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 document-based lesson by educator Alan Singer asks students to consider Bush's arguments and opposing views.
A student reading reviews major steps in the campaign process and such issues as the money race, fairness, and problems with the new voting machines. Suggested discussion questions
A student reading deals with the Nobel Prize award, including a few of the basic facts and a view of what can and should be done.
This inquiry activity invites students to explore the central role of money in the 2008 election.
What constitutes racial discrimination in our schools? The Supreme Court considered competing answers to this question in its June 2007 ruling. Two student readings examine the
The controversy at Louisiana's Jena High School offers a teachable moment for students to examine America's racial issues. A student reading presents an overview of the Jena events
The Bush administration's secret surveillance program, launched soon after 9/11, is the source of a lasting controversy, including a fight over the Protect America Act. Two student
What did the framers say about presidential power and why? How would the presidential candidates use this power?
Students consider official testimony and reports measuring the progress--or lack of it--in Iraq.
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Students discuss Dr. King’s views about alliance-building; consider these in light of Obama’s inauguration; learn about the alliance-building work of Ai-jen Poo, founder of
Jinnie Spiegler, a parent and education activist, offers suggestions for parents who want to talk with their children about what happened in Newtown.
We're deeply saddened by the tragic killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Here are resources aimed at helping families and educators comfort young ones and help explain this
A one-day strike by fast food workers in New York City is a teachable moment for students on the fast food industry and worker organizing. This lesson includes a brainstorm, small
Student readings examine the Boy Scouts of America’s policy of excluding gays, as well as efforts by scouts themselves to challenge discrimination from both inside and outside the