Resources for Teaching About Race and Social Justice

We've compiled the following lesson plans, teaching ideas, discussion guides and online resources to help teachers address the crucial issues of racial equity and social justice in the classroom. Materials are linked by grade level, and resources for teaching about Juneteeth can also be found below. 

General Resources:

Multiple grade levels

• Creating Change Through Action from the National Civil Rights Museum

• Black History Month resource guide, Center for Racial Justice

• Black Lives Matter at School 

• AFT Share my Lesson: Teaching about Race & Racism

• Celebrate Black History, Culture & Identity from Google 

• Photos from the Civil Rights Movement, online exhibition

• How to Discuss Current Events with Children, from the Anti-Defamation League

• Talking about Tragedies & News Events

• Tips for Talking about Tragedy from the Mayo Clinic

Grades K-5

• Teaching Tolerance: How Do We Create Equity?
  (Register for a free account to access lessons)

• K-5 Lessons Plans from Teach Resistance

• Exploring Identity through Diversity
  (Register for a free account to access lessons)

• Video Read Aloud: "Something Happened in Our Town"

• Book List from Raising Race Conscious Children

• Social Justice Poems for Kids

• Teaching Young Children about Race

• Discussing Race and Racism in the Classroom

Grades 6-8

• Video series: What is Systemic Racism?

• AFT- Share My Lesson: The Death of George Floyd and Protests Across the U.S.

• Don’t Say Nothing - Discussing Race with Students

• Social Justice Issues Collection from the AFT

• After Charlottesville - How Symbols of the Past Affects the Present

• The Unequal Race: from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

• Resources from the National Council of Teachers of English

Grades 9-12

• Segregation: From Jim Crow to Linda Brown, Library of Congress

• Facing History's Reflecting on George Floyd's Death

• The Color Line: the Origins of Racism in the United States
  (Register for a free account to access lessons)

• Plotting Inequalities, Building Resistance: Students Use Math to Reflect on Social Inequality
  (Register for a free account to access lessons)

• Facing Ferguson: a Media Study

• Understanding Bias from the National Museum of African-American History & Culture

• "I Can't Breathe" - Lesson from the NY Times Learning Network

• What is the School-to-Prison Pipeline?

Resources for Teaching About Juneteenth

• PBS Learning - Juneteenth: All About the Holidays (VIDEO)
  Grades K-5
• Teaching Tolerance: Strategies for Teaching about Juneteenth
  All levels - (Free login required to view lessons)
• National Civil Rights Museum: Juneteenth for Mazie
  Read Aloud & Activity - Elementary grade levels
• Utah Education Network: Juneteenth Teaching Resources
  Multiple Grade Levels
• Juneteenth Resources from Issaquah School District (WA)
  Multiple Grade Levels
• PBS “Juneteenth Jamboree” (VIDEO)
  Upper elementary grade levels and above
• We Are Teachers: Juneteenth Teaching Resources
  Grades K-8
• Flocabulary Juneteenth Video & Resources
  (Sign up for free trial to access teaching resources)
• Teaching Tolerance Juneteenth Learning Plan
  (Free login required to view lessons) - Grade Level 6-8
• New Victory Theater Arts Break: Honoring & Celebrating Juneteenth 
  Recommended ages 7-15
• Zinn Education Project - Juneteenth Emancipation Day
  (Free login required to download lessons) - Middle School and Up
• Free Library of Philadelphia - Juneteenth Books for Children
  Early readers and elementary grade levels