Social Class
Teaching Activity PDFs
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
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
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
Hunger on Trial: An Activity on the Irish Potato Famine and Its Meaning for Today
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 5 pages.
Role play in the form of a trial to determine who was responsible for the death of Irish peasants during the potato famine.
Environment & Food, Immigration, Social Class, World History/Global Studies
Daughter of Earth: Reading, Writing, and Social Class
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
Lewis Hine’s Photographs
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson. 4 pages.
Using photographs to spark creative writing and critical thinking about child labor issues and social justice.
Art & Music, Immigration, Labor, Media, Social Class, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
The Singing Strike and the Rebel Students: Learning from the Industrial Workers of the World
Reading for Teachers PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
Author describes how students applied strategies from the Lawrence strike to their own present day activism.
The Black Upsurge Against Racial Segregation
Teaching Activity PDF. By Tasha Boettcher. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 17 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the long Civil Rights Movement in America.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
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.
Civil War and Class Conflict
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 16 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 10 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on “The Other Civil War” – the class conflict fought by the poor in the north and south.
From the Jazz Age to the Uprisings of the 1930s
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 20 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 15 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the economic and social realities of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as the corresponding rise of unions and the Communist Party.
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
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.
Salt of the Earth: Grounds Students in Hope
Teaching Activity PDF. By S.J. Childs. 6 pages.
The author describes how she introduces students to the classic 1953 film Salt of the Earth about a miners’ strike in New Mexico.
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.
Strikers and Populists in the Golden Age
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 18 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 11 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the Gilded Age.
Vietnam and Beyond: The Historic Resistance
Teaching Activity PDF. By Mike Benbow and Robin Pickering. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 18 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on opposition to the Vietnam War.
Imperialism, Social Class, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Teaching Guides
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
Books: Fiction
A Moment in the Sun
Book – Fiction. By John Sayles. 2011. 968 pages.
Spanning five years and half a dozen countries, Sayles’ novel paints a picture of the late 1890s — from the racist coup in Wilmington, North Carolina, to the bloody dawn of U.S. interventionism in Cuba and the Philippines.
Scraps of Time: Abby Takes a Stand, 1960
Book – Fiction. By Patricia McKissack. 2006. 112 pages. For ages 9+.
Historical fiction about the lunch counter sit-ins.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Books: Non-Fiction
Bread & Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American Dream
Book – Non-fiction. By Bruce Watson. 2006. 352 pages.
The riveting story of one of the most remarkable strikes in U.S. history.
Immigration, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Social Class, Women's History
A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America
Book – Non-fiction. By Ronald Takaki. 2008. 560 pages.
A multicultural history of America, in the voices of Native Americans, African Americans, Jews, Irish Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and others.
African American, Asian American, Immigration, Labor, Latino, Native American, Pacific Islander, Social Class
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
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
Book – Non-fiction. By Barbara Ehrenreich. 2008. 256 pages.
Undercover journalism exposing hard realities of life for the working poor.
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 Power Governments Cannot Suppress
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2006. 293 pages.
A collection of essays on American history, class, immigration, justice, and ordinary citizens who have made a difference.
Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South
Book – Non-fiction (with CD). Edited by William H. Chafe, Raymond Gavins and Robert Korstad. 2008. 346 pages.
African American, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Which Side Are You On? The Story of A Song
Book – Non-fiction. By George Ella Lyon. Artwork by Christopher Cardinale. 2011. 40 pages.
This children’s book tells the story of a classic union song written in 1931 and the harsh conditions under which it was written.
Films
Chávez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story
Film. By Jordan Mechner. 2004. 26 minutes.
A documentary about the politics and economics of land in the U.S., based on the story of a Mexican American village razed in the 1950s to build Dodger Stadium.
Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train – DVD
Film. By Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller. 2010. 78 minutes.
Documentary on life and work of Howard Zinn.
Individuals in US History, Labor, Organizing, Social Class, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
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
Parent Power
Film. Produced by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown Univ. 2011. 35 minutes.
A documentary about parents in the Bronx who organized to bring high-quality education to their neighborhood.
African American, Education, Latino, Organizing, Social Class
Roger and Me
Film. Directed by Michael Moore.1989. 91 minutes.
Documentary chronicling the efforts of the world’s largest corporation, General Motors, as it turns its hometown of Flint, Michigan, into a ghost town.
When the Levees Broke – A Requiem in Four Acts
Film. By Spike Lee. 2006. 256 minutes.
Spike Lee’s masterful 4-part, 4-hour documentary on Hurricane Katrina.
Picture Books
Which Side Are You On? The Story of A Song
Book – Non-fiction. By George Ella Lyon. Artwork by Christopher Cardinale. 2011. 40 pages.
This children’s book tells the story of a classic union song written in 1931 and the harsh conditions under which it was written.
Posters
Social Stratification in the United States
Poster and book. By Stephen J. Rose. 2007. 56 pages.
Visual representation of the distribution of wealth in the United States.
Songs and Poems
Chavez Ravine: a record by Ry Cooder
Songs. By Ry Cooder. 2005.
The story of the Chicano community bulldozed to pave the way for the Dodger Stadium in Santa Monica, told through bilingual songs.
When the Hunger Was Upon Us
By Nigel Gray
Poem about the causes and impact of the Irish Potato Famine.
Environment & Food, Social Class, World History/Global Studies
Which Side Are You On? The Story of A Song
Book – Non-fiction. By George Ella Lyon. Artwork by Christopher Cardinale. 2011. 40 pages.
This children’s book tells the story of a classic union song written in 1931 and the harsh conditions under which it was written.
Spanish/Bilingual
Chavez Ravine: a record by Ry Cooder
Songs. By Ry Cooder. 2005.
The story of the Chicano community bulldozed to pave the way for the Dodger Stadium in Santa Monica, told through bilingual songs.
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