Current Issues

What is the human cost of an iPad? The labor conditions at factories making Apple products have been in the public spotlight lately. While Apple is not unique in using low-wage Chinese labor to produce its electronic products, the popularity of the iPad and iPhone, along with publicity surrounding...

Students define the terms "prejudice" "stereotype" and "discrimination," read an an article about a group of vets who took a stand against discrimination, and consider the role of an ally both in the article and at school.

Students view a clip from Colbert's Comedy Central show about his Super PAC, then read and discuss several views on the role of Colbert's spoof of the election process.

Classroom lessons to foster respect for diversity, a concrete way for schools to mark Respect for All Week.

In the wake of the NY Giants' Super Bowl victory, this lesson contrasts the Giants' style of coaching and leading with that of the Jets, a team the Giants recently defeated. In the process, students consider: What makes a leader effective? What does it take to foster teamwork?

Two student readings provide a brief history of the Guantanamo Bay detention center, explore arguments for and against the facility, and examine the evolving debate about it during the Obama administration. Discussion questions follow

Students understand the caucus election process by experiencing it firsthand in their classroom - and learn more about 2012 Republican presidential candidates along the way.

Students use a remarkable 1957 comic book to learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the real nature of the civil rights movement. 

Students nominate their own "person of the year"; read and discuss Time magazine's article naming "the protester"; and write new captions for photos of the protesters.

Students consider nonviolence as a strategy for intentionally building public support in both the Civil Rights Movement (as expressed by Martin Luther King, Jr.) and the Occupy movement.