Verifying Breaking News
Students evaluate the differences among news accounts about Ferguson, develop strategies for verifying news and information, and understand the challenges facing journalists as they cover complex, fast-moving events.
![Reporters conducting an interview.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/iStock-1350663690.jpg?h=62bc044e&itok=TN8_VBij)
Reflecting on Amanda Gorman's "The Hill We Climb"
Use these activities to help students reflect on the themes in Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration Day poem and consider how their unique experiences and voices can help America “forge a union with purpose.”
![Photo of Amanda Gorman at Biden's Inauguration.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/AP_21020703530611_fullres_Medium_res.jpg?h=3a61c815&itok=h5ZfP4Bq)
Exploring Contemporary Experiences of Policing and Racial Injustice
In this mini-lesson, students use their head, heart, and conscience to engage with six sources that reflect a range of experiences with policing.
![Police Car.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/TI3_iStock-172192574_full-res.jpg?h=dbfb23f9&itok=rFZal30E)
The 1968 East LA School Walkouts
Students learn about education, identity, and activism through an exploration of the East Los Angeles school walkouts, when thousands of students protested unequal educational opportunities for Mexican American students.
![John Ortiz, Mexican-American student leader at James A. Garfield High School, addressing assembled students during a walkout.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1968_LAStudentWalkoutatGarfieldHigh_FH2169821.jpg?h=61a57aa7&itok=I40HzuJ5)
California Grape Workers’ Strike: 1965–66
Students explore the first year of the Delano grape strike, when grape workers in California's San Joaquin Valley went on strike to demand higher wages and better work conditions.
![Dolores Huerta and others hold up "Huelga" signs as part of the grape strike.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1965_GrapeStrikeDelanoCalifornia_FH2121754.jpg?h=ae158943&itok=JphiCAwe)
LGBTQIA+ History and Why It Matters
Students learn about two millennia of LGBTQIA+ history and reflect on how that history is represented in their textbooks and curricula.
![Pride Day Parade in Calgary, Alberta Canada](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/2018_PrideDayParadeinCalgaryAlbertaCanada_FH2166958.jpg?h=54d1c1f1&itok=f7Rx8u3q)
Free and Fair Elections: Why Do They Matter?
This mini-lesson uses our Free and Fair Elections explainer to help students reflect on the importance of elections, define the phrase “free and fair elections,” and learn about electoral systems in their region.
![Hand putting Jefferson County Colorado election ballot envelope into ballot drop box in early voting mail election](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/TIFreeFairElections_iStock-1209551764_fullres.jpg?h=62bc044e&itok=S4Nqqy5G)
Understanding and Assessing the UK’s Democracy
Use this lesson to deepen students’ understanding of the concept of democracy, provide a framework for assessing a democracy’s health, and explore the strengths and weaknesses of the UK’s parliamentary democracy.
![A birds eye view of London, United Kingdom.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/paul-silvan-Nv1-l_xZnV4-unsplash_banner.jpg?h=79aa1f20&itok=EZyyAjHN)
Connecting to the Past
Students read personal essays that illuminate how the choices made by our families and previous generations influence who we are today.
![One student talks while others listen.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/SL_190523_0544.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=sAQTnjrF)
Finding Your Voice
Students reflect on what "American" means to them and are introduced to the idea that the United States is the product of many individual voices and stories.
![The “Flag of Faces” exhibit at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum features a mosaic of individual portraits.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Flag_of_Faces_Medium_res.jpg?h=7fb2964e&itok=NLw_pw22)
Identity and Choices
Students consider their own agency in creating their identities through choices made about who we are and how we present ourselves.
![Bayeté Ross Smith’s 2010 series "Our Kind of People" examines how clothing, ethnicity, and gender influence our ideas about identity, personality, and character.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2010_OurKindofPeoplecombined_FH2170284.jpg?h=52649bae&itok=_jsHfuii)