Teresa Ann Willis

November is Native American Heritage Month. In this activity, students examine a small portion of the history of the Wahzhazhe people, known as the Osage, by delving into two recent news stories.

In this back-to-school activity, high school students partner with students from a class in a neighboring school to share and document strategies and coping mechanisms.

Amid a controversy over a plan to provide debt relief to Black farmers, students dig deeply into history to grapple with the question, “Do all farmers matter?”

The question “who owns the land?” underlies many conflicts. Students explore issues surrounding land, place, and belonging – especially as they affect Native Americans and African Americans.

Students practice identifying and using stress management strategies to better cope with upsetting news.

Students engage in inquiry to uncover the history of redistricting and gerrymandering and discuss the provisions of H.R.1, which proposes an end to partisan redistricting.

In this two-part lesson, teachers and students explore the concept of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions as a way for nations and communities to begin dialogues and chart a path toward healing.

Students learn about the history of policing in African American communities and connect it to the controversy over how police treated insurrectionists at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The election of Raphael Warnock to be Georgia's first Black senator was the result of decades of organizing by voting rights activists. Students discuss that history and the news.

Students practice their critical thinking skills by analyzing an image and then articles about conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine myths.

Students discuss recent cases of forced sterilization, explore the history of this horrific practice, then do some research of their own.

Does "freedom of speech" extend to hate speech? Is countering hate a form of free speech? Students explore current controversies over free speech rights, including at schools and colleges.

Students explore how dominant culture beauty standards and discrimination based on hairstyle choices have impacted African Americans. 

Reparations for slavery have become an issue in the 2020 presidential election. In this lesson, students explore the views of candidates and write tweets in response to one of the candidates. This Part 3 of a 3-part series on reparations. 

This lesson has students examine and discuss the different forms reparations can take, from direct payments, to broad social supports, to truth and reconciliation. 

Why are many Americans calling on the U.S. to provide reparations for slavery? In this activity, students examine recent data on the racial wealth gap, then travel back in time to look at the origins of the wealth gap. 

On June 16, 1976, young people in South Africa mobilized a powerful protest against the apartheid regime's education policies. The Soweto Uprising became an epic fight that contributed to the end of apartheid. In this activity, students learn about the Soweto Uprising as well as two recent U.S. youth-led movements that are fighting injustice, Dream Defenders and March for Our Lives.