Open Source Anti-Racist Lesson Plans & Resources for Educators
As we grow this source, please note: this is an actively growing & changing document for the free and open distribution of lesson plans, reading material, and documents to help educators in crafting a world we wish to see. Please use freely and distribute widely.
Books, Articles, Zines & Literature:
Title | Author | Where to buy or read (please try and avoid amazon if possible) |
“For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood (And the Rest of Y’all Too” | Dr. Christopher Emdin | |
Multiple | All links go to independent bookstores | |
The Drug War, Mass Incarceration, and Race | Drug Policy Alliance.org | |
Everyday Antiracism | Mica Pollock | |
White Fragility | Robin DiAngelo | |
So You Want to Talk About Race | Ijeoma Oluo | |
Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain | Zaretta Hammond | |
A Conversation About Instructional Equity with Zaretta Hammond | Zaretta Hammond | |
Between the World and Me | Ta-Nehisi Coates | |
How ‘Reading Instruction’ Oppresses Black and Brown Children | Natalie Wexler | |
This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on how to Wake Up, e Action, and Do the Work | Tiffany Jewell | |
Working for Justice, Equity and Civic Agency in Our Schools: A Conversation with Clint Smith | Clint Smith (this is a live webinar happening this Wednesday June 3rd at 7 pm) | |
Stamped from the Beginning | Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Stamped from the Beginning (places to buy at bottom of page) |
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You | Jason Reynolds and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | A List of Black Owned Bookstores: Can search by state or name |
Counting Descent | Clint Smith | |
Teaching Tolerance - Free subscriptions (print and online) for all educators and administrators | ||
Just Mercy (Adult and YA version available) | Bryan Stevenson | Google to find. Also, the movie is on Prime this month (June). |
Many titles of Race-Equity Books (all levels) | Many authors | |
PODCAST: “Teaching While White” | ||
A Kids Book of Racism | Jelani Memory | |
Chocolate Me yuh | Taye Diggs | |
“Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” | Ibram X. Kendi | https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/ahmaud-arbery/611539/ |
Bryan Stevenson on the Frustration Behind the George Floyd Protests | ||
Anti-racist Allyship Starter Pack | ||
Anti-Racism for Beginners + White People | Doc with resources | |
PODCAST: News Beat Many topics for social justice. | https://www.usnewsbeat.com/news-beat-social-justice-podcast-mixing-journalism-music | |
How to be an Anti-Racist Teacher: | Dena Simmons | ASCD’s How to be an Anti-Racist Teacher: Five actions for teaching for an antiracist future. |
IntersectionAllies: We Make Room For All | Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, Carolyn Choi | Free to download until June 19 https://www.dottirpress.com/ |
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness | Anastasia Higginbotham | Free to download until June 19 https://www.dottirpress.com/ |
Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves | Louise Derman-Sparks, Julie Olsen Edwards, Catherine M. Goins | |
Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice | Marianne Celano PhD Marietta Collins PhD Ann Hazzard PhD Jennifer Zivoin | https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-happened-in-our-town-marianne-celano-phd/1127888005 |
“Let's Talk about Racism in Schools” | Rick Wormeli | |
Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard - tool to assess messages in curriculum(please move to another section if there’s a better fit) | NYU Metro Center | |
Letting Go of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction for White Students | Book by Carlin Borsheim-Black and Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides | |
Building Anti Racist White Teachers | BAR WE is a group of district and charter school educators in Philadelphia who identify as white. They publish a monthly discussion guide focused towards white educators | |
PODCAST: Seeing White | Scene on Radio | |
Course: Understanding Equity and Inequity (or What the heck[uity] is equity?) | Equity Literacy Institute | https://equity-literacy.thinkific.com/courses/what-is-equity |
Early Grades Lesson Plans (PK-2nd grade):
Topic: | Explanation | Creator/Link to Page |
Anti racism 101 | If you’re nervous about talking about race with your kids, these books about racial diversity will give you an easy place to start destigmatizing difference & celebrating racial diversity. | |
Social justice booklist by grade | This list of curated books will help teachers introduce topics of racism, civil rights, and diversity, especially to younger students. The list is categorized by grade level and created by The National Network of State Teachers of the Year. | http://www.nnstoy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/NNSTOY-Social-Justice-Book-List.pdf |
Black Lives Matter Instructional Library | Curated books on topics like self-love/empowerment, activism, talking about racism with kids, and black history Click titles of books to link to read aloud if you can’t access a physical copy! | https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FMe4KI53W4Bu7pSfG0s_1oZ6Ji71Zpn_/view?usp=sharing |
| ||
Elementary Grades Lesson Plans (2nd-5th grade):
Topic: | Explanation | Creator/Link to Page |
Hair | Short Film | |
2020 Anti-Racist Curriculum Guide | An entire drive of differentiated resources for several grade levels | https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1LGslwJwhXvpVnDgw0uC-n794l6EGzpuH |
