Timely resources to help K-12 educators encourage social responsibility and foster social & emotional learning. Find out more.
TeachableMoment Lessons
Featured Lessons
A collection of activities and strategies designed for exploring and discussing current events with elementary-age children.
A collection of lessons, tips and videos—solid concrete ideas about how you can integrate restorative practices into your classroom this fall, or anytime!
A listing of novels that take a positive, visionary approach to the subject of climate change, focusing on fighting and adapting to climate change. Includes discussion questions.
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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Through engaging activities, video, and small-group discussion, students consider the Montgomery Bus Boycott and how they might stand up against injustice in their own lives.
Two student readings explore the controversy over the use of remotely-piloted aircraft to drop bombs in the Afghanistan/Pakistan war. Discussion questions, a fish bowl activity and
A classroom activity has students simulate a US Senate filibuster. Two student readings then explore the Senate's less-than-democratic 60-vote rule and possible methods for
Three student readings and discussion questions probe current conditions in Iraq and the U.S.'s moral responsibilities there.
Two student readings and a document-based question exercise focus on the Obama administration's recent decision to try Guantanamo suspects in civilian and military courts.
Student readings consider President Obama's adoption of three Bush administration policies that Obama had previously opposed: extraordinary rendition, the state secrets privilege
Students consider our 10% unemployment rate from a numerical, social and emotional perspective, including through photos from the Great Depression.
Marieke van Woerkom uses an engaging game with M&Ms to help students see how insurance works and to touch off discussion on the current reform debate.
A student reading excerpts the president's speech; the second raises a battery of questions to stimulate further inquiry and critical thinking on a vital presidential decision.
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Students learn about Chester Nez, the World War 2 Navajo code talker, who died on June 4, 2014. They consider why he was willing to help the U.S. war effort despite the terrible
A new book by economist Thomas Piketty has touched off a national discussion about economic inequality. This lesson uses the book as a jumping off point for two student readings on
Two student readings give an overview of conditions facing U.S. farmworkers, past efforts at farmworker organizing, and the current successes of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Students learn about the history of discrimination against LGBTQ people in the U.S., and about why June is Gay Pride Month. They explore gay rights movement history, learn about
The remarkable poet and writer Maya Angelou died on May 28, 2014. This activity, structured as a circle, invites students to consider Angelou’s poem Still I Rise. It can be
This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. In this lesson, students explore the interplay of this legislation with the Civil Rights Movement, and consider what