Timely resources to help K-12 educators encourage social responsibility and foster social & emotional learning. Find out more.
TeachableMoment Lessons
Featured Lessons
In honor of Teacher Appreciation week, Morningside Center offers this Circle-based lesson as an invitation for students and Circle keepers to reflect on the impactful teachers and “teachers” in their lives; what lessons were learned; and ways they’ve passed this learning forward.
Spring is a natural time for transformation, for embracing new beginnings while shedding those attitudes or mindsets that no longer serve us. It’s also an ideal time to consider the changes in our lives and their impact. In this lesson students reflect on change, grief, and loss through a scrawl wall, a circle, and building a collective playlist.
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.
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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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
This 20-page PDF booklet includes lively classroom activities to get students thinking, learning and talking. Grades K-1, grades 2-5, grades 4-8, and grades 6-12.
Two student readings summarize the condition of the country as Roosevelt was inaugurated and highlight the New Deal. A third reading summarizes the situation in the U.S. today and
Student readings and discussion questions address some basic questions about the attackand describe the interconnected problems in South Asia that will confront President Obama
Has the Bush administration flouted the rule of law through such actions as torture and unlawful detention of suspects? If so, what will the new president and Congress do about it
Student readings examining this crisis and President-elect Obama's plans to combat it are followed by discussion questions, subjects for inquiry, citizenship activities, and ideas
An opening exercise is followed by student readings on Afghanistan's "downward spiral" and Pakistan's involvement; limitations of an American military solution; and elements of a
A student reading and questions on the work of this former president of Finland and accomplished mediator.
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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.
Students consider facts, myths and perspectives about Thanksgiving Day, including Native American perspectives.
Students explore the growing trend of prison privatization and concerns about youth imprisonment.
In this Circle activity, students consider what "bullying" means, learn about the controversy over bullying in the Miami Dolphins, respond to a variety of statements about this
Students learn about the Nobel Peace Prize and the 2013 winner, learn about and discuss the controversy over this year's prize, and make their own nominations for the 2014 prize.