This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE looks at the future of global warming as developing nations, including India and China, increase their need for energy.

Ted Talk: On March 15th, 44 BCE, Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of about 60 of his own senators. Why did these self-titled Liberators want him dead? And why did Brutus, whose own life had been saved by Caesar, join in the plot? Kathryn Tempest investigates the personal and political assassination of Julius Caesar.

In this video segment from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, meet an American Muslim as he prepares for Hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca that commemorates the Abrahamic roots of Islam.

Performed with over two million other Muslims, the rites of Hajj, the required pilgrimage to Mecca, have a profound personal impact on each pilgrim. In this video from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, a Muslim from America experiences Hajj for the first time.

Students learn about an American Muslim's impressions of his first pilgrimage to Mecca in this video segment from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.

A dining hall at Dartmouth College accommodates the religious dietary requirements of Muslims, Jews and Hindus as explained in this video from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.

The curriculum materials in this packet are intended to provide middle- and high-school teachers with the background and basic tools they need to develop and incorporate lessons about Indian-white relations in Washington into existing lessons about the history of the United States and Washington. This packet focuses on the treaty negotiations and the establishment of reservations on the Olympic Peninsula that took place in the last half of the 19th century, but it also provides a broad overview of how relations between Indian nations and the United States government evolved in the first hundred years of the nation's history.

Students will identify how Martin Luther King Jr's dream of nonviolent conflict-resolution is reinterpreted in modern texts. Homework is differentiated to prompt discussion on how nonviolence is portrayed through characterization and conflict. Students will be formally assessed on a thesis essay that addresses the Six Kingian Principles of Nonviolence.

This lesson focuses on the American Revolution, which encouraged the founding fathers' desire to create a government that would, as stated in the Preamble, insure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense. This lesson correlates to the National History Standards and the National Standards for Civics and Social Sciences.

India and South Asia: From Area Studies to Ethnic Studies
Course design by Rachel Heilman, Issaquah High School.
Developed with the support of Sunila Kale (Associate Professor of International Studies) and the South Asia Center (Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington), with funding from the U.S. Department of Education National Resource Centers Program.

Dear Colleague,

I hope you are able to implement some version of this course at your institution! I have it aligned to Washington State Social Studies Standards, but it is right in line with Common Core-driven expectations and should fit well with any state’s standards. This course also very much supports the new Washington Ethnic Studies Framework.

––Rachel Heilman, March 2022

Course Description

How can understanding a particular region both shape and enhance our understanding of ourselves and the world around us? As we gain knowledge, how do we both recognize and cross the political boundaries we see on maps? In this one-semester course we will use an interdisciplinary approach to examine India and wider South Asia as we work to conceptualize the ways people, power, geography, and the past shape the region. For the purposes of this course South Asia will include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In our role as global citizens we will also expand our inquiries to the web of connections between South Asia and our own individual and social identities.

Members of the Islamic Center of Washington, DC discuss the religious and spiritual significance of Ramadan and the celebration that concludes it, Eid al-Fitr, in this video segment from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.

Students will learn the process a case goes through to get to the Supreme Court and why some cases are determined to be landmark cases.  Students will research various landmark cases in history and examine why the case was important and how it relates to the Constitution or one of the Amendments.  The students will then select one of the landmark cases and act it out in class. Students who portray the judges will use their own opinions to determine the case and then the group will discuss if the decision is the same as the original case or if it was different and what significance today's world played in that decision.

This video from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly gives a primer on the history and evolution of madrasahs, institutes of higher learning in Islamic studies.

Through continued practice, students will be able to corageously seek truth in a world of 'fake news'

Hip hop music is a staple of music lovers around the world. With its strong, rhythmic beat and lyrical rap vocal tracks, the genre that originated in New York City after the Civil Rights Movement has grown into one of the most popular styles of music in the world.

In this lesson, students will learn about hip hop as a tool for empowerment and critically analyze its place in American history as they read, analyze, and respond to film clips and lyrics from select songs. Through the discussion questions and activities, students will question the historical complexities and come up with their own interpretation of how music can be a tool for empowerment.

Students will answer questions before, during, and after watching the clips. Teachers may choose to have students create a social post/poem/rap about a social issue or create a presentation about a song with social justice themes. The lesson also allows students to explore other songs with social justice messages, across genres.

The activities in this lesson can be implemented across curricula, including, music, history, ELA, and non-academic classes (e.g., advisory).

More About This Resource
About the Authors:

This resource was developed by PBS Digital Innovator All Star Educators. The PBS Digital Innovator All Star program brings together a community of PreK-12th grade educators, who are hometown thought-leaders and classroom changemakers, for ongoing professional learning and growth. The program creates opportunities for participants to share strategies, learn from peers and leverage PBS platforms to elevate their own ideas and voice.

PBS Digital Innovator All Stars are characterized by their ability to seamlessly integrate media and digital technology into their learning environments, inspiring students to use media and emerging technologies in responsible, effective and empowering ways.

David Upegui is a Latino immigrant who found his way out of poverty through science. He currently serves as a science teacher at his alma mater, Central Falls High School (RI) and as an adjunct professor of Education. His personal philosophy and inclusive approach to science education have enabled students to become problem-solvers and innovative thinkers. He has a keen ability to engage students in learning, exploring, and contributing to science. He received the NABT’s Outstanding Biology Teacher Award (2021) and the Evolution Education Award (2014) as well as the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2019 (2017 cohort). Upegui started, and runs, the school's Science Olympiad team and has contributed to several publications on science education and appropriate pedagogy. He completed his doctoral degree in education at the University of RI, focusing on science education and social justice.

Darnell Williams was born on the south-side of Chicago. As a child his family traveled to different parts of the United States during his father’s service in the Navy. Williams would go on and obtain his B.A in Childhood Studies of Psychology at Rutgers University- Camden. Soon after, Williams would become an English Language Arts teacher and Social Studies teacher. In 2020 Williams would have the honor of becoming a Digital Innovator and work on several projects. During this time, Williams would also obtain his Masters in Educational Leadership. Williams would be recognized for his educational leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic. He is currently the Supervisor of Pupil Services in Hamilton Township School District in Mays Landing, New Jersey. Williams in dedicated to serving staff and students in mental health and equity.

Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

In this video segment from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, learn about the daily prayer rituals of the Muslim faith and their significance in the life of a Muslim living in America.

You will find a powerpoint with information about Native Americans during the American Revolution that discuss two tribes that are indigenous to region of the 13 colonies.  It includes slides that discuss which side they allied with, why they made that choice, what contributions they made to the war effort, and making allies with their particular side benefited them in the long run.  The resource includes a foldable worksheet that can me used along with the slides.  I have my students cut it down and add it to their interactive notebook.   

Social Studies Content and Achievement Standards for the state of North Dakota. Updated 2007.

Suggestions for unit or lesson plans that can be incorporated into social studies, history, and other middle- and high-school courses with a civic component. The suggestions are focused on the selection and close reading of sources, and aimed at encouraging students to think about why sources are valid and relevant, as well as how to use them as they think about and discuss civic issues.