Curated OER
Gender Roles: Exposing Stereotypes
A series of activities help middle- and high-schoolers identify and explore gender stereotypes and how they can lead to violence and abuse. Use think-pair-share to activate whole class brainstorming about what it means to "be a man" and...
Southern Poverty Law Center
Analyzing Gender Stereotypes in Media
Why might toy advertisers use gender stereotypes to sell their products? Young people think critically about media messages and its role in gender stereotyping with a thought-provoking lesson.
Curated OER
Beyond Black and White
Students critically examine the portrayal of minorities in video games and other forms of entertainment and assess the role of racial stereotyping. They keep a log of media minority portrayals and respond to their findings.
Curated OER
Gender Roles
Students explore psychology by answering gender study questions. For this sexuality lesson, students discuss the stereotypes often referred to men and woman and what the truth is about their characteristics and abilities. Students...
Curated OER
Say It Like A Character
Young scholars read a story and retell it to the class by role-playing one of the characters. In groups, they use the correct facial expressions along with body language and voice to convince the others in their group that they are...
Ken Taylor
The Stones: Guilty or Not Guilty?
Young drama pupils will perform a number of expressive speaking exercises as they consider the themes of responsibility, consequences, and justice in the very modern Australian play The Stones. With a lot of role playing and...
Curated OER
Casting Doubt: "Color-blind" and Nontraditional Casting Decisions
In his article about color-blind casting entitled, "Willy Loman Is Lost, Still Looking for Stimulus Plan and Some Dignity," Charles Isherwood quotes August Wilson as saying, Â "To mount an all-black production of a 'Death of a Salesman'...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Kate Chopin's The Awakening: Searching for Women and Identity in Chopin's "The Awakening"
The final lesson of a three-part series on Kate Chopin's The Awakening has scholars investigate life as a woman in late nineteenth-century America. They research the role of women in society through the eyes of the characters in the...
Curated OER
Outside the In-Group
Students pretend they are the person who is kept out of a group. As a class, they examine the behaviors of each person in a group situation and discuss how the role-play made them feel. They examine situations in which they kept...
Curated OER
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: Graphic Organizer
After completing the first five chapters of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle By Avi, use direct quotes to make inferences about how Charlotte feels about certain characters. Later, when the novel has concluded, revisit the text to...
Curated OER
Triangles Are Not Bad!
Students investigate stereotypes and diversity by performing a play about shapes entitled, "Triangles Are Not Bad!" They role play as the shapes who each feel they are superior to the rest.
Anti-Defamation League
The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas became a quick hit in the young adult literature genre before its adaptation in the 2018 film of the same name. Use a thorough instructional activity, discussion guide, and series of activities to discuss...
Curated OER
Writing Fiction: Using Older Characters
Out with the old and in with the new? Not so in this lesson plan, which explores the idea of writing older characters in fiction. Students learn the value of varying their characters, exploring different perspectives, and avoiding...
Curated OER
Children's Literature and African American Culture
Third graders examine various stories and poems and identify characteristics that make each individual unique. After analyzing the readings, they create their own personality poems to accompany self-portrait drawings. The poems and...
Curated OER
Alien Visitor's Rewrite
Students role play the role of an alien who analyzes how the media represents the different social groups. In groups, they write their own story in which they add or revise a character to make it non-stereotypical. They share their...
Curated OER
Center Stage -- Focus on the Elderly
Students role play and identify the perspectives of senior citizens. They develop a plan on how to interact with the elderly successfully. They examine children's books on how to relate to the elderly.
The New York Times
Collateral Damage? Researching a Connection Between Video Games and Violence
Hook your class into an exploration of and discussion about violence in video games with a cute animal clip and a video game trailer. After a quick discussion about how media can affect mood, class members read a related article and...
Curated OER
Adbusting: A Media Literacy Unit
Students examine the ethical issues regarding the role of advertising in our society. They watch a series of ads, analyze the messages of the commercials, and in small groups create a counter-ad.
Curated OER
Identity in A Raisin in the Sun
Ninth graders read the play, "A Raisin in the Sun," and participate in a class discussion about "identity." They discuss racial identity and examine and interpret how community influences a personal identity. They demonstrate how...
Curated OER
Courage of the Heart
Middle schoolers research discrimination and how people fought against for the common good. In this discrimination lesson plan, students watch a movie about Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas. Middle schoolers generate a list of words...
Curated OER
Literature: Porgy and Bess
Students examine the various portrayals of African-Americans in literature, focusing on the opera, Porgy and Bess. They conduct Internet research on African-American culture between the two World Wars. Students write fictional or...
Curated OER
To Tell the Truth: Will the Real Warren G. Harding Please Step Forward!
Tenth graders play the role of historians, working to become experts on Warren G. Harding's private and public life. They become contestants in a simulation of the popular 1970s television show "To Tell the Truth".
Curated OER
Women Writers and Dissent in 20th and 21st Century American Literature
Tenth graders read examples of writings by women authors showing their dissent. After completion of their reading, they brainstorm on why they believe female authors have criticized society. In groups, they use the Internet to research...
Curated OER
Dollars and Sense
Fourth graders read "Starting a Business" and answer the question: "How could you design an ad to let the community know about the business described in the story?" Then, they illustrate a written ad that could be posted in the...