TOP PICKS | 29 TOOLS
Civil Rights and Social Justice Resources for Classrooms
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Anti-Defamation League
Toolkit equips teachers to tackle bias with ready-to-go resources
Bottom line: This site fuses meaningful curricular connections between challenging current events and class content, and is a helpful go-to for teaching tough issues.
Teaching Tolerance
Thought-provoking classroom resources support diversity education
Bottom line: It's an invaluable teacher tool to help reduce prejudice and encourage tolerance in schools, as well as within society as a whole.
Library of Congress
Visit our largest library's online collection of multimedia goodies
Bottom line: The Library of Congress delivers the best of America's past and present, but teacher scaffolding needed
Critical Media Project
Relevant media clips get students examining identity, culture
Bottom line: Teachers will need to take time to build effective lessons, but if they do, this is a useful, relevant, high-interest resource for deconstructing identity and building critical thinking and empathy skills.
EDSITEment
Extensive humanities resource offers deep well of great content
Bottom line: The National Endowment for the Humanities has put together an outstanding place for art, history, language, and literature.
National Archives
Access U.S. history with treasure trove of docs, genealogy, and other resources
Bottom line: NARA's website wasn't designed for kids, but they can definitely use it to research and learn about history, genealogy, and the U.S. population and government.
Digital Public Library of America
Organized digital library features piles of useful primary resources
Bottom line: DPLA is at the top of the list of high-grade, online primary source collections if teachers make effective use of what's on offer.
My Hero
Global community of storytellers share inspiring examples of humanity
Bottom line: Free resource that teaches kids about all kinds of heroism, gives them skills to tell stories, and offers a platform to share them.
American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Comprehensive collection of public radio and television broadcasts
Bottom line: A valuable resource for teachers who want to incorporate multimedia into their curricula.
Annenberg Classroom
Civics website makes teaching the Constitution manageable, meaningful
Bottom line: Go for the videos, stay for the lessons: Annenberg Classroom saves teachers' prep time when teaching the Constitution, current events, or other civics lessons.
Do I Have a Right?
Law sim lets players practice pairing rights with amendments
Bottom line: Standout iCivics title helps learners new to the U.S. Constitution get great practice matching amendments to individuals' rights, and have good fun doing it.
Facing History and Ourselves
A wealth of resources explore racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism
Bottom line: These valuable materials empower students to understand and address difficult ethical choices -- past and present.
Ken Burns
Dynamic video clips explore cultural themes throughout U.S. history
Bottom line: A huge time-saver and an effective way to share Ken Burns' brilliant documentaries with students.
The Knotted Line
Unique, artistic timeline lets kids explore freedom in U.S. history
Bottom line: Students will benefit from this eye-opening and interactive approach to studying history.
Newseum
Media museum's site offers timely resources mixing history and civics
Bottom line: Filled with primary sources, daily content, and lesson plans, this is a valuable site teaching news and media literacy, especially the value of a free and independent press.
That's Your Right
Card game gets students to wield the power of the Bill of Rights
Bottom line: This is a high-quality, surprisingly fun way to see how the Bill of Rights relates to everyday situations.
YR Media
Dynamic site harnesses creative young talent to speak truth to power
Bottom line: This fresh and socially aware website will draw students in with catchy -- often controversial -- topics, but keep them there with quality content.
Zinn Education Project
Resources, lessons help teach a more inclusive version of U.S. history
Bottom line: Free downloadable resources encourage critical thinking and active learning in search of a more accurate picture of American history.
IWitness
Explore survivor testimony with lessons, video on teacher-geared site
Bottom line: IWitness allows students to reflect upon the past, looking toward today’s values and society. Students build knowledge about the past using a dynamic, specific tool.
Stanford History Education Group
High-quality, document-based lessons spark stellar historical inquiry
Bottom line: A gold mine of cross-curricular literacy lessons that encourage sound, research-backed strategies for reading, analysis, and critical thinking.
Voices of Democracy
Vast collection of primary source documents a solid starting point
Bottom line: A great place to begin when you want to make history feel more real, but "begin" is the operative word; plan on creating your own scaffolding.
Constitute
Extensive, highly searchable collection of the world's constitutions
Bottom line: Quickly and easily access almost any country's constitution, locate an excerpt, or compare governments.
K-TOWN'92
LA riot videos shake up dominant narrative
Bottom line: This artful re-examination of the '92 LA riot can offer new insights and diverse perspectives, if students don't get too lost in the design.
Liyla and the Shadows of War
Stark, arresting game offers emotional perspective on war's human toll
Bottom line: The short length and powerful themes make this an effective way to help students consider the brutal effects of war on families.
Parable of the Polygons
Dynamic interactive helps classrooms explore topics of bias, diversity
Bottom line: A fascinating way to address how communities become segregated due to individual bias.
The Republia Times
Unassuming editorial sim elegantly exposes the business of bias
Bottom line: What this game lacks in pizzazz it makes up for in smarts, and it's certain to get students thinking and talking about bias and media politics.
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
Deep, complex database is challenging but a peerless research tool
Bottom line: This is a highly academic site for better and for worse; it's filled with deep, research-backed resources and primary sources but is intimidating without clear guidance.
The 1619 Project
Striking resources can add depth, rigor to lessons on slavery's legacy
Bottom line: These high-level materials will add depth and context to lessons about slavery, but they need scaffolding to connect with students.
