Curriculum & Resources

Tools for your classroom

YES! Recommends: The Story of Stuff Project

posted Mar 14, 2012

The Story of Stuff Project now offers more films that explain and inform. Check out The Story of Broke, The Story of Citizens United v. FEC, and don't miss out on free curriculum from Facing the Future.

Curriculum & Resources: De-Stress Your Classroom

posted Mar 14, 2012

Edutopia bundle of resources on meditation programs that can be used in school. Steps and benefits to bringing meditation to the classroom.

Curriculum & Resources: Teaching Social Movements

posted Feb 29, 2012

A collection of YES! resources for teaching about Occupy and other social movements.

Curriculum & Resources: The Legacy Project

posted Jan 30, 2012

Cornell Professor Karl Pillemer, founder of The Legacy Project: Lessons for Living from the Wisest Americans, collected over 1,500 interviews of elders on a variety of subjects. In text and video, the oldest living generations of Americans share their experiences.

Words That Inspire: 3/4-Baked

posted Jan 30, 2012

Jason McLennan suggests that we stop "chasing perfection."

Curriculum & Resources: Academy of Achievement

posted Jan 30, 2012

With biographies, personal interviews, and powerful images, the Academy of Achievement provides the opportunity for students to find a modern hero that resonates with their life. A content-rich Achiever Gallery of photos and a well-organized curriculum are terrific resources for hero projects or studies.

Visual Learning: You Say Tomato, I Say Tomahto

posted Jan 30, 2012

Visual Learning activity using an image of industrial tomato field in the central valley of California.

YES! Recommends: ServiceSpace

posted Jan 30, 2012

ServiceSpace is a movement for generosity on social and personal levels. The site features projects that inspire generous behavior and chronicle the acts of kindness of ServiceSpace volunteers.

When You Tell Them My Story, Please Mention That I Like Flaming Hot Cheetos

posted Dec 21, 2011

What happens when students are given the honor and onus of writing a complete stranger's story in poetry form? Middle school students from rural and urban Oregon took the risk, transforming preconceived notions—from gangs to trailer trash, stuck up rich people to redneck hicks— into bridges.

Words That Inspire: Because

posted Dec 21, 2011

Instead of a letter, Terry Tempest Williams wrote a poem to nominate Lily Yeh as a YES! Breakthrough 15 Hero. The poem shared the many reasons why Lily Yeh is worthy of consideration. Who are the people students might be inspired to honor with a poem?

YES! Recommends: Americans Who Tell The Truth

posted Dec 21, 2011

Americans Who Tell the Truth spotlights 170 portraits of truth tellers—people who fought for all people's rights with courage and determination—to teach students of all ages not only about their heritage, but also to stand up for what they believe in.

Visual Learning: To Dye For

posted Dec 21, 2011

With this YES! lesson plan, try to truly understand an image, its message, and why it's interesting (or not). In this case, it's all about where we get our clothes.

Curriculum & Resources: Maps That Stretch the Mind

posted Dec 21, 2011

Like history, maps tell a story from the writer or creator's perspective. ODT Maps believes that there are many ways to see the world—including upside down. Explore the organization's many maps (with thoughtful explanations), videos, free downloads, quizzes, and more.

Curriculum & Resources: Civil Rights Curriculum

posted Dec 21, 2011

In 1942, Fred Korematsu was arrested and convicted for refusing to go with other Japanese Americans to incarceration camps mandated under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order No. 9066. The Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education shares lesson plans, videos, and other classroom resources to teach students the importance of speaking up for civil rights for all.

Words That Inspire: We are the 1%

posted Nov 23, 2011

Some members of the 1% have shared messages of solidarity with the 99%. What goes into a sign that makes a lasting impression? Explore an activity to help your students understand—and create their own—powerful signs.