Teaching about Diversity - Some Resources

The comments here were added by teachers in the April 14, 200 workshop at our Nicenet site, http://www.nicenet.org. The names of the commentators are included when known.

I missed a lot of these questions and found them to cover a large section of different kinds of discrimination. I'd recommend this site for information on prejudices- it provides some interesting statistics.

Interesting site to collect great dicussion questions. One might take caution with taking the multiple choice and true/false quiz, many of the choices are not chooseable due to lack of detail in the questions being asked. For instance the first question uses the word "punishment" but it's not defined as a simple reprimand, a fine, or jail time.

This link has the familiar celeb-centered look and hip-hop tone that adolescent net-junkies have come to expect--an important aspect overlooked by a lot of sites. A couple of window buttons don't work on the current page. This isn't for "deep thoughts", but it is very accessible for new initiates to social justice issues.

Lots of info and possiblities. Could possibly motivate the unmotivated.
-dave raffetto

The site provides many activities which get students involved in discussing tolerance. The activites are already in place so they are ready to use for teachers and students.
-Melissa Wiese

Choosing to Participate - information about three incidents in text and video form that show how individuals respond to racism and create tolerance in their communities. http://www.internoded.com/choosing/home.html

Multicultural Pavilion - Resources and Dialogues for Educators, Students and Activists. Lesson plans and activities for multicultural education. http://curry.edschool.Virginia.EDU/go/multicultural/

This is a great link with lots of information and resources. There are web sites that have music and songs that describe a particular diverse group, songs about race, hate, homosexuality, etc. There are links to sites with information about other cultures- it really is a pavillion of multicultural information.
-Amy Watson

This site has information about resources and dialogues for educators and students. Some of the topics include an intercultural poetry exchange, multiculturalism & the arts, and awareness activities.
-Rachel Bauer

Okay, this is one of the most exciting sites I've seen for Mainstream teachers, Foreign Language teachers, and Bilingual teachers who want to introduce multiculturalism into their classrooms in an integrated way. It even addresses the "isms" in ways that feel safe and non-confrontational. There are songs in several languages that address the "isms", there are lesson plans to grab and go with. This is an absolutely wonderful link that makes integrating diversity issues in your classroom easy.

This is a great site to read reviews on multicultural books you would want to include in a classroom. There are a lot of books out there that are categorized as multicultural but really aren't and rather stereotype people of various cultures. I think this website would be quite useful.
-Lisa Hjerpe

Huge site with diverse links to rights, children, food, UN, everything Too big to describe: the starting point for background info.
-dave raffetto

Great for teaching diversity in the FL classroom-- background info on Gypsies in France.

Full of resources and actual lesson plans from teachers and students who have done them. Includes meaning making activities, project-based activities, literature based activities. You can grab an actual lesson as is, or you can use it for food for thought in creating your own.
-Melinda

This site has information on literature, web site links, and project-based activities.
-Rachel Bauer

Definitely a site to behold! Books galore on tolerence, multiculturalism, history and historical fiction. I can see this site having many uses with all kinds of curriculum.

Incredible link! A wide variety of activities that are useful at many levels. This is the type of stuff that I feel is important to get to the kids! The activities in this link are varied and can lead into a lot of other activities. Often the best ideas spring from an unexpected place.
-Scott A. Greenhow

This site brings Census 2000 to life for students. The website www.census.gov is a good place to start. It has a lot of information and classroom materials. At www.census.gov/dmd/www/infoquest.html you can get a sample census form, but of course you can also create on of your own. Use the same categories that the Census people do and break up your class into groups and have them go out and survey members of your school community. After gathering the information, discuss the results with your students. Is it the same/different than that of the outside world (your town, state, the U.S.)? Ask your students if they had difficulty gathering information on ethnicity of those they surveyed. Did any of the respondents refuse to answer any questions? There are many more things a teacher can do with this topic. It's very relevant right now because as we know this happens only every 10 years.
-Mark Swartzfager

Non-Western History - links to information about a variety of non-Western cultures; designed for K-12 teachers. http://execpc.com/~dboals/hist.html

This website had information on cultures from different parts of the world including: Asia/Pacific, Central/South America, China/Japan, Africa, Middle East, and India.
-Rachel Bauer

Web Resources for Multiculturalism in Education - a few annotated links, mostly academic. http://www.iteachnet.com/webmulticultural.html

Pourquoi L'Éducation Interculturelle? -Intercultural Education (Fr). http://www.libertel.montreal.qc.ca/info/ceici/trousse/int/int03.htm

Background information about French Canadian/Anglo history and importance of recognizing multiculturalism in the classroom.

Voice of the Shuttle: Minority Studies Page - lots of links to resources. http://vos.ucsb.edu/shuttle/minority.html

Under the African American link you can participate in the Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Legacy Exhibit. This exhibit is to honor black heritage in the 21 century. The pitures are not close up so the distance from the artifacts can be frustrating, however the information (history, culture, geography) is comfortable and compelling reading.

"Teach the NEWS" lesson plans from Teaching Tolerance. http://teach1.com/teachthenews/lessonplan/

This is such a spectacular website! There is a new lesson posted daily concerning "NEWS" topics. If you want to access other lesson plans, just click onto the "archives" button and it will list other lesson plans by the day they were posted. There are also worksheets to make kwl charts, brainstorm with cluster maps, make headlines and plot with time lines and others to download and print. There is also a "Do Something" website that meets the Level 4 Social Action Approach to multicultural curriculum reform at www.dosomething.com. I can't wait to use this in my classroom.
-Nicki

A Guide to Using Skin Deep - lessons to accompany the PBS video. http://www.pbs.org/skindeep/guide/guide_main.htm

This site involves watching the movie Skin Deep first before taking part in any of the activities. Even though I haven't seen the movie it sounds like this would be a great way to promote Diversity in your classroom. It sounds like a very positive video and the activities that are involved really encourage student participation and discussion. It also provides information on how to involve this movie in the rest of your curriculum: Math, Social studies, History, English, etc...
-Jeanette Scotti

This is a great resource for upper elementary and above to discuss racism. The video "Skin Deep" is a must see and this website has many before and after activites to incorporate in your classroom. Even if you don't watch the video, I feel there are many ideas you can still use.
-Nicki

Gail's Electronic Classroom - to use with the Windows on My World series. http://teams.lacoe.edu/documentation/classrooms/gail/gail.html