Curriculum Diversity Integration
KINDERGARTEN | ||
Library | Black History Month Read about MLK and Rosa Parks | |
Social Studies | Black History Month Unit: America: MLK and a MLK egg experiment. Learn about other important figures such as Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, and Mae Jemison. Holocaust/Genocide Provide students with weekly anti-bullying lessons to reinforce acceptance and tolerance | |
FIRST GRADE | ||
Library | Black History Month Read about Mae Carol Jemison, the first African American Astronaut. | |
Social Studies | Black History Month Unit: Civics: Includes lessons about MLK and other civic leaders. Learn about other important figures such as Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges. Holocaust/Genocide Provide students with weekly anti-bullying lessons to reinforce acceptance and tolerance | |
SECOND GRADE | ||
Library | Black History Month Research biographies database to learn about famous African Americans in history and their historical contributions. | |
Social Studies | Black History Month State and Nation unit, which includes figures in American History- Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman*, Ruby Bridges, Thurgood Marshall, Jesse Jackson, Jackie Robinson, and other influential figures featured in Scholastic News. Amistad Discuss the role that Harriet Tubman* had in slavery and the Underground Railroad. Holocaust/Genocide Provide students with weekly anti-bullying lessons to reinforce acceptance and tolerance | |
Lang. Arts | Black History Month Guided reading lessons using biographies to learn about important African American figures. | |
THIRD GRADE | ||
Library | Black History Month Take research notes about a chosen African American history maker and his/her role in American history and create a timeline of events in their life. | |
Lang. Arts | Black History Month Nonfiction black history month readings for guided reading and the students will be making posters from the books they read. | |
Social Studies and Health | Holocaust/Genocide Read the story “One Candle” by Eve Bunting. Then students will write what they have learned about tolerance and prejudice this week. | |
FOURTH GRADE | ||
Library | Black History Month Take research notes about a chosen African American history maker and his/her role in American history to create a social media profile for that famous historical American. | |
Social Studies | Black History Month Unit: Geography and Regions of NJ: Students will describe the contribution of African Americans to regions of NJ Amistad Unit: Slavery: Students will be able to examine the African Slave Trade and slavery in America, including New Jersey. Identify how individuals and groups responded to the violation of fundamental rights (Underground Railroad). Holocaust/Genocide Objective: Students will be able to identify injustices of the Holocaust. Students will analyze text and infer author’s purpose using a picture book: Willie and Max, A Holocaust Story, by Amy Littlesugar, and an Oskar Schindler quote. Native Americans Unit: Native Americans: Describe the Lenape culture. Compare and contrast the lives of the Lenape to our lives. Discuss how Native American culture is still manifested in NJ today. Compare Lenape culture with students’ current cultural traditions | |
Music | African-American Unit: History of the Arts and Culture (Cross Curricular Integration Area: Social Studies) Activity: Students will sing songs related to Dr. Martin Luther King, while learning how he and other civil rights leaders helped inspire change for ensuring all people, regardless of race, are treated equally. Activity: African American Spiritual work songs/coded. | |
FIFTH GRADE | ||
ELA | Holocaust/Genocide Novel: Number the Stars, Lois Lowry. As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate" all the Jews of Denmark, through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the heroism of the Danish Resistance, which reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war. | |
Social Studies | Black History Month Unit: The American Revolution: Heroism: article, African American History-The Untold Stories While learning about the American Revolution, the students will read this article about many African American heroes during this time. This article describes who and what side these heroes were fighting for. African-American Heroism: article, African American History-The Untold Stories The French and Indian War is known as one of the first battles leading to the American Revolution. This article is about Jean DuSable. Although they were fighting over land, he was showing his support for the United States and was arrested. This article explains how he contributed to the present day United States. Crispus Attucks Speaks: article, African American History-The Untold Stories After the students learn about the Boston Massacre, they will read about Crispus Attucks who was killed during this event. The students will compare the different points of view in the book and article. Juan Garrido Speaks: article, African American History-The Untold Stories Amistad Unit: Geography and Regions of NJ and Life in the Colonies Objective: Students will describe how slaves came to America through the Middle passage and explain what life was like for a slave in colonial America. | |
Math | Black History Month Unit: Apply Understanding of Multiplication to Multiply Fractions: Students will make improper fractions into mixed numbers and vice versa. Their answers will provide them with information about African American Inventors and their inventions. | |
