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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An investigative report by the New York Times uncovered the deplorable and frequently illegal conditions faced by employees at nail salons. This lesson has students consider
Through a quiz and brief discussion, students consider Tsarnaev's death sentence and growing opposition to capital punishment.
Chicago decided on May 6, 2015, to provide reparations for its history of brutal police abuse, after decades of organizing by activists. This brief classroom activity uses two
Through quotes, photos, and video, students explore responses to Freddie Gray's death while in Baltimore police custody, and the protests that followed.
Students dip into the 2016 presidential race with a brief look at the two latest contenders to announce: Senators Marco Rubio and Bernie Sanders.
In this lesson, high school students examine the demographics of fast food and other low-wage workers, learn more about minimum wage and consider different points of view about
This short (15-minute) classroom activity uses a 2-minute video and discussion to explore the growing controversy over the Trans-Pacific Partnership 12-nation trade agreement.
This activity is based on an attack on one girl by several others at a McDonald's restaurant in Brooklyn. It uses a circle format to help students consider possible helpful
In two readings and discussion, students think critically about the connection between cars and climate change, and compare U.S. transportation systems with those of Europe, where
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Students explore the connections between young people in Florida campaigning for gun reform and youth leaders in Black Lives Matter – and consider why the media has focused so much
Students learn about efforts by youth activists to challenge U.S. gun laws, and discuss the range of gun reform proposals under consideration.
In this activity, students construct a timeline of youth activism, and consider how the students who are organizing against gun violence in the aftermath of the shooting at Marjory
After 17 people were killed in a school shooting in Parkland, FL, students turned their grief over the loss of their classmates into actions that galvanized the nation. In this
Students learn about Martin Luther King's Poor People's Campaign, and about the newer Poor People's Campaign, which is also aimed at addressing racism and economic inequality.
February 2018 began with massive losses on Wall Street. In this activity, students get a brief introduction to stocks and stock volatility, and consider what impact such stock