Current Issues

Students build empathy for refugees and immigrants by learning about the experiences of some of the families separated at the southern border of the U.S in 2018. Then, students hear a poem and write their own imaginative poems to convey their learning.

The United States is suffering from a crisis of affordable housing. This lesson consists of two student readings on this issue. The first examines the arguments for and against Yimby-style development. The second looks at solutions that go beyond market-focused fixes, considering alternative ways to...

This lesson introduces students to the controversy over Justice Kennedy’s retirement and Trump’s role in reshaping the Supreme Court. The first reading reviews Kennedy’s career and highlights the significance of his role as a swing vote on the court. The second reading examines possible consequences...

Protests across the country reflect widespread outrage over the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policies. In this lesson, students learn about the controversy over the administration's policies to separate and/or detain families who are seeking to immigrate to the U.S. 

This lesson uses current civil disobedience actions by the Poor People's Campaign as an invitation to explore why people engage in civil disobedience. Students consider the goals, pros and cons, and risks of this type of action through small group discussion, video, and other methods.  (Also see thi...

This lesson uses the example of a bidding war by cities to become Amazon's second headquarters to explore the question of providing public subsidies to private companies. Students also learn about and discuss ways cities can ensure that companies like Amazon hold up their end of the bargain through...

Participants learn about discriminatory housing laws that help explain the U.S.'s enormous racial wealth gap, and consider how these laws may have affected their own families and communities. 

Students work together to understand the significance of the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide and consider different methods for stopping it. This lesson can be adapted for science, writing, or social studies classes.

In this lesson, students step back from the debate over a "border wall," and consider the moral arguments for and against “no borders." 

Students explore the controversy over the Trump administration's proposal to add a question about citizenship to the census —  and learn about the history and purpose of the U.S. census.