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)
Forging Jewish Identity as a Minority
This two-day lesson introduces students to the richness and complexity of Jewish identity.
![Transgender and non-binary teen friends hanging out at home.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-11/JEPlesson1.jpg?h=a49d782d&itok=Iq4Euu9Q)
Monuments to Japanese American Incarceration
Students analyze monuments to Japanese American incarceration and consider the purpose and emotional impact of these monuments.
![Japanese Incarceration Monument](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-11/JapaneseIncarcerationMonument1.jpg?h=91ceaae5&itok=xzAXeBLF)
Words Matter: Listening to Survivors about Language for Describing Japanese American Incarceration
Students contrast the language that the US government used to describe Japanese incarceration in the 1940s with the language recommended by contemporary survivors’ groups.
![Members Of The Mochida Family Awaiting Evacuation](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-11/Photograph_of_Members_of_the_Mochida_Family_Awaiting_Evacuation_NARA_537505_Restoration.jpg?h=8bdc8e92&itok=wap_KUmV)
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)
Stranger at the Gate Viewing Guide
Bring the short documentary film Stranger at the Gate into your classroom with the streaming video and companion guide of discussion questions and activities.
![Stranger at the Gate press image Smartypants.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-04/Stranger-085.jpg?h=f54bfa0f&itok=6HJSEUAP)
Teaching Strategies
Use our student-centered teaching strategies to strengthen your students’ literacy skills, nurture critical thinking, and build a respectful and collaborative classroom community.
![An educator walks through instructions for a teaching strategy procedure with students.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/Teaching_Strategies_hero.jpeg?h=78a3dfb3&itok=p8BXuMQa)
Expressing Diversity in Jewish Identity: Blending In and Standing Out
This two-day lesson uses the story of Purim as a frame to examine how Jews have preserved and protected their identities and culture in dominant societies by choosing when to blend in and when to stand out.
![A Jewish family pictured in Yemen](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/GettyImages-607446350.jpg?h=eec5a94e&itok=ZTRvXmoY)
A Part and Apart: Inclusion and Exclusion in Our Jewish Communities
Students consider the benefits and challenges of identity labeling and their identity experiences within and outside their Jewish communities.
Being Jewish in the United States
Explore the complexity of Jewish identity with reflections from three teenagers about what being Jewish means to them.
![A woman and a child light a candle as their family gathers during the Passover Seder.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Ch01_Image04_Medium_res.jpg?h=0429cc9e&itok=d2t6Z_O3)
Being Jewish in the United States (en español)
Explore the complexity of Jewish identity with reflections from three teenagers about what being Jewish means to them. This resource is in Spanish.
![A woman and a child light a candle as their family gathers during the Passover Seder.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Ch01_Image04_Medium_res.jpg?h=0429cc9e&itok=d2t6Z_O3)