TeachableMoment Lessons

SEL & RP

SEL & RP

Activities to support students' social and emotional learning and restorative practices

See The Lessons

Current Issues

Current Issues

Classroom activities to engage students in learning about and discussing issues in the news

Dive Deeper

Tips & Ideas

Tips & Ideas

Guidance and inspiration to help build skills and community in your classroom and school

Get Started

SEL & RP
Social & Emotional Learning & Restorative Practices
Current Issues
Current Issues
Tips and Ideas
Tips & Ideas

Filter TeachableMoment Lessons By:

These two recent children's books (grades K-12) present a positive opportunity to open up discussions of the Iraq war with students. Both tell the story of Alia Muhammed Baker, the

Encourages students to consider the effect of "put-downs" and to think about how to express "put-ups."

In these two fun classroom activities, students practice sending and receiving messages and consider what communication is.

After two puppets discuss how a bully at their school, youngsters analyze what they've seen and consider how to respond to the bully.

After discussing the news from New York, students explore how the bill came to be passed - including the strategies and personal experiences that influenced legislators' decisions.

In a jigsaw activity, students learn about three Wikipedia controversies, then decide whether they think Wikipedia is a reliable information source.

One student reading considers opposing views on this question; a second examines the debate over how a U.S. withdrawal would affect women's rights in Afghanistan. Discussion

This pdf booklet, produced by the City University of New York's Murphy Institute, includes lots of facts and figures (and cartoons) about issues such as government spending and

Students write about and discuss an ad that has raised issues about beauty, race, and skin color, and consider the role of advertising in reflecting and shaping attitudes.

Filter TeachableMoment Lessons By:

Students learn about and discuss  the US Department of Justice's report on the Ferguson Police Department and consider reforms that would address the injustices described in the

In this brief activity, students explore a key phrase in the women's movement during the 1960s and 70s. 

This 10-15-minute activity touches on key arguments for and against the XL Pipeline proposal President Obama just vetoed.  

In three readings and discussion, students examine President Obama's proposal for free community college, weigh arguments for and against it, learn about the historical

The nation's largest private employer just raised its wages. This short activity has students consider the significance of Walmart's move and what motivated it.  

This brief activity focuses on the African American girl who refused to give up her seat on the bus, months before Rosa Parks touched off the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott. Please