Teaching Peace & Justice

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

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.

Curriculum & Resources: ThinkB4YouSpeak

posted Oct 25, 2011

GLSEN's campaign ThinkB4YouSpeak helps straight teens understand why "that's so gay" and other common slurs may be unintentional but hurtful to their Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) classmates.

Curriculum & Resources: Occupy Wall Street

posted Oct 25, 2011

Resources from YES! Magazine and NY Times Learning Network will familiarize your students with Occupy Wall Street.

Curriculum & Resources: The Innocence Project and Prison Food

posted Sep 22, 2011

Use the Innocence Project’s interactive resources to understand the causes of wrongful convictions and exonerations, and see how your school's cafeteria food measures up to prison food with this tell-it-like-it is infographic.

Words That Inspire: Martin Luther King, Jr.

posted Sep 22, 2011

What is fair to one person may not be fair to another. How can students become aware of injustice—at school, in your community, and in this world— and dig deeper to discover how they can transform injustice to justice?

You Can’t Ignore Me Any Longer

posted Apr 14, 2011

Street artist JR brings art to improbable places, creating projects that force us to really see each other.

Waiting (or Not) for Superman

posted Feb 09, 2011

The documentary “Waiting for Superman” has stirred up conversation and debate about one of our nation’s biggest concerns—the state of public education. A follow-up campaign is under way to fix education. NOT Waiting for Superman, initiated by Rethinking Schools, says the film got the message all wrong.

Visual Learning: Paper Cranes for Peace

posted Feb 06, 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 peace.

Royce Baker Essay on “Heal the Warrior, Heal the Country”

by Royce Baker

posted Dec 22, 2010

Royce Baker, a student at Edmonds Community College in Edmonds, Washington, read and responded to the YES! Magazine article, "Heal the Warrior, Heal the Country" by Edward Tick. Read Royce's essay on why he doesn't support war, but does support the soldier.

Visual Learning: Sacred Water

posted Dec 22, 2010

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 water.

YES! Recommends—Zinn Education Project

posted Apr 28, 2010

The Zinn Education Project helps make sense of race and the role it has played in shaping society.

Words That Inspire: A Mix of Books (finally) on Mixed-Race People

posted Apr 28, 2010

Multiracial persons are the fastest growing demographic group in the country, but still gaining recognition. Now mixed race people can see themselves in books and be proud of who they are.

Curriculum & Resources: Making Sense of the 2010 Census

posted Apr 28, 2010

Who is America? This bundle of lesson plans and activities will help your students understand the basics of the every-decade census and why they should care about what’s at stake.

Visual Learning: Are You Really What You Wear?

posted Mar 26, 2010

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 a different image of Iran.