Summer of Social Justice

Reach And Teach is pleased to help promote Teaching Tolerance's Summer of Social Justice ideas for professional development this Summer. After their full article (used with permission from Teaching Tolerance) we'd also like to offer some Reach And Teach resources you might want to consider.

From Tolerance.org

Use This Summer for Social Justice

Web Exclusive!

Teaching Tolerance offers five suggestions for self-guided professional development as summer break gets underway.

by Jennifer Holladay

  1. Take time to renew and reflect. A great place to honor your inner teacher — and your inner self — is with the Center for Courage and Renewal; its programs are based on Parker J. Palmer's path-breaking work, The Courage to Teach. The Center offers retreats for educators, as well as free, downloadable articles and podcasts.

  2. Visit or learn more about a site of conscience. Find other destinations using this map of civil rights sites from the National Park Service, as well as its catalogs of sites in Latino history and Asian American history. If you can make it to Alabama, come visit us at the Civil Rights Memorial Center; bring a copy of this article to receive free admission for yourself and a guest. After visiting a site, identify three ways to integrate your experience into classes next school year.

  3. Broaden your perspective with books and blogs. Consider the selections from our 2004 Summer Reading Series, or head on over to Voices from the Gaps, which uplifts works by women artists and writers of color. Its index allows you to search by state or location and by "axes," such as "Filipina American." And be sure to check out Change.org's listing of essential readings on LGBT rights, as well as our "must reads" on disability rights.

    Bookmark or subscribe to the RSS feeds for progressive blogs. Five that top our personal lists: The Root, Change.org's Gay Rights, the unfortunately titled blog, Damn Mexicans, which seeks to debunk myths about immigration, Social Justice from IdentityTheory.com and Anti-Racist Parent. Our colleagues in the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project also offer the top-notch, and often disturbing, Hatewatch, which chronicles happenings in the radical right.

  4. Connect with a social justice group near you. Use our map to find organizations in your community. Attend an event or volunteer. Build a relationship that can bolster a service-learning project in your classroom next year, one that supports real social change and prejudice reduction.

  5. Identify three new ways to integrate social justice themes into your curriculum. Bookmark www.tolerance.org, explore our directory of classroom activities and order our grade-appropriate teaching kits — they are free to educators — including Viva La Causa, our newest kit for grades 8 and up about Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers' movement. Also examine materials available through Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change.



Reach And Teach resources for teachers:


CIVIO, A Civil Rights Game
CIVIO, A Civil Rights Game
SKU: 0-10-civio
Price: $14.95


CIVIO Ten-game Teacher's Pack
CIVIO Ten-game Teacher's Pack
SKU: TCIVIOTP10
Price: $75.00


CIVIO Ten-game Teacher's Pack
CIVIO Ten-game Teacher's Pack
SKU: TCIVIOTP10
Price: $75.00


CIVIO Five Game Teacher's Pack
CIVIO Five Game Teacher's Pack
SKU: CIVIOTP5
Price: $50.00


Teaching Economics As If People Mattered
Teaching Economics As If People Mattered
SKU: 0011teaipmbook
Price: $15.00


The Peaceful Classroom
The Peaceful Classroom
SKU: 780876591659
Price: $16.95 $15.00


Your Constitutional Rights CD
Your Constitutional Rights CD
SKU: ycr
Price: $10.00 $7.50


The Poverty Project
The Poverty Project
SKU: povproj1
Price: $24.95


World Playground Activity Kit
World Playground Activity Kit
SKU: PUTU5154-2C
Price: $18.95




Latin Playground
Latin Playground
SKU: PUTU201-2 CD
Price: $14.95


Latin Playground Activity Kit
Latin Playground Activity Kit
SKU: PUTU5201-2C
Price: $19.95


African Playground
African Playground
SKU: PUTU207-2 CD
Price: $14.98


CIVIO T-Shirt: For Liberty and Justice FOR ALL!
CIVIO T-Shirt: For Liberty and Justice FOR ALL!
SKU: civiotshirt
Price: $16.95


Do Justice Poster
Do Justice Poster
SKU: P532W
Price: $12.00 $10.00


Changing the World Through Children Poster
Changing the World Through Children Poster
SKU: P489ES
Price: $29.00


How To Build Community Poster
How To Build Community Poster
SKU: P470CW
Price: $15.00


Cada Nina Cada Nino Poster
Cada Nina Cada Nino Poster
SKU: P589CW
Price: $8.00


Every Girl Every Boy Poster
Every Girl Every Boy Poster
SKU: P589CW
Price: $15.00


The Anti-Bullying and Teasing Book
The Anti-Bullying and Teasing Book
SKU: 0-87659-242-6
Price: $14.95


Early Childhood Adventures in Peacemaking
Early Childhood Adventures in Peacemaking
SKU: 0-942349-09-1
Price: $24.95


Playing War
Playing War
SKU: 01 0-88448-267-7
Price: $16.95 $15.00


Say Something
Say Something
SKU: 0-88448-261-8
Price: $7.95 $5.00


Amelia to Zora: 26 Women Who Changed the World
Amelia to Zora: 26 Women Who Changed the World
SKU: 0-88448-261-8
Price: $7.95