Students will examine how patriotism comes in many forms through an analysis of the short film "Patriotism and Protest." In the film, experts and Minidoka survivors highlight how the infamous "loyalty questionnaire" during WWII divided the Japanese American community.   

The Cultivating Washington curriculum is intended to be a go-to resource for Washington state middle school educators seeking student-centered instructional materials that make learning about the history of the Pacific Northwest more relevant and meaningful for students.In addition, it is a resource for agricultural education teachers, parents, and community members interested in helping students discover the history and development of agriculture in the state of Washington.

Drumbeats in Time is a collaborative effort between the Thorp School District and members of the Kittitas Band of the Yakama Nation. These units are designed to integrate local Native American oral history and interview skills into the social studies curriculum to help students gain understanding of the life and times of various members of the Kittitas Valley.The sixth grade unit focuses on accounts of modern life and past life in order to develop an understanding of cultural awarness in the future.

Every media source has a story to tell--a driving purpose. The media that people consume largely shapes their world views. The US public is becoming more divided partially due to the consumption of increasingly biased news. As a critical consumer of media, It is important to be able to separate fact from opinion. In this unit, adapted from the high school version, students will become critical consumers of news, by identifying media bias in order to become better informed citizens.  NOTE: This unit has been adapted for use at the middle school level from the resource Identifying Media Bias in News Sources by Sandra Stroup, Sally Drendel, Greg Saum, and Heidi Morris.

***This curriculum is provided by The Edible Schoolyard Project with full permission to share*** Understanding Organic: Connections to Action in the Garden Classroom is a garden and classroom-based curriculum for middle to high school students that explores the concepts and meanings of organic agriculture. The curriculum consists of a short preparatory unit, a sequence of ten core lessons, and twelve optional extension inquiries that can also be taught as standalone lessons. The ten core lessons utilize hands-on explorations of organic practices and feature textual analysis and open discussions to examine the complex meanings of organic. The final project workbook introduces students to a social action project in which students apply their knowledge and experiences to enact justice-oriented change related to organic. We recommend that you start by reading the curriculum overview linked below before reading individual lessons.