Group Membership and Belonging
Students examine the human need to belong and how it impacts the behaviors and decisions people make when seeking group membership.
![Students holds paper in classroom](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/facing-history-sf-drew-bird-a-115_0.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=1lpsQUqa)
The Dangers of Being an Outsider
Students analyze a clip of poet Ada Limón on The Slowdown podcast and a poem by Hazem Fahmy to consider what’s at stake when someone is perceived as an outsider.
![Students in classroom (FH2109016)](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/FHAO_2019_Summit_063.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=ckoicFZO)
Navigating Social Hierarchies
Students analyze a short story by Misa Sugiura to consider the invisible barriers that divide “in” and “out” groups and how our efforts to seek belonging can conflict with our values.
![Students in classroom](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/FHAO_2019_Summit_093.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=WZKVs69w)
Negotiating Belonging in Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime
Students analyze a chapter from Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime to consider how cultural, linguistic, and racial borders influence one’s sense of belonging.
![Student writes on Starburst Identity Chart](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/230913-0035.jpg?h=2cea9ccb&itok=cXvQBaaF)
Belonging on Your Own Terms
Students explore what it means to seek belonging on their own terms, and in alignment with their values, by reading and discussing personal narrative essays.
![Students discuss in classroom](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/20150813_TreyClark_0193.jpg?h=c6cb2754&itok=B5zupv_3)
From Fitting In to Belonging Assessment Ideas
Create a culminating experience for your students that helps them draw new connections between the concepts and ideas presented in this text set, themselves, and the world today.
![Yellow hexagons](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/pexels-andreea-ch-11889329.jpg?h=fa1456f8&itok=Sa5Hkwjb)
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)
ELA Unit Planning Guide
This guide provides the framework and classroom resources to help you design an English Language Arts unit for middle or high school students centered around a book of your choosing.
![Three educators smile while sitting together working.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/Facing-History_SJLA_015_edit.jpg?h=c7420dc8&itok=PlL1FQ9c)
Teach with Facing History ELA Learning Experiences
Each of our learning experiences provides activities and resources to explore a core Facing History concept or theme while building key literacy skills.
![Student work together in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Classroom_Discussion_Los_Angeles_SJLA_2018_FH287382.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=--xgunus)
Coming of Age in a Complex World: A Mini-Course for ELA Educators
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Registration for this event is now closed. Explore hands-on strategies to teach coming-of-age texts and literature, centering students’ identities and lived experiences as young adults.
![A women concentrates at a table while working on a handout](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-11/Facing-History_SJLA_165.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=Ow7ferS5)
28 Social-Emotional Learning Activities for the Classroom
Use these simple social-emotional learning activities to incorporate SEL in your lesson plans and classroom routines.
![Two women in discussion.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/076_Bully_Summit%2C_2012%2C_LA%2C_078.jpg?h=4997dc06&itok=KLLmzTIA)