Skin Color | The doll test, updated version. But all versions are incredibly important and educational. | |
Social justice booklist by grade | This list of curated books will help teachers introduce topics of racism, civil rights, and diversity, especially to younger students. The list is categorized by grade level and created by The National Network of State Teachers of the Year. | http://www.nnstoy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/NNSTOY-Social-Justice-Book-List.pdf |
Middle Grades Lesson Plans (6th-8th grade)
Topic: | Explanation | Creator/Link to Page |
2020 Anti-Racist Curriculum Guide | An entire drive of differentiated resources for several grade levels | https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1LGslwJwhXvpVnDgw0uC-n794l6EGzpuH |
Just Mercy | Novel study | https://drive.google.com/open?id=1fBoH2BUjI5uVvIpDq4_s5BysPsHDH2q9 |
Educators for Social Change | Educators for Social Change has several resources for teaching students about police brutality. This includes links to lesson plans and videos and an exploration of systemic racism. | |
Discuss Race and Police Violence in the Classroom | Washington DC Public Schools has 10 guidelines for how to work with students in grappling with these tragedies. | |
Discussing Hard Topics With Students: Facing Painful or Polarizing Subjects | Peardeck has a set of slides pre-made to help educators discuss hard topics with scholars. | |
I Am Not Counterstories | Using the principles of Critical Literacy, asks students to write a counternarrative. Can be used in middle or high school. | https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B2DHcjttoj95Z2puNWdtWlFIVGM?usp=sharing |
20 Face to Face Advisories | Advisory activities can encourage the authentic relationship and community building that students need to feel safe and supported in their schools. These advisory activities expose students to diverse perspectives and guide them to understand those perspectives, and to critically and honestly analyze ideas from a variety of cultures. | |
Listening Circle on George Floyd | The police killing of George Floyd has ignited outrage, grief, and protest across the country. Here are some suggestions to give your students space to share their thoughts and feelings about these events. | https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/listening-circle-george-floyd |
Lesson of the Day: ‘“I Can’t Breathe”: 4 Minneapolis Officers Fired After Black Man Dies in Custody’ | In this lesson, students will learn about the death of George Floyd and then respond by taking action or reflecting artistically. | |
Violence and Backlash | This lesson will help illuminate two periods of violence and terror during Reconstruction: one perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan and the other perpetrated by paramilitary groups operating in concert with the Democratic Party. | https://www.facinghistory.org/reconstruction-era/lessons/violence-and-backlash |
First Encounters With Race and Racism: Teaching Ideas for Classroom Conversations | This is a guest lesson from Jinnie Spiegler, the director of curriculum at the Anti-Defamation League. She has written for us previously on 10 Ways to Talk to Students About Sensitive Issues in the News. You might choose to use this lesson with our related Student Opinion question, “Why is race so hard to talk about?” | |
Lessons on Specific Forms of Hate, Bias, and Inequality | These lessons help us explore specific forms of hate, bias, and inequality that need attention in specific communities and across the nation. By exploring ways specific people and communities have been treated as if they are less valuable, students consider ways to call for inclusion and opportunity for all. | |
Social justice booklist by grade | This list of curated books will help teachers introduce topics of racism, civil rights, and diversity, especially to younger students. The list is categorized by grade level and created by The National Network of State Teachers of the Year. | http://www.nnstoy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/NNSTOY-Social-Justice-Book-List.pdf |
High School+ Lesson Plans (9th-12th+)
(When sharing google docs/drives, don’t forget to change the access to anyone with the link can view)
Topic: | Explanation | Creator/Link to Page |
“The Bluest Eye” | A full unit that pulls from Match Fishtank and also adapted from @sheteaches_ and personally created material. Includes scope and sequence and CCSS-aligned assessments | |
Drug War Statistics be | Short 3 page read on race breakdown of drug arrests in the US until 2016. I added a pdf with a few open ended questions for discussion. I used this in a statistics class and used one of the most striking graphs as part of a question. | The Drug War, Mass Incarceration, and Race (article) |
Black Lives Matter at School | Resources to help facilitate conversations about race, including classroom appropriate lesson plans, guides on how to have tough conversations with peers and students, and more. | https://neaedjustice.org/black-lives-matter-school-resources/ |
REFLECTING ON GEORGE FLOYD’S DEATH AND POLICE VIOLENCE TOWARDS BLACK AMERICANS | This Teaching Idea is a guide for teachers to begin conversations with their students about George Floyd’s death and the events that surround it. Such conversations are always difficult for teachers to facilitate, and distance learning presents added challenges to teaching sensitive material. Despite these challenges, it’s critical to make space for students to process the difficult and deeply painful events of the past week. | |
Trevor Noah’s Video on George Floyd, Minneapolis Protests, Ahmaud Arbery & Amy Cooper | This is an excellent starting point for students to listen and reflect on the chain of events that have occurred over these last few weeks. | |