SIXTH GRADE | ||
Music | Black History Month As a cross curricular connection to the novel, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, students will gain an understanding of the Jazz Movement of the 1930s by viewing a presentation created by Ms. Hengeli, view a video about prominent African American Jazz artists of the time period and participate in discussions of the enduring relevance of Jazz Music in modern day. | |
ELA | Holocaust/Genocide Novel: Milkweed, Jerry Spinelli (Accelerated) This is the true story of Jews and Gypsies in Warsaw, Poland during the Nazi occupation of World War II. The story's narrator is a boy in the future living in America recalling his past experiences taken in by a Jewish group of orphans and he must avoid the Nazis (or "Jackboots") while living on the streets with other orphans. | |
Social Studies | African-American Unit: River Valley Civilizations: Egypt Objective: Students will be able to compare how the legacy of Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were honored and how significant people in the U.S. are honored. Students will be given a list of significant Americans from various backgrounds and cultures that have not been honored with a monument. They will choose one to research and honor with a monument. Art: article, African American History-The Untold Stories One of the characteristics of being a civilization is having art. After discussing the art of our earliest river valley civilization, we will view the article to learn about how art continued to progress with the African American community in the early United States. Sports: article, African American History-The Untold Stories Ancient Greece created the Olympics we know of today. We will learn the sports the Ancient Greeks used for their Olympic games. This article discusses how sports grew in the colonies and the impact the African American community has on sports in the American colonies. It also discusses how they succeeded in games that began in Ancient Greece. Literature and Music: article, African American History-The Untold Stories Greeks are known for their myths and theater. This is discussed in Chapter 8. This is known as the Golden Age in Greece. This article teaches students how African Americans contributed to the Golden Age in the United States. Asian-Pacific Islander Celebrate May as Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month through activities such as a BrainPOP video and research project. LGBTQ Unit: The First Civilizations and Ancient Egypt Chapter 1: Social Studies Skills: Chronological Thinking: After learning the importance of timelines and how to read timelines, students will learn how to make a timeline to display events. Students create a timeline of five life events on a google slide template. They research five world/national events that happened the same year as their important life events. Events can be a discovery, a presidential election, historic achievements, inventions, etc. There are no violent events permitted. Two of the major events world/national will be related to advancements for the LGBTQ community. Ex: NJ legalizes same sex marriage in 2013. In 2015, same sex marriage is legalized in all 50 states. Each personal and world event also includes a corresponding picture. The timelines are shared with the class on the TV and students make connections with their classmates and discuss what we have in common with one another. Students have the choice to present this on a Google slide template provided for them in Google classroom, or to create a poster display. Chapter 5: Read and discuss how Egyptian pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut, dressed in a male wardrobe as pharaoh, including a false beard. Egyptians accepted her rule, and she wore these garments like any male pharaoh would. She took the throne when the position was only to be passed to males and proved she was a stronger leader. She built relationships with other civilizations by sending envoys to their lands. She helped Egypt grow wealthy through trade. Her statues depict her in the male headdress wearing the male ceremonial false beard. Hispanic Heritage Month Unit: The First Civilizations and Ancient Egypt: Students will reflect on and discuss National Hispanic Heritage Month. Students in each class will be split into groups and will be assigned an influential person involved in shaping U.S. democracy or who is involved in the government and or entertainment industry. Each group will research their assigned person and the impact they had. After students have presented their final projects to the class, their work will be displayed on a bulletin board. Students will also watch educational and BrainPOP videos. Some people students will research with their groups are, but not limited to,: Cesar Chavez, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Ellen Ochoa, Antonia C. Novello, Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria, and Alexander Rodriguez. Women’s History Month Unit: Medieval Europe: Students will work at stations to compare/contrast life of a woman in Ancient Greece vs. the United States today. Students will discuss how women could not vote in Greece and had no say in government, or at home. One station will watch a Brainpop on Women’s Suffrage and take the Brainpop quiz. They will explain the struggles women in our country faced to gain the right to vote. Another station will research significant women that have taken on leadership roles and contributed to the betterment of our society. Their station work will be displayed for Women’s History Month on the JK office March bulletin board. | |
SEVENTH GRADE | ||
Social Studies | African-American Unit: Age of Reform: Students will be able to describe the legacy of key figures in the antislavery movement and explain the role NJ played in the Underground Railroad. Math and Science: article, African American History-The Untold Stories This article shows that African American mathematicians and scientists contributed to colonial and early America. This corresponds with chapters 9-10 in the textbook. Math and Science: article, African American History-The Untold Stories Inventions by slaves were the predecessor to inventions like Eli Whitney’s cotton gin. This invention by itself changed America’s economic system and its dependence on slaves. Harriet Tubman Speaks: article, African American History-The Untold Stories Harriet Tubman worked hard to free slaves from the Southern slaveholding states and bring them to safety by way of the Underground Railroad. While the North and South fought in the Civil War, many African Americans took up arms in the fight. Nat Turner: article, African American History-The Untold Stories A plantation owner’s worst nightmare was a slave rebellion. Nat Turner encapsulated their biggest fears, a slave who could read and write as well as inspire other slaves to rise up. Literature: article, African American History-The Untold Stories Frederick Douglass escaped slavery in Maryland when he was 20. He went on to inspire other slaves with his words as a renowned abolitionist. Amistad Unit: Age of Reform: Students will be able to compare/contrast the economy and people of the North and South by creating a google slide presentation. Students will be able to describe what life was like for slaves in the South. Students will be able to identify abolitionists and explain the role they played in the slavery resistance movement. Unit: Civil War and Reconstruction: Chapter 16-18: Life Under Slavery Presentation- Topics include: the slave trade, slave codes, escaping slavery (Underground Railroad), the Abolitionist Movement (Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, African Americans in the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Holocaust/Genocide Unit: Nationalism and Sectionalism: Chapter 12: Trail of Tears vs. the Holocaust Students will discuss the meaning behind the quote in their Language Arts novel, The Boy Who Dared. “No one wants the Jews. Not even America. Americans have no right to criticize us. They rounded up their Indians, you know. Put them on reservations.” pg. 68. They will use this quote to compare the Trail of Tears to the events of the Holocaust. Using a Venn Diagram, they will use what they learned about the Holocaust from their novel to compare/contrast the U.S. event, The Trail of Tears. LGBTQ Unit: Launching the Republic: Chapter 9: Students will read about States’ rights in chapter 9 lesson 3 in their textbooks. They will cover how the Constitution states that states should have all powers that are not forbidden to them or granted to the federal government. A connection will be made to marriage equality in the United States. Before DOMA was struck down by the Supreme Court, same sex marriage was not recognized on a national level. Individual states, starting with Massachusetts in 2004, began allowing same sex marriage on a state by state basis. Hispanic Heritage Month Unit: Launching the Republic: Students will reflect on and discuss National Hispanic Heritage Month. Students will watch educational and BrainPOP videos. Some people students will research with their groups are, but not limited to,: Cesar Chavez, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Ellen Ochoa, Antonia C. Novello, Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria, and Alexander Rodriguez. Students in each class will be split into groups and will be assigned an influential hispanic person involved in shaping U.S. democracy or who is involved in the government and or entertainment industry. Each group will research their assigned person and the impact they had. After students have presented their final projects to the class, their work will be displayed on the JK office Sept/October bulletin board. | |
ELA | Holocaust/Genocide Novel: The Boy Who Dared based upon the true story of Helmuth Hübener, the youngest person to be sentenced to death by the Nazis during World War II for telling the truth about Hitler. Kristallnacht offers a non-fiction companion text to The Boy Who Dared that chronicles Jewish daily life in Nazi Germany in the years leading up to Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, a prolonged series of violent attacks on Jewish people, homes, businesses and synagogues in 1938 Germany. Native Americans Unit: Narrative: During a study of the novel, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, students research and explore Native American history, legends and Cherokee myths. | |
EIGHTH GRADE | ||
