Civics/Government

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Resources to Support Schools & Systems in the Wake of Racial Violence

 Teaching & Learning

Staff

Family

Some of the resources listed above are from Teaching Tolerance which can be accessed by clicking on the project's name.
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Frederick Douglass Family Seeks Racism “Remedies”;
Cash Prizes for Winning Blog Entries – Ages 13 to 22
https://fdfi.org/blog/
(June 1, 2020, Rochester, NY) In his 1881 article, The Color Line, Frederick Douglass said, “Few evils are less accessible to the force of reason, or more tenacious of life and power, than a long-standing prejudice.” He considered racism a “moral disorder” that distorts perception “according to its own diseased imagination.”
Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI), a Rochester, New York-based nonprofit organization, founded by direct descendants of the great abolitionist, wants to hear what young people think about racial prejudice. FDFI is announcing a contest that asks participants to extend Douglass’s disease analogy and write, in 500-800 words, their ideas for practical remedies to modern racism.
In light of nationwide unrest and protests, the voice of young people is critical. “My great-great grandfather never minced words,” stated Nettie Washington Douglass, who is also the great-granddaughter of Booker T. Washington. “I believe that speaking directly is an antidote for the veiled messages or dog whistles that inspire division among our human family. We’re hoping that the next generation of leaders will instead be inspired by Douglass.”
There will be a total of seven cash prize winners of the Remedies Blog Contest. Three will be chosen nationally from the age groups of 13-15, 16-18 and 19-22. Three more will be selected from those same age groups in the City of Rochester, NY. Each winner will receive $1,000 and a free one-year subscription to Grammarly Premium, along with other gifts. Finally, the grand prize winner will receive $2,000 and a year-long Grammarly Premium subscription and other gifts. See the official rules for more details. The Remedies Blog Contest winners will be announced during a July 4, 2020 webcast hosted by Ms. Douglass and her son, FDFI president, Kenneth B. Morris, Jr.
Grammarly, the company behind the AI-powered writing assistant, is proud to partner with FDFI by offering Grammarly Premium to contest participants for the duration of the contest submission window, and free annual subscriptions to all winners, at no cost. Grammarly’s mission is to improve lives by improving communication, and by providing free use of Grammarly Premium, the company hopes to give these young writers added confidence to write and enable them to focus on communicating their powerful ideas.
“I spend much of my time in schools speaking with young people,” remarked Mr. Morris. “I hear their extraordinary ideas all the time. Now, we get to share those ideas with the public. Since the winners will be announced on July 4, I encourage participants to read Douglass’s famous speech, What to the slave is the Fourth of July. Use this as an example of how to agitate!”

About Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives
Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives is an Abolitionist and AntiRacist organization co-founded by direct descendants of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. Its mission is To build strong children and to end systems of exploitation and oppression. FDFI has been a leader in implementing human trafficking prevention education curricula in classrooms nationally since 2007. From their headquarters in Rochester, NY, they are also working to end racial inequity. Learn more at www.FDFI.org.
About Grammarly
Grammarly’s mission is to improve lives by improving communication. Its digital writing assistant helps more than 20 million people write more clearly and effectively every day, providing feedback on correctness, clarity, engagement, and delivery. Grammarly works to empower users whenever and wherever they write—via a web editor, native desktop apps, browser extensions, mobile keyboards, and a Microsoft Office add-in. Grammarly’s business-focused offering, Grammarly Business, helps more than 10,000 teams improve their communication at work. Grammarly was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, with additional offices in Kyiv, New York, and Vancouver. Learn more at grammarly.com/about.
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Resources to fight hate and racism:

