Crisis in Ukraine

  • As a district, we are committed to helping students understand national and global issues and feel safe to have authentic discussions about what they may see or hear on the news.  We hope these resources on Ukraine and others that you have found support you in helping our students have a better understanding what’s happening there.

    Material

    Grade Level

    Purpose

    Explicit Ukraine lessons

    Teaching Social Studies in 2022

    Any

    This resource provides age-appropriate lessons on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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    Teaching with Current Events

    Any

    Facing History and Ourselves provides great resources on several topics, including teaching current events.  Check out this collection of resources to see strategies for cultivating thoughtful discussions in your classroom.

     

    When Bad Things are Happening from Learning for Justice

    Any

    When any crisis news breaks, learn the steps for providing students a safe space to process.

    Color, Symbol, Image 

    Any

    It sometimes helps students to process their thoughts by sharing in a nonverbal way.  This Color, Symbol, Image protocol is a great way to help students process something they are thinking about without the pressure of engaging in a discussion. 

     

    Head, Heart, Conscience

    6-12

    Facing History and Ourselves provides a lot of useful processing tools for students.  This strategy is useful for complex historical events that can result in a lot of emotions bubbling up for students.

    Question Formulation Technique 

    Any

    Helping students generate questions about a topic allows students to explore their thinking without the difficulty of deciding their opinion.  This Question Formulation Technique is a great protocol to help students generate their questions on a topic.  *You will need to create a free account to access in-depth resources, including a padlet template that gives you an easy way to do this protocol virtually. 

     

    Big Paper 

    Any

    Facing History and Ourselves is a great resource for many things, including teaching strategies that encourage discussion and engagement.  The Big Paper protocol is especially helpful when discussing difficult topics because it allows students to silently process and share their thoughts.

     

    Visible Thinking Routines 

    6-12

    Harvard’s Project Zero is a great resource for visible thinking routines.  Visible thinking routines help students process big ideas, difficult concepts, or dilemmas when their ideas are not completely flushed out or to help students refine and deepen their thinking.  Under Perspectives, Controversies & Dilemmas the Values, Identities, and Actions technique can help students identify the values involved in the topic, the identities of those involved and how those identities impact the topic, and the actions that the work encourages. 

     

    The Ukraine Crisis from Brown's Choices Program

    6-12

    Brown University's Choices Program empowers students to understand the relationship between historical events and current issues.  In this lesson, students explore the historical context of the current Ukraine crisis.

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    Navigating Digital Information from Crash Course and Stanford History Education Group (SHEG)

    6-12

    This 10 video curriculum will help students learn how to navigate digital information in the age of misinformation.  Students will walk away with tools to evaluate the information they read and make informed opinions about topics.

    COR Curriculum from Stanford History Education Group (SHEG)

    6-12

    This series of free lessons and activities help students combat misinformation online.  Help students navigate the digital world so that when any crisis happens, they have the tools to evaluate the constant flow of information.

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