Toolkit for "What Is White Privilege, Really?" | This toolkit offers advice, activities and further reading suggestions for educators who want to unpack the concept of whiteness and white privilege with themselves and with students. | https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/toolkit-for-what-is-white-privilege-really |
Op-Ed: “Don’t Understand the Protests? What You’re seeing is people pushed to the edge” | Opinion piece by Laker Legend Kareem Abdul- Jabbar (use as an AoW, or reflection, or mentor text). | |
“A Talk to Teachers” by James Baldwin | “‘A Talk to Teachers’ is emblematic of Baldwin’s proclivity for candor over political appeasement, and, like much of his work, focuses on history and the American consciousness.” | https://www.spps.org/cms/lib010/MN01910242/Centricity/Domain/125/baldwin_atalktoteachers_1_2.pdf https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/james-baldwins-lesson-for-teachers-in-a-time-of-turmoil |
Smithsonian Website with resources of how to talk about race in the classroom | Different resources for educators and students to explore racism and how to talk about it and why it matters. | |
Discussing Sensitive Topics (re: The N Word in Literature) in the Classroom | To Kill a Mockingbird, like many literary works, includes both language and topics that require careful consideration from teachers and students. We believe the best way to prepare to encounter these topics is to create a class contract outlining guidelines for a respectful, reflective classroom discussion. Review “Fostering a Reflective Classroom” on page 221 for suggestions for creating classroom contracts. | https://www.facinghistory.org/mockingbird/discussing-sensitive-topics-classroom https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2011/straight-talk-about-the-nword |
Windows or Mirrors? (for literature) | This task helps students consider if the text is a window or a mirror through practicing literacy skills and using technology. Students will decide if the author, speaker, characters or content in a text reflect students’ lived experiences (mirror) or provide a window into the lived experiences of people whose identities differ from the students’. | Click here for a handout I made to accompany this lesson ^Click file + make a copy to edit |
Obama’s Essay on Effecting Real Change | Could be an excellent mentor text or supplemental text | |
Clint Smith’s: Ode to the Only Black Kid in Class | Animated poem (Ted-Talk) | https://ed.ted.com/lessons/ode-to-the-only-black-kid-in-the-class-by-clint-smith |
Systematic Racism Explained | Animated video | |
Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice | TED Talk | |
Just Mercy | Novel Study | https://drive.google.com/open?id=1fBoH2BUjI5uVvIpDq4_s5BysPsHDH2q9 |
When They See Us | Film Study | |
All American Boys | Novel Study | http://allamericanboysnovel.com/assets/all-are n-boys_rgg.pdf |
The Danger of a Single Story | Ted Talk | https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en |
2020 Anti-Racist Curriculum Guide | An entire drive of differentiated resources for several grade levels | https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1LGslwJwhXvpVnDgw0uC-n794l6EGzpuH |
Social Justice | Commonlit Articles, Short Stories, etc. | https://www.commonlit.org/en/library?searchQuery=social%20justice |
Lessons on Specific Forms of Hate, Bias, and Inequality | These lessons help us explore specific forms of hate, bias, and inequality that need attention in specific communities and across the nation. By exploring ways specific people and communities have been treated as if they are less valuable, students consider ways to call for inclusion and opportunity for all. | |
Social justice booklist by grade | This list of curated books will help teachers introduce topics of racism, civil rights, and diversity, especially to younger students. The list is categorized by grade level and created by The National Network of State Teachers of the Year. | http://www.nnstoy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/NNSTOY-Social-Justice-Book-List.pdf |
Facing History and Ourselves | This website has a wide variety of resources, but here is a resource specifically dedicated to current events | |
People to Learn from Online
*Please do NOT enter their DMs asking for more labor. Read, listen, and learn from what they have already shared.
Name | Link to social media / Patreons |
Liz Kleinrock | |
Britt Hawthorne | |
Tiffany M. Jewell | |
Rachel Cargle | |
Variety of authors/sources (all grade levels) | Not sure where to put this, but this is a PADLET - Anti-Racism Resource For All Ages put together by a Librarian |
Video Resources and Guiding Questions
Middle School and High School Appropriate
Name of Video | Link to Video | Guiding Questions for the video link |
A Conversation With My Black Son | https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000003575589/a-conversation-with-my-black-son.html |
|
A Conversation About Growing Up Black | https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000003670178/a-conversation-about-growing-up-black.html | |
A Conversation With White People on Race | https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000003773643/a-conversation-with-white-people-on-race.html | |
A Conversation with Police on Race | https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000004027684/a-conversation-with-police-on-race.html | |
A Conversation with Black Women on Race | https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000004050379/a-conversation-with-black-women-on-race.html |
Just