This is a collection of suggested learning objectives, instructional resources, and "teachable moments" that can be used as the starting point for constructing a K-12 scope & sequence for Media Literacy & Digital Citizenship skills, as well as some Research skills. Or it can just be used to find lesson plans, etc., for teaching specific topics. 

Andrea Mulder-Slater (creator of www.KinderArt.com ) designed this lesson to be
used with children ages 5 and older. However, this lesson can be easily adapted to
work with individuals of all ages as a way of identifying and expressing emotions.
Participants will gain an understanding of how much of a role emotion plays in
art-making as they create paintings based on feelings.

In this Animating Civic Action lesson, from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Washington State Governor's Office of the Education Ombuds, students listen to the story of Jared, a student experiencing homelessness. Students are asked to examine what it means to be homeless, to identify how homelessness affects people and to and to consider ways they can act to take action against homelessness in their school community.

In this Animating Civic Action lesson, from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, students listen to the story of Esther, a student refugee, about her experience in school. Students are asked to examine what it means to stereotype others, and to consider ways they can act to make their community more welcoming and inclusive.  

In this Animating Civic Action lesson, from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Washington State Governor's Office of the Education Ombuds, students listen to the story of Jared, a student experiencing homelessness. Students are asked to examine what it means to be homeless, to identify how homelessness affects people and to and to consider ways they can act to take action against homeless n their school community.

Often throughout American history former refugees rise to be community leaders dedicating their lives to helping others. Refugees often overcome key obstacles including language and culture to become important activists addressing social and political problems. Refugees offer key perspectives on the application of civic virtues and human rights. In this lesson students will hear from three refugee students about their experiences. Then, students will be asked to:Identify and describe obstacles student refugees encounter while assimilating at school.Identify reasons why refugees go on to develop a strong sense of civic duty and desire to give back to their communities. Research and identify ways they can take civic action to build a better community.

Students will build empathy to be “helpers” and make a difference in the lives of others through consideration of two questions: How can we listen effectively to better understand people’s stories, and how can we respond to and communicate effectively to peoples’ stories? Students will then propose opportunities to take action to improve our community response to support all students and their communities.

In this Animating Civic Action lesson, from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Washington State Governor's Office of the Education Ombuds, students listen to the story of Jared, a student experiencing homelessness. Students are asked to examine what it means to be homeless, to identify how homelessness affects people and to and to consider ways they can act to take action against homelessness in their school community.

The COVID-19 Pandemic is a clear example of how science and society are connected. This unit explores how different communities are differentially impacted by the virus through the lens of historical inequities in society. In the context of decisions their families make, students explore the basics of how the virus affects people, and design investigations to explore how it spreads from person to person, and what we can do to prevent that spread.

This unit is designed to support students in understanding the COVID-19 pandemic, transmission of the COVID-19 virus, and the impacts of the pandemic on communities, especially communities of color. Specific learning targets are listed at the beginning of each lesson and highlight a core idea for the lesson, the science and engineering practice students will engage in, and the crosscutting concept students will use in the lesson. i

The unit focuses on the question How can people help end pandemics? It is designed to teach students about the COVID-19 pandemic, transmission of the COVID-19 virus, and the impacts of the pandemic on communities. Over the course of the unit, students will study the COVID-19 pandemic in light of historical pandemics to build an understanding of the following key concepts:

• How the COVID-19 virus spreads from person to person and through communities,
• How strategies to reduce transmission of COVID-19 work,
• How the actions of individuals can help to end pandemics.

The unit also supports the development of two social emotional competencies: self awareness and social awareness.

Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages has developed lessons, supplemental resources, and educational documentary videos to accompany the memoir Child Prisoner in American Concentration Camps by Mako Nakagawa.

This unit is designed to build inquiry about and interest in the themes and topics woven throughout Educurious’s multi-unit Washington State History course. To start off, students discover and share how they are connected to their classmates by participating in a “Web of Connectedness” activity. Throughout the unit, students engage in mapping, data visualization, and cost-benefit analyses in order to unpack the theme of connectedness and answer the unit driving question: How are people in Washington connected to each other and the rest of the world? As students learn about resources, economies, innovations, people, and places in Washington, they draft a series of six interactive community boards that educate others about the ways in which people are connected. For the culminating product of this unit, student teams finalize one of their six draft community boards to help students in their school make connections between themselves, Washington, and the world.

Students learn about the controversial history of a mural in Anacortes, WA, and consider what it would take to create a more inclusive and accurate mural in Anacortes today. Then students learn about the tribes, immigrants, and settlers in the region where they live and how their stories are represented in local murals in public spaces. Students draw on what they have learned to respond to the unit driving question: What decisions and whose stories define Washington state? Then, drawing on local resources such as tribal members, historical societies, and museums, students work in teams to propose a new mural that tells an inclusive story of the people and place where they live.

This lesson plan can is geared for social studies, but can also be used in other content areas.

Trauma can result when a group of people are forced away from their schools, friends, businesses/work, neighborhoods/communities, then incarcerated without due process, under difficult conditions.
Students explore how historical and traumatic events such as Japanese American incarceration affect communities for the long term and how communities have worked to heal.

Note: This is not a ‘typical’ social studies lesson on Japanese American incarceration. It will involve working with material regarding trauma.
Activities 1 and 2 cover life skills and can be offered in the classroom at any time. (It may be ideal to teach this toward the beginning of the school year) Activity 3 is a foundational piece on what intergenerational trauma is. Activities 4, 5 and 6 go deeper into this topic.

Within this collection you will find lessons, videos, handouts, and teacher guides you can use in your classroom.  You will also find a brief summary of each resource with the source sited for further exploration, appropriate grade level, approximate lesson length, and learning standards.

At OSPI, part of our mission is to prepare students for civic engagement throughout their lives. We believe our schools must engage and empower students, from an early age, with opportunities to participate in civil conversations, examples of effective civic engagement, and tools to find peaceful solutions to community problems.OSPI’s Social Studies and Social-Emotional Learning teams have put together resources for educators, families, and students to help with these difficult conversations.

Financial Education & SEL, K-5Explore the natural connection between financial education and social-emotional learning! In this training, participants will dig into standards alignment and review three strategies for implementing SEL-based personal finance in the elementary classroom, with an emphasis on DEI and underserved student populations. Educators will walk away empowered to integrate SEL and financial education using “grab and go” resources, ideas, and lesson plans. 

Discover strategies to empower migrant, dual-language, Native, and other underserved youth populations with financial confidence and capability!This training focuses on providing equitable access to financial education, with a whole-student, asset-based approach rooted in social emotional learning. Educators will receive culturally relevant and equitably translated resources, as well as suggestions to engage with families and communities within financially vulnerable populations.

Five-day unit plan that leverages the power of the Classroom Circle to teach classroom expectations, recognizing values, self-awareness, emotions, strengths and struggles, teamwork, and empathy. The Classroom Circle is a powerful tool in building a classroom community. It's a way to teach and practice expectations for speaking and listening, as well as creating a classroom that provides a safe place for students to be vulnerable, empathetic, and to build on their own self-awareness.