Democracy & Citizenship
Teaching Activity PDFs
Re-examining the Revolution
Background Reading PDF. By Ray Raphael. 7 pages.
Based on his book Founding Myths, Raphael critiques the textbook portrayal of the American Revolution. The textbooks say that “a few special people forged American freedom” which “misrepresents, and even contradicts, the spirit of the American Revolution.”
Constitution Role Play: Whose “More Perfect Union”? and The Constitutional Convention: Who Really Won?
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 23 pages.
A role play on the issues involved with the framing of the Constitution.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class
Rethinking the U.S. Constitutional Convention: A Role Play
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bob Peterson. 14 pages.
A role play on the Constitutional Convention which brings to life the social forces active during and immediately following the American Revolution with focus on two key topics: suffrage and slavery. An elementary school adapation of the Constitution Role Play by Bill Bigelow.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Slavery, Women's History
The Cherokee/Seminole Removal Role Play
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 10 pages.
Role play on the Cherokee-Seminole removal or Trail of Tears.
Democracy & Citizenship, Native American, Racism & Racial Identity
Seneca Falls, 1848: Women Organize for Equality
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
A role play allows students to examine issues of race and class when exploring both the accomplishments and limitations of the Seneca Falls Convention.
Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Women's History
‘If There Is No Struggle…’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 16 pages.
A role play putting students in the position of abolitionist groups working together to end slavery.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery
A War to Free the Slaves?
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
Students examine excerpts from Lincoln’s first inaugural address, the rarely mentioned original Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution that Lincoln promised to support, and the Emancipation Proclamation to explore some of the myths about the Civil War.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery
The Draft Riot Mystery
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 9 pages.
Students are invited to solve a mystery, using historical clues, about the real story of the Draft Riots.
Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
One Country! One Language! One Flag!
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 3 pages.
Discussion questions and teaching ideas for examining the history of the Pledge of Allegiance and the political milieu in which it was written.
Testing, Tracking, and Toeing the Line: A Role Play on the Origins of the Modern High School
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 13 pages.
A role play on the origins of the modern high school.
Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Immigration, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Learning About the Unfairgrounds: A 4th-Grade Teacher Introduces Her Students to Executive Order 9066
Teaching Activity PDF. By Katie Baydo-Reed. 10 pages.
Students hold a “tea party” and a mock trial to connect with a challenging novel.
Asian American, Criminal Justice, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
A Lesson on the Japanese American Internment
Teaching Activity PDF. By Mark Sweeting. 4 pages.
How one teacher engaged his students in a critical examination of the language used in textbooks to describe the internment.
Asian American, Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
The Other Internment: Teaching the Hidden Story of Japanese Latin Americans During WWII
Teaching Activity PDF. By Moé Yonamine. 18 pages.
Poetry, photography, and text are used in this role play to teach about the often untold history of Japanese Latin American internment during WWII.
Asian American, Civil Rights Movements, Criminal Justice, Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies
Bush II and the “War on Terror”
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 18 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 24 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on George W. Bush, the “War on Terror,” Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Patriot Act.
Democracy & Citizenship, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
The Carter–Reagan–Bush Consensus
Teaching Activity PDF. By Ron Perry. 16 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 21 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the recently rising disparities in power, wealth and quality of life in America.
The Early Women’s Movement
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 6 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the early women’s movement, including their efforts for social, racial, and political equality.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Women's History
Half a Revolution
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 16 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 5 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the Revolutionary War as “a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight,” as well as the failure of early Americans to complete a full revolution.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Social Class
Losing Control in the 1970s
Teaching Activity PDF. By Jennifer Rosebrook. 16 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 20 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the legacy of scandal since the end of the Vietnam War and the Watergate break-in.
Democracy & Citizenship, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Preparing the Revolution
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 15 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 4 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on class differences and internal dissent before and during the Revolutionary War.
Servitude and Rebellion
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olsen-Raymer. 15 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 3 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the role and dissent of indentured servants in American colonial history.
Socialists and Wobblies
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 13 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the labor movement at the turn of the century.
Women, Gays, and Other Voices of Resistance
Teaching Activity PDF. By Jack Bareilles. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 19 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the emergence and legacy of the 1960s counterculture, as well as the movements it helped create.
Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, LGBT, Women's History
World War II and McCarthyism
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 19 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 16 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on domestic opposition to the “good war” and the impact of McCarthyism.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Teaching Guides
Freedom’s Unfinished Revolution: An Inquiry Into the Civil War and Reconstruction
Teaching Guide. By ASHP with foreword by Eric Foner. 1996. 302 pages.
Primary documents, essays and questions to teach the untold story of Reconstruction.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
On Coal River
Film and Teaching Guide. Directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood. 2010. 81 minutes.
This free film takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into a community surrounded by a looming toxic threat. The film follows a former coal miner and his neighbors in a struggle for the future of their valley and the planet.
Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Environment & Food, Social Class
Workplace Issues and Collective Bargaining in the Classroom
Teaching Guide. By Linda Tubach and Patty Litwin. 2008.
A role play and simulation curriculum on labor relations for Secondary Social Studies.
Books: Fiction
Catch a Tiger by the Toe
Book – Fiction. By Ellen Levine. 2005. 176 pages.
A historical novel for middle school on McCarthyism.
Democracy & Citizenship, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Media
Crow
Book – Fiction. By Barbarba Wright. 2012. 304 pages.
A Reconstruction era African American community violently loses its freedom in turn of the century North Carolina.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Media
Books: Non-Fiction
Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues
Book – Non-fiction. By Bill Moyers and edited by Michael Winship. 2011. 608 pages.
Fifty interviews with political figures, writers, activists, poets, and scholars.
Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968
Book – Non-fiction. By Stephen Lawson and Charles Payne. 2006. 227 pages.
Introduces and examines the complex story of the modern Civil Rights Movement as it should be taught, providing key background information and analysis for teachers.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord
Book – Non-fiction. By Ray Raphael. 2003. 288 pages.
The events leading up to the American Revolution.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past
Book – Non-fiction. By Ray Raphael. 2004. 368 pages.
Myths and the reasons that they have come to replace the real stories of the Revolutionary period.
Heroes of the Environment: True Stories of People Who are Helping to Protect our Planet
Book – Non-fiction. By Harriet Rohmer. 2009. 109 pages.
Presents the true stories of twelve people across North America who are challenging environmental devastation. Written for middle school readers.
The Historic Unfulfilled Promise
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2012. 184 pages.
Compilation of articles Zinn penned for The Progressive magazine from 1980 to 2009.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Howard Zinn on History
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. Introduction by Staughton Lynd. 2011. 192 pages.
Zinn explores the powerful question, “Have we reached a point in history where we are ready to embrace a new way of living in the world, expanding not our military power, but our humanity?”
Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Howard Zinn on Race
Book – Non-fiction. 2011. By Howard Zinn. Introduction by Cornel West. 192 pages. Includes some never before published writings, speeches and interviews that illustrate the evolution and fundamental prinicples around the story of race in the United States.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity
I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle
Book – Non-fiction. By Charles M. Payne. 1995. 506 pages.
The people’s history of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Organizing
The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World
Book – Non-fiction. By John Carlos and Dave Zirin. Foreword by Cornel West. 2011. 220 pages.
Written for grades 7+, this biography of John Carlos recounts his childhood, his legendary act of courage at the ’68 Olympics, and the backlash.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, Sports
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
Book – Non-fiction. By James W. Loewen. 2007. 464 pages.
Provides a detailed survey of twelve leading high school history textbooks.
Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, US Foreign Policy
Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi
Book – Non-fiction. By John Dittmer. 1995. 560 pages.
A detailed, grassroots description of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Book – Non-Fiction. By Paulo Freire. 1968. 192 pages.
Classic text on critical pedagogy.
A People’s History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence
Book – Non-fiction. By Ray Raphael. Series editor: Howard Zinn. 2002. 528 pages.
Using hundreds of primary sources, this book tells the more accurate, populist, complicated, and interesting story of the American Revolution.
Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Individuals in US History, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2005. 702 pages.
Howard Zinn’s groundbreaking work on U.S. history. This book details the lives and facts that are rarely included in textbooks — an indispensable teacher and student resource.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Education, Immigration, Imperialism, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
A Place at the Table: Struggles for Equality in America
Book – Non-fiction. By Maria Fleming. 2002. 152 pages.
A booklet with stories for middle school readers on repression and resistance throughout U.S. history.
