- Zinn Education Project

Promoting Social Imagination Through Interior Monologues

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. 3 pages.
Empathy, or "social imagination," allows students to connect to "the other" with whom, on the surface, they may appear to have little in common.

Teaching Activity by Linda Christensen

Salt of the Earth: Grounds Students in Hope

Teaching Activity. By S. J. Childs. Rethinking Schools. 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.

The Politics of Children’s Literature: What’s Wrong with the Rosa Parks Myth

Article. By Herbert Kohl. Rethinking Schools.
A critical analysis that challenges the myths in children's books about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Daughter of Earth: Reading, Writing, and Social Class

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
Students read a poignant excerpt from Agnes Smedley's novel, Daughter of Earth, and use it to think and write about how schooling—their own included—teaches lessons about social class.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Lawrence, 1912: The Singing Strike

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond.
Role play on the 1912 Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, Mass.

Teaching Activity by Norm Diamond

Standing on My Sisters’ Shoulders

Film. By Joan Sadoff, Robert Sadoff, and Laura Lipson. 2002. 60 minutes.
Documentary film on women in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

500 Years of Chicana Women’s History

Book — Non-fiction. By Elizabeth Martinez. 2007. 899 illustrations.
Stories and photos of Chicana/Mexican-American women in politics, labor, art, health, and more.

Let It Shine (Book) | Zinn Education Project

Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters

Book — Non-fiction. By Andrea Davis Pinkney. 2013. 120 pages.
Mini-biographies for upper elementary and middle school of 10 African-American women.

The Early Women’s Movement

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer.
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.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Book — Non-fiction. By Phillip Hoose. 2010. 160 pages.
The story of Claudette Colvin, a teenager who refused to give up her seat in the year leading up to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Exploring Women’s Rights: The 1908 Textile Strike in a 1st-grade Class

Teaching Activity. By Dale Weiss. Rethinking Schools. 3 pages.
A teacher's reflections about a curriculum unit on women's rights contextualizes the history of the feminist movement within the broader struggle of people working for greater equality in the United States.

Mural by Blake Chamberlain on an interior wall of the Women's Rights National Historical Park Visitor Center depicting influential people of the women's suffrage movement.

Seneca Falls, 1848: Women Organize for Equality

Teaching Activity. 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.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Unsung Heroes (Lesson) | Zinn Education Project

Unsung Heroes: Encouraging Students to Appreciate Those Who Fought for Social Justice

Teaching Activity. Essay by Howard Zinn and lesson by Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 17 pages.
Students research and share stories about unsung heroes in U.S. history.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Women, Gays, and Other Voices of Resistance

Teaching Activity. By Jack Bareilles.
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.

Caribbean Connections: The Dominican Republic

Book — Non-fiction and Fiction. Edited by Gallin, Glasser, Santana. 2005. 250 pages.
Reader-friendly overview of the history, politics, and culture of the fourth largest Latino community in the United States.

book cover showing freedom riders protesting near a bus

A Young People’s History of the United States: Revised and Updated

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff with additions by Ed Morales. 2022. 544 pages.
A young adult version of the best-selling A People’s History of the United States, ideal for 6th through 9th grade students.

Regret to Inform

Film. By Barbara Sonneborn. 1998. 72 minutes. Teaching Guide by Bill Bigelow. Chapter from A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. A profound documentary on the impact of war, with a teaching guide and the chapter of A People's History of the United States on the Vietnam War, "Impossible Victory."

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow