View as Webpage

Indigenous Classroom Resources

Teach-In Saturday, November 4

Join Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian and Teaching for Change on Saturday, November 4 for a virtual teach-in on Indigenous classroom resources.

The teach-in will feature a keynote by Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland on reclaiming education sovereignty followed by two rounds of workshops on:

• The People vs. Columbus, et al.
• Pipeline Protests: Putting Climate Civil Disobedience into the Curriculum
• Rethinking Thanksgiving: A New Thanksgiving Story for a Twenty-First-Century America
• Teaching Indigenous Central America
• Teaching Treaties: Fort Wayne and the Coming of the War of 1812
• The Trouble with History
• Using Children’s Books to Teach the Troubled Legacy of Indigenous Boarding Schools



Many of the workshops are participatory, therefore, most are not recorded. Participants will receive resources from every session in the week following the event and a recording of the keynote. 

Indigenous Peoples' Day Curriculum

On September 30, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and Teaching for Change co-hosted our seventh annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Curriculum Teach-In. More than 100 educators began the day in the beautiful Rasmuson Theater for the keynote and then spread throughout the museum for eight workshops in the exhibits and classrooms — both indoors and out. The teach-in was held on the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools and the theme was education sovereignty.

Prioritizing Profits Over Integrity

It was recently revealed that Scholastic is offering schools the chance to opt out of their diverse booklist for their popular school book fairs.

Rather than using their immense power to defend the freedom to learn, they are joining the censors.

Scholastic’s response to critiques has been two statements, first defending the practice as “protecting teachers” and now saying they have dropped the diverse catalog and “will pivot,” but with no concrete plan.

Sadly, this is not the only example of Scholastic prioritizing profits over educational integrity.

While they publish many books we value, their marketing and communications divisions are as guilty of censorship and misinformation as the legislators passing anti-CRT laws and book bans. We offer examples from our challenges of Scholastic over the past decade.

Abra Koch, Spanish teacher at Loveland High School in Ohio, taught a lesson about Ruben Darío for Teach Central America Week in October. Students read Darío’s bio at the Teaching Central America website and then discussed the historical context of the poem "A Roosevelt/To Roosevelt" and the reaction of Darío to the intervention of the United States in Latin American politics and economics, including the separation of Panama and Colombia to allow for the construction of the Panama Canal. Students identified the lines in the poem that expressed Darío's pride in his heritage and chose lines to illustrate and post on the wall for others to see.

Tell us how YOU teach about Central America. In appreciation for your time, we will send you a book for your classroom about Central America.

Resources on Palestine and Israel

November 28

Educators are turning to Teaching for Change for our carefully curated reading lists, virtual workshops, and lessons to help students learn about history beyond the textbook heroes and holidays, rethink the world around them, and see themselves as agents of change.

This #GivingTuesday (or before!), please donate or create your own fundraiser for Teaching for Change to help us meet the increased demand for our anti-racist, social justice resources. 

Teaching for Change

Social Justice Books

Zinn Education Project

D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice