This page provides information about a group of powerful resources that can aid any educator's journey toward making their classroom more effective and equitable. Keep coming back! New resources will be added regularly.
See below for the following resources by subject:
lesson plans, curriculum guides, video links, fellowship/grant information, book suggestions, websites/blogs/podcasts, and articles.
PBS - Holiday Classroom Resources and Lesson Plans
Here, PBS provides a collection of resources (videos, games, brochures, etc.) regarding holidays. Get to know the history and significance behind these U.S. holidays (and more!) with this site. Some resources are pretty rich, others, thin. Yet the information they provide is valuable nonetheless.
https://pba.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/holidays
The History Channel - Holidays
Here, the History Chanel provides video information about various holidays. Still not a really diverse presentation, but good information nonetheless and more diverse than the resource above.
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays
Teaching Juneteenth
This lesson plan examines the celebration marking a day in 1865 when enslaved Texans learned they’d be free—two months after Robert E. Lee surrendered and ended the Civil War and two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Lessons about Juneteenth should recognize the challenges that those who fight injustice have always faced, but they shouldn’t place a singular focus on the tragedy of enslavement. Students, particularly Black students, can find empowerment in a lesson celebrating culture, activism, and the humanity of a people.
https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/teaching-juneteenth
U. Mass Amherst: Heritage Months
See this awesome list of anti-racism resources from U.Mass Amherst including links to resources regarding Disability Awareness Month, Black Heritage/History Month, and Women's History Month. Additional commemorative monthly pages will be added throughout the year.
Veterans Day
Students can learn about the 442nd Battalion (Japanese Nisei soldiers and the most decorated regiment in US history) and Filipino American soldiers during WWII. Senator Daniel Inouye is a WWII vet (children's book), who lost his arm in combat, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, and a legislator who fought for Civil Rights and LGBTQ rights.
K-2 Book Resource List for Ramadan, Holi, Lunar New Year, etc.
*I will note that teachers should not call Lunar New Year Chinese New Year unless they are speaking specifically of how it is celebrated by the Chinese diaspora. A common mistake made in 2021 in our schools that was corrected by parents.