Timely resources to help K-12 educators encourage social responsibility and foster social & emotional learning. Find out more.
TeachableMoment Lessons
Featured Lessons
In this lesson students examine New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration speech to learn what a speech can reveal about a leader’s values, priorities and vision for democracy—and how a speech can shape how people see themselves and others in a community.
26 prompts with accompanying graphics, providing you with enough opportunities for connection and engagement for every weekday in a month (and a few extras!).
Six classroom activities focused on sharing appreciations and gratitude that you can use this month, or anytime!
SEL & RP
Activities to support students' social and emotional learning and restorative practices
Current Issues
Classroom activities to engage students in learning about and discussing issues in the news
Tips & Ideas
Guidance and inspiration to help build skills and community in your classroom and school
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In this Document-Based Question exercise, students consider and write an essay about competing views on defense spending.
A summary of Schell's essay describing the interconnected crises we face and their commonalities is followed by suggestions for discussion, inquiry, critical thinking and writing.
Student readings and discussion questions address the the origins and impact of the economic crisis and President Obama's recovery plan.
How can teachers help their students understand and take action on problems stemming from the economic crisis? We propose a process for encouraging active student citizenship.
Through two readings and class discussion, students think critically about the effect of corporate campaign donations on our political system and consider efforts to reform
President Obama's inauguration address offered a continuing teachable moment for examining key issues facing the nation. A student reading including speech excerpts is followed by
In this classroom lesson, students consider President Obama's inaugural address as a speech and in the context of past inaugural addresses.
A student dialogue and two readings examine the declining readership of newspapers, especially among young people.
A student reading offers conflicting views on gay marriage, which became an inauguration issue when Barack Obama selected Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the invocation. A second
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This lesson focuses on a less well-known part of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, but one that is extremely relevant today: the Poor People’s Campaign that Dr. King led over 40
Students learn about the history and importance of play, and consider games, good and bad.
When disaster strikes, we want to help. But how? In this lesson, students learn about the factors that contribute to natural disasters, and consider what we might do about them.
Students consider the leadership of Nelson Mandela by reading and discussing quotes about and by him.
Two student readings examine the history of stop and frisk and the debate surrounding this policing practice.
Students learn about and discuss the history of apartheid in South Africa, the long struggle against it, and Nelson Mandela’s legacy as a leader in that struggle.