lesson plans from the Choices Program, a national education initiative based at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies.

Enjoy exploring this newsletter’s teaching tools on foreign policy that will challenge and engage your students.

Happy summer!

Jing Fong
Education Outreach Manager, YES! Magazine

P.S. Forward this newsletter to teaching colleagues so they too can benefit from YES!

Citizen Diplomacy :: Bainbridge—Ometepe
For over 20 years, Bainbridge Island, WA, has been building a strong relationship with its sister city Ometepe, Nicaragua. Instead of just learning about foreign relations, students and teachers are forging their own. Here are their stories.


MORE OF YOUR STORIES of inspiring teaching and students taking action.
SEND US your own story to share with our growing network of YES! educators.

The lesson plans from the Choices Program at Brown University will challenge your students' current views about U.S. policies toward other countries. Using news headlines as the hook, your students will be pulled into debates and analyses as they weigh the pros and cons of different policy options.

It's not just about reading articles. The two-period lesson plans, U.S. and Iran and Conflict in Iraq have your students role playing and listening to interviews and stories from BBC News Online and National Public Radio.

In the U.S. Role in the World lesson plan, your students explore alternative futures and then cast an online ballot to share their personal views about the United States’ international role.

A two-day lesson plan on Nuclear Weapons and its interactive tools can motivate your students to wrestle with the questions that surround the future of nuclear weapons.

Just the Facts :: Aid versus War How would you fare if someone analyzed your spending habits? Use these straight-talking graphics in your classroom to explain U.S. military and foreign aid expenditures. Interactive graphic. Available as a downloadable pdf poster.

The Page That Counts Scratch your head when you find out how much revenue ExxonMobil generates in one day. Then ponder statistics on paper shredding. 5 Ways to Travel These helpful tips will get your students thinking beyond the alluring travel brochure photos and into having a real traveling experience, meeting real people. 100 Years of Human Rights This colorful timeline chronicles human rights milestones, from who was excluded from immigration entry in 1907 to when Native Americans were granted the right to vote.

A great way to help your students understand foreign policy is to explore other cultures and nations and how they relate to the United States. Here are a couple of curriculum options to help you make that connection.

United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA)
The Education Department at UNA-USA publishes lesson plans designed to help you bring some of today’s most pressing global issues into your classroom. These lesson plans on the situation in Sudan are designed to address the conflict in Darfur.


Peace Corps World Wise Schools
Bring Peace Corps volunteer stories, letters, and folk tales with standards-based lessons to your classroom. Also discover ways to involve students in service learning. Use these lessons to get your students to reflect on the rewards of providing services to others and whether by giving they might perhaps be gaining at the same time.

A poem for many voices. Have your students read this cento like a choral poem so they may think creatively about peace and new priorities for the U.S.

Split This Rock “I know you are reading this poem listening for something, torn between bitterness and hope Turning back once again to the task you cannot refuse … The winding Potomac lazily drifts by the Pentagon, journeying towards the sea. America, let the words of the poets ring in your head.” Excerpts from Group Poem Created in Front of the White House March 23, 2008

Photo © Jill Brazel Photography

Sweet Mother Tour
Inspirational music of Derrick Ashong who founded the Sweet Mother Tour, creating a network for African activism and art.

How We Learn
Dave Eggers talks about his innovation in teaching that brought a community together.

This Brave Nation
Carl Pope and Van Jones talk about civil rights, environmentalism, new media, and the economy.

 www.yesmagazine.org

Cabeza Abajo

President James Monroe’s famous doctrine has been turned upside down by Latin American countries as they redefine the role of the United States in their region.

Show your students how these countries are taking a stand.
(Article in English)

Photo by Tim Ennis

Northern Rainforests
How do indigenous cultures balance environmental sustainability with modern world demands for raw materials?