Right to Ride: Streetcar Boycotts and African American Citizenship in the Era of Plessy v. Ferguson
Book – Non-fiction. By Blair L.M. Kelley. 2010. 280 pages.
Examines acts of protest and resistance to segregated trains and streetcars during the early Jim Crow era.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship
Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and A New Path Toward Social Justice
Book – Non-fiction. By Bill Fletcher, Jr. and Fernando Gapasin 2009. 304 pages.
A critical examination of labor’s current crisis and a plan for social justice in the twenty-first century.
Teaching Global History: A Social Studies Approach
Book – Non-fiction. By Alan J. Singer. 2011. 206 pages.
A guide that proposes another way to teach history from a global perspective.
Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Imperialism, World History/Global Studies
Films
Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation
Film. By Na Maka o ka `Aina. 1993. 58 min.
A comprehensive documentary that focuses on the events surrounding the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.
Democracy & Citizenship, Pacific Islander, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Bartolomé de las Casas: “Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account”
Bartolome de las Casas’ “Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account” (1542) read by John Sayles, Viggo Mortensen, and Staceyann Chin. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Chief Joseph: “Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C.”
Chief Joseph’s “Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C.” (1879), read by Q’Orianka Kilcher. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Democracy & Citizenship, Environment & Food, Native American
Chisholm ’72 – Unbought and Unbossed
DVD. By Shola Lynch. 2004. 76 min.
Documentary about Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and her campaign to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in 1972.
Cindy Sheehan: “It’s Time for the Antiwar Choir Started Singing”
Cindy Sheehan’s “It’s Time the Antiwar Choir Started Singing” (2005) is read by Marisa Tomei and Staceyann Chin. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Democracy & Citizenship, Imperialism, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
Frederick Douglass: “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”
Film clip. Frederick Douglass “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” (1851) is read by Danny Glover. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity
Henry McNeal Turner: “Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature.”
Film clip. Henry McNeal Turner’s “Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature” (1968), read by Danny Glover. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Slavery
The Insular Empire: America in the Mariana Islands
Film. Directed by Vanessa Warheit. 2009. 60 minutes.
Documentary about U.S. colonies in the western Pacific.
Democracy & Citizenship, Imperialism, Pacific Islander, US Foreign Policy, World History/Global Studies
Langston Hughes: “Ballad of Roosevelt.”
Film clip. Langston Hughes’ “Ballad of Roosevelt” (1934), read by Danny Glover. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Malcolm X: “Message to the Grass Roots”
Film clip.
Malcolm X, “Message to the Grass Roots” (1963), read by Mos Def. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship
Matewan
Film. Written and directed by John Sayles. 1987. 132 minutes.
A feature film depicting a strike in a mining town in Appalachia and the struggle for solidarity across racial lines.
On Coal River
Film and Teaching Guide. Directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood. 2010. 81 minutes.
This free film takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into a community surrounded by a looming toxic threat. The film follows a former coal miner and his neighbors in a struggle for the future of their valley and the planet.
Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Environment & Food, Social Class
Orlando and Phyllis Rodriguez: “Not In Our Son’s Name”
Film clip. Orlando and Phyllis Rodriguez’s “Not In Our Son’s Name” (2001) is read by Benjamin Bratt.
From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Sam Cooke: A Change is Gonna Come
Film clip. Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” (1964), is performed by Allison Moorer. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
African American, Art & Music, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights
The Times of Harvey Milk
Film. Directed by Rob Epstein. 1984. 90 minutes.
Documentary on the political career and assassination of Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s first openly gay supervisor.
Yuri Kochiyama: “Then Came the War”
Yuri Kochiyama, “Then Came the War” (1991) is read by Deepa Fernandes and Sandra Oh. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Websites
African American Involvement in the Vietnam War
Website.
Resources by and about African-Americans’ contributions in the Vietnam War, from the perspectives of those who served in the war to those who protested the war.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Remembering 1882: Fighting for Civil Rights in the Shadow of the Chinese Exclusion Act
Website.
Primary documents, historical background, and more on the Chinese Exclusion Act and the history of Chinese American struggles for civil rights.
Asian American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Racism & Racial Identity
Tracked in America
Website.
Explores the historical context and stories of individuals who have been targets of U.S. government surveillance during the 20th century.
Voices of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Website.
Video interviews & articles telling the first hand stories of 27 individuals who participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights
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