Social Studies | Black History Month Social Studies: Youth in Government: Students will watch a video of King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Individually students will brainstorm about their own dreams and what they hope to achieve someday. Students will fill out a thought bubble describing what their dream is. These thought bubbles will be part of a Martin Luther King, Jr. February JK office bulletin board. African-American Unit: Rights, Duties, Responsibilities of Citizens and Political Parties and Interest Groups: Students will be able to describe the impact leaders had on the Civil Rights Movement and will compare the public issues affecting the U.S. during the movement and today. Rosa Parks Speaks: article, African American History-The Untold Stories Rosa Parks had an instrumental effect on Civil Rights. In the excerpt, Rosa Parks speaks first hand about her life experiences. She spoke about working at the NAACP and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which is directly referenced in chapter four of the textbook. Resilience: article, African American History-The Untold Stories In the textbook, chapter four, lesson four, the origins of the Civil Rights movement are discussed such as Brown V. Board of Education, The Montgomery Bus Boycott, and peaceful protests. These are also discussed in the article as well. This would be a great article to use as a DBQ in conjunction with the text. Heroism: article, African American History-The Untold Stories Heroism is directly linked to chapter four, lesson four in the textbook as well. In both the text and the article, Martin Luther King, Jr and his heroic actions are discussed. LGBTQ Unit: Foundations of American Citizenship: Chapter 4: Students will read about the Civil Rights Movement in chapter 4, lesson 4 in their textbooks. They will cover how various groups of citizens have worked to achieve civil rights. This will be extended to the LGBTQ community. Students will work cooperatively to teach each other how various citizens worked to achieve Civil Rights (women, Latinos, Native Americans, the disabled, and LGBTQ). Students will connect this lesson to individuals who have greatly impacted the LGBTQ community. Examples include, but are not limited to,: Laverne Cox, Lena Waithe, Michael Sam, Tammy Baldwin, Jared Polis, Barbara Gittings, and Harvey Milk. | |
ELA | Holocaust/Genocide Novel: Night is a 1960 memoir by Elie Wiesel based on his Holocaust experiences with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944–1945, toward the end of the Second World War in Europe. Women’s History Month Unit: Writer as a Researcher Unit: When writing the Women of WWII research paper, students have the opportunity to analyze women’s role in the workplace during that time period. Teachers can then facilitate discussions around the evolution of women’s career path as time went on. Mexican Heritage Unit: Argument: Explore the culture, art and language of Mexico through John Steinbeck’s novel, The Pearl. | |
BOARD POLICIES and NJ STATUTES
Diversity and Inclusion
N.J.S.A. 18A:35-4.36a Diversity and Inclusion statute and MBOE Policy 6161.1, when adopting instructional materials for use in the schools the Board shall adopt inclusive materials that portray the cultural and economic diversity of society including the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesibian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people where appropriate.
African-American History including the Amistad
The Amistad Bill (A1301), which became law in 2002, calls on New Jersey schools to incorporate African-American history into their social studies curriculum. Establishes the Amistad Commission to promote the teaching of the history of African Americans as an integral part of United States History. Amistad Commission mandates that curricula in kindergarten through grade 12 include the teaching of the African slave trade, slavery in America, the vestiges of slavery in this country, and the contributions of African Americans to this country. (see also MBOE Policy 6140)
Holocaust/Genocide
N.J.S.A. 18A:4a-1 Establishes the New Jersey Holocaust Commission; NJSA 18A:4a-2-4 Requires all schools to have course of study in the Holocaust and other Genocides. NJSA 18A 52:16A-86 Holocaust Commission mandates that curricula in kindergarten through grade 12 address issues of bias, prejudice, and bigotry, including bullying, through the teaching of the Holocaust and genocide in order to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. (see also MBOE Policy 6140)
LGBTQ
N.J.S.A. 18A:35-4.35 History of disabled and LGBT persons included in middle and high school curriculum. A board of education shall include instruction on the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, in an appropriate place in the curriculum of middle school and high school students as part of the district’s implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. (see also MBOE Policy 6140)
Asian-American Pacific Islander
N.J.S.A. Section 18A:35-4.44 - A board of education shall include instruction on the history and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in grades kindergarten through 12 as part of the school district's implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Social Studies.
Italian Heritage
N.J.S.A. 18A:4-4.42-46 It is the policy of the State of NJ that the culture, history and heritage of Italians and Americans of Italian Heritage are a proper concern for all people, particularly students enrolled in the schools of this State. It is desirable to educate our citizens about the positive aspects of the culture, music, art, language, history and heritage of Italians and Americans of Italian Heritage.