Early Colonial Gender Roles

This lesson seeks to introduce students to gender roles, stereotypes and family roles in pre-colonial and early colonial time periods. Students will also explore current gender systems and examine how gender roles have changed over time.

The Westward Movement and Charley Parkhurst

This lesson will increase student’s understanding of Charley Parkhurst and his gender and important contributions in the context of the founding of California and the Westward movement in the mid 1880s. Note that the context of this lesson may be set in 4th, 5th, or 8th grade history content.

Native Americans, Gender Roles, and Two-Spirit People

This lesson plan explores two-spirit traditions in some Native American cultures. Students will learn different perspectives on gender roles and gender expectations. They will contrast the beliefs and values within these traditions with those of early European immigrants.

Women’s Rights

How and why was the Declaration of Sentiments modeled after the Declaration of Independence?

A Place in the Middle

A Place in the Middle is the true story of Ho'onani, a remarkable eleven year old girl who dreams of leading the hula troupe at her inner-city Honolulu school. The only trouble is that the group is just for boys. She's fortunate that her teacher understands first-hand what it's like to be “in the middle” - the Native Hawaiian tradition of embracing both male and female spirit. As student and teacher prepare for a climactic end-of-year performance, together they set out to prove that what matters most is what’s inside a person’s heart and mind.

What is Marriage Equality?

Length: 0 minutes

On June 26, 2015, in a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court of the United States held that the 14th Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize marriages lawfully performed in other jurisdictions. This means that marriage equality is now the law of the land in all 50 states. Prior to this historic day, 37 states plus the District of Columbia had legalized marriage for same-sex couples. This lesson provides an opportunity for students to explore marriage equality, gain background information about it, and reflect on their own thoughts and feelings about marriage equality.

What is a Hate Crime?

In this lesson, students learn the definition of “hate” and how to use alternate words, discover and understand how national laws are made and apply that understanding to the concept of government protection.

Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Women of Color, the Stonewall Inn and the Modern LGBTQ Movement

In this lesson, students will learn about transgender and LGBTQ history, the key role of transgender and gender non-conforming women of color in the modern LGBTQ movement, and the Stonewall Inn Riots in June 1969. They will accomplish this by watching and discussing a video about transgender rights and LGBTQ history and learning about the activists Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Miss Major, and Stormé DeLarverie.

Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag Symbols of Us: Identity Capes or Flags

In this lesson, students will learn about a key activist and leader in LGBTQ history, learn about the creator of the rainbow flag, share and explore identity through discussion of literature and art, explore the concept of identity, and embrace differences in the classroom community through the creation of identity pride flags or capes.

A Look at LGBTQ History and Prominent LGBTQ People

In this lesson, students will listen to or read non-fiction texts for understanding, design a poster with key information on a prominent LGBTQ person or historical event, make a short presentation for the class based on their research, and write a short essay on a key moment in LGBTQ history or about a famous LGBTQ person. By doing this, students will learn about events in American history that are often omitted from textbooks and prominent LGBTQ people and about historical events that were part of the LGBTQ civil rights movement.