The Southern Poverty Law Center has published "Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide."
Teaching Tolerance offers a vast wealth of resources and a Learning Plan Builder to help teachers build lessons around social justice standards aimed at prejudice reduction.
A Twitter campaign, #charlottesvillecurriculum, is generating a trove of ideas for teaching tolerance, including contributions from the National Council of Teachers of English and Education Week. Brightly, an online reference for parents, also has relevant material, including “Books to help kids understand the fight for racial equality.”
Unite Against Hate! offers resources for students, educators, and families as they engage in current national dialogue about racism, hate, and bias, compiled by the National Education Association.
The Alliance for Excellent Education has produced: "Condemning Racism and Bigotry While Using Charlottesville as a Teachable Moment: Resources for Teachers, Parents, and Others" available here: tinyurl.com/CharlottesvilleResources.
The Anti-Defamation League explains the teachable moments resulting from the recent Charlottesville events in “Lessons to Teach and Learn from ‘Unite the Right'."
In “Talking to Children When Hate Makes Headlines,” CNN offers resources to teachers and parents now having conversations about hate and bigotry with children.
Teach Plus compiled a list of Tools and Resources for Teaching About Race, History, and Other Issues Related to Charlottesville.
Edutopia’s site features “How to Teach Beyond Ferguson,” by José Vilson, a middle school math teacher and coach, who provides tools and strategies for having difficult but necessary conversations.

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Capitol Forum applications are due by July 1, 2020.
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"Should students study civics?"
Read pages K12-K13 in the 51st Annual PDK Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools

https://pdkpoll.org/assets/downloads/2019pdkpoll51.pdf
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View or download the entire document at http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/10/48/11048.pdf
Pages 26-32 list many resources for your classroom!
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This short video traces the evolution of James Madison’s thinking about the necessity of a Bill of Rights. While originally opposed to both a bill of rights and conditional ratification, Madison came to appreciate the political and the practical efficacy of both. Professor Jack Rakove notes that, unlike many bills of rights that use the phrase “the government ought not,” the American Bill of Rights says “the government shall not,” thus creating a set of legal commands to limit government. This is one in a series of American History Videos sponsored by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHKuCA_69fE

This National Archives workbook includes primary sources to help students explore some of the core concepts, or protections, found in the Bill of Rights, and how they’ve been tested throughout American history. Each chapter leads you to consider the implications of one core concept and includes background Information; a key question or questions to frame your thinking; questions to help you analyze the document; a primary source document or documents; discussion questions to help you consider the impact or importance of the concept. Click on the image above to download.

Announcing a New, Free Self-Directed Course on the Fundamental Values and Principles of American Constitutional Democracy
The Center for Civic Education is pleased to announce Learn.civiced.org, a new website for anyone interested in learning more about American constitutional government! The site offers a free online course, discussion forums, and highly recommended links to teaching and learning resources.

Here are some of Learn.civiced.org's features:
●      We the People Open Course: A free course that follows the content of the Center’s We the People: the Citizen & the Constitution text. The course is entirely self-paced, so you can complete it on your own schedule. It is divided into six units, each of which features a noted scholar explaining topics related to the Constitution. The course takes participants from the philosophical foundations of the U.S. Constitution through the modern interpretation and application of its ideals. You can take the entire course, or just select the sections that interest you. It is indexed with key concepts important for all citizens to know in understanding the American political system.
●      Civics Forum: Discuss civics and government and share resources with other interested people throughout the country.
●      Resources: Access ebooks, lesson plans, free materials, and other great websites for teaching and learning about civics and government.
We will continue to add courses, resources, and more to the site in the months ahead. Learn.civiced.org was made possible by the U.S. Department of Education through a Supporting Effective Educator Development grant.
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From The Choices Program...

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Encounter the original founding documents of the United States in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, the permanent home of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and Bill of Rights. These three documents, known collectively as the Charters of Freedom, are instrumental to the founding and philosophy of the United States. museum.archives.gov/founding-documents
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For students interested in a career in law:

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The News Literacy Project (NLP) is a nonpartisan national education nonprofit that works with educators and journalists to teach middle school and high school students how to sort fact from fiction in the digital age. NLP provides these students with the essential skills they need to become smart, active consumers of news and information and engaged, informed citizens.
www.thenewsliteracyproject.org/
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Many resources are available from the very popular We the People program! http://www.civiced.org/wtp-the-programwww.civiced.org/wtp-the-program
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Here is a great site to teach your students about civil discourse:
https://www.edutopia.org/article/hot-button-topics-civil-discussions-anne-vilen-katie-dulaney
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