Curriculum & Resources — YES! Magazine

In each of the following categories, you'll find a variety of teaching tools for immediate use in the classroom or for building your own curriculum. These resources include: lessons, curriculum, poetry, videos, projects, stories, and essays.

Photo by nezumichuu

:: Teaching Happiness

Discover the good life through resilience, creativity, and community.

:: Teaching Outside the Box

Meaningful learning pushes boundaries with action, inquiry, and innovation.

:: Teaching Peace & Justice

Paths to peace, inclusion, equality, and compassion for all.

:: Teaching Sustainability

How to build a robust economy, healthy planet, and just world for all.

:: Visual Learning

Use the wonder of a photo to engage in deep discussions and understanding.

TEDTalk: What It Feels Like to Be Transgender Sep 14, 2016: Twenty-year-old slam poet Lee Mokoke passionately expresses his journey from being “more Ken than Barbie” to “loving my body enough to let it go” in a highly gendered society.
Infographic: Does Congress Look Like America? Sep 14, 2016: There are 469 seats in the U.S. Congress up for election this November 8th. This infographic explores how the demographics of Congress compare to America at large.
Visual Learning: Trouble in the Fields Apr 18, 2016: This visual learning lesson will get your students thinking about the lives of migrant farm workers, and where their food comes from.
Cross the Line Apr 18, 2016: Cross the Line breaks down stereotypes, and allows students a safe space to explore the diverse identities we carry.
"Hack Your Impact" Lesson Plan and Worksheet by Simone Larson Apr 18, 2016: How is our climate changing, and what kind of action (or inaction) is causing climate to change? This interdisciplinary lesson plan will allow students to measure their own carbon footprint, and encourage discussion of ways to lessen the damage we're doing to our earth.
Infographic: Why We Need New Farmers Feb 01, 2016: In 2012, 62 percent of farmers were older than 55, while only 6 percent were younger than 35. As generations age out of farming, who will replace them? This infographic encourages students to think about the future of local food production and what it means to be a new farmer today.
Visual Learning: Don't Jump the Gun Feb 01, 2016: This visual learning exercise will get your students thinking about how gun violence affects their communities, and ways to build safe and healthy spaces for young people to thrive.
Infographic: Gender Identity and Expression Feb 01, 2016: Are you confused about how to refer to someone? He, she, or they? Gender is a complicated social construct that goes beyond the binary definition of man and woman. Help your students better understand themselves and their peers with IMPACT’s easy-to-use interactive map that explains over 40 definitions of gender.
Refugee Stories: Mapping a Crisis Feb 01, 2016: The current refugee migration out of the Middle East is a pressing human rights concern. This lesson from Brown University’s Choices Program places students in a refugee’s shoes to help them understand why people flee their homes, and their arduous journey to find a safe place to live.
Resources to Teach #BlackLivesMatter Oct 13, 2015: The San Francisco Unified School District has compiled a collection of no-holds-barred resources to teach #BlackLivesMatter, including “Dos and Don’ts for Teaching About Ferguson.” Dare to ask your students what they want to talk about regarding Michael Brown’s death, the roots of this tragedy, and how they can stand up to racial injustice
This Writer Brings the World to Your Classroom. She Wants Your Students to Understand the Everyday Struggles and Courage of Ordinary People. Oct 13, 2015: Welcome to the world of Cleary Vaughan-Lee and Global Oneness Project, whose films, photography essays, stories, and lessons immerse you into the extraordinary lives of your global neighbors.
Visual Learning: What's the Buzz? by Cara Thompson Oct 13, 2015: This Visual Learning Lesson will get your students thinking about the importance of honey bees and the effects of commercial pesticide-use on colony health.
SPENT: An Online Game to Understand Poverty by Jing Fong May 31, 2015: If you don’t understand the feeling of trying to survive poverty, you will after playing SPENT.
"Eating Together" Student Writing Lesson by Jing Fong Apr 08, 2015: Does it matter who you eat with and how often you eat together?
Old Leaves, New Wisdom by Morgan Wright Mar 13, 2015: This Visual Learning Lesson will get your students thinking about what modern civilization can learn from ancient texts and traditions.