Our Names and Our Place in the World
Students consider what parts of our identities we choose for ourselves and what parts are chosen for us, as well as the impact our names can have on our identities.
![A student in conversation with a peer outside of the photograph is in the center of the photo. Another student looks at a laptop.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/ClassroomImage_SFBA_FH152706.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=Ra743RR_)
Contracting for Back to School
Develop a classroom contract to create a brave and reflective community of mutual respect and inclusion.
![Students in classroom](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-07/Students_In_Classroom_2019_FH2101711.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=88A4tcOe)
Building Connections with Concentric Circles
Students build connections with their peers by sharing small details about themselves in paired discussion.
![Uniformed students work together in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Chicago_Classroom_2019_FH2101464.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=eqY000u8)
Create a Goal and Discover Your “Why”
This student goal-setting activity helps students set SMART personal goals for the school year and discover their source of motivation.
![Student raising hand while seated at desk.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/5-1-17FacH07288.jpg?h=99fc88d3&itok=hU3cnDTF)
Pronouncing Names
Students examine the importance of pronouncing names correctly through this class activity.
![Uniformed students in classroom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-07/Classroom_2019_FH2101434.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=9W7VIrQu)
The Holocaust and North Africa: Resistance in the Camps
Students learn the importance of teaching the history of the Holocaust’s impacts on North African communities with a focus on ways in which they resisted oppression.
![A group of boys gather in the Los Arenas camp. One boy stands in the middle holding a rock over his head while others look at him.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-06/788748_lesson3_banner.jpg?h=4c30fefe&itok=NwdVNZXU)
Contextualizing a Found Poem
Students will apply the lessons they have learned about the intersecting histories of wartime North Africa and the Holocaust as they create an artifact that explains the context of the found poems they wrote in Lesson 3.
![An educator leans over a desk speaking with four middle school students.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-06/SL_190523_0921.jpg?h=a49d782d&itok=k-AkPkUV)
Antisemitic Conflation: What Is the Impact of Conflating All Jews with the Actions and Policies of the Israeli Government?
Students start with the universal and move to the particular to learn about conflation as a manifestation of antisemitism.
![A broken window is seen at the center of the Jewish community in Rostock, Northern Germany](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-02/AP090108014177.jpg?h=e012f517&itok=W-33MNGT)
Exploring Identity and Belonging through Poetry
Students prepare a choral reading of a poem about the costs and benefits of fitting in versus standing out in order to introduce the unit’s central topic of belonging.
![Students in classroom](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/FHAO_2019_Summit_044.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=D_qa0YXt)
Identifying and Affirming Core Values
This values-affirmation exercise helps students identify their core values and reflect on how these values impact their sense of belonging.
![Amanda Gorman on stage at the 2021 InStyle Awards At The Getty Center](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/GettyImages-1353568867.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=UxlskjKf)
Fitting In Versus Belonging
Students examine the difference between belonging and fitting in and the ways in which we may sacrifice our values in order to seek acceptance from others.
![A green chameloen poses in green grass](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/pexels-nandhu-kumar-312826.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=Z0IZp6Va)