Created by Emily Munzer, Daniel Hildreth and Neil Rathan, 5th grade teachers, Lower East Side, NYC

An in-depth unit on the American Civil Rights movement that spans from the 1940’s to the 1960’s. Students used historical fiction, non fiction resources, and documentary films to develop an understanding of the racial divide in the United States during this time period, identifying the differences between Individual vs. Institutional Racism, learning about key catalysts and leaders of the movement, and creating a content-specific glossary of related terms. The 5th grade ultimately wrote, directed, and acted in a “Living Museum” performance to showcase their understandings.

Find out more: http://noracisminthisclassroom.wordpress.com

Created by Mike Nappi

This unit was created to make students think critically about their world. Students learned about the use of slave and child labor in the chocolate industry and the benefits of the Fair Trade system. Students took their knowledge and educated their families and peers about the subject, wrote letters to chocolate company CEOs and took personal steps towards making more just decisions when purchasing chocolate.

Find out more: http://2ndgradersgofairtrade.wordpress.com/

This unit was created to teach students about unfair labor of the past and today, linking issues of children’s rights and labor rights. Students participated a “Fair Trade Boot Camp,” various simulations, created artwork, wrote letters to major U.S. companies, and became more critical of the foods that are sold in their local supermarkets.

Find out more: www.unfairchildlabor.wordpress.com

Written by Jennifer Spitz, Amanda’s Tale of Two Cities is a children’s story meant to help children come to terms with their developing sense of themselves in the world.  This story is particularly helpful to read with children of more privileged backgrounds, particularly White children who have little exposure to diversity, to support them in developing empathy, solidarity and critical awareness.

Find out more: http://amandastale.wordpress.com/

Goal for this project: 1. Establish water as a valuable resource 2. Increase awareness of water usage, 3. Examine water availability in their own environment and around the globe, 4. If necessary / desired, take action!

Find out more: thewaterproject.wordpress.com

This unit taught students about the use of child labor and the benefits of fair trade in the coca industry. Students wrote letters to chocolate CEO’s, created a petition to get fair trade chocolate in their local store, created PSA’s to educate the community and protested in front of M&Ms/Mars in Times Square.

Find out more: cacoaproject.wordpress.com

Created by Emily Munzer, Dan Hildreth and Neil Rathan

This unit guides students on a journey of taking control of their nutritional habits by educating them on the choices that are available and the benefits of making those choices. Students will take social action by working to change the school lunch menu as well as educating other students in the school about the problems of the school lunches and to advocate to change them.

Find out more: eatsmartbesmart.wordpress.com

Grade

This unit was created in response to a simple question that one of Mike’s students posed about Iraq. Mike used this teachable moment to create an interdisciplinary unit that resulted in a student created museum about Iraq in which they taught others at their school about what they had learned.

Find out more: http://insightsintoiraq.wordpress.com/