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.

How was gender challenged during urbanization in the late-19th Century and what was the response?

In this lesson, teachers will contextualize the LGBT rights movement by answering the question introduced in the History-­Social Science Framework for California Public Schools: “How did various movements for equality build upon one another?” While activists fighting for LGBT rights utilized similar tactics and had some shared goals of those fighting for Civil Rights broadly, LGBT people in racial minority communities faced additional discrimination. Moreover, many fighting for broader Civil Rights did not consider sexual preference or gender identity as apart of their fight. In this lesson, students will explore historical perspectives to determine to what extent the movement for LGBT rights was or was not part of the broader movement for Civil Rights of the 1970s and 1980s. Students will read, annotate and categorize several primary sources to write a short essay describing and supporting their prospective with evidence from the texts.

Masculinities (High School)

This lesson is meant to be integrated into the Sex Ed curriculum. This lesson is not to replace anything in currently adopted health curriculum such as Positive Prevention Plus, rather it is meant to supplement the curriculum. This lesson seeks to define “toxic masculinity” in a modern American context. Students will learn about who “toxic masculinity” affects and will work toward finding a definition for “healthy masculinity,” identifying the behaviors and practices characteristic of both forms of masculinity.

Masculinities (Middle School)

This lesson is meant to be integrated into the Sex Ed curriculum. This lesson is not to replace anything in currently adopted health curriculum such as Positive Prevention Plus, rather it is meant to supplement the curriculum. This lesson seeks to address the various definitions of masculinity, particularly in an American context, with the goal of expanding the students’ definitions to include “nontraditional” masculinities. Further, students will be asked to look inwards and see what type of masculinity they identify with, if any.

Comparing Gender Roles of My Grandparents’ Time to Now

An open book with a rainbow extending from the pages sits atop a multicolored rainbow background that looks like it was created from colored pencil.

In this two-part lesson, students will carry out and reflect upon an interview with a parent, grandparent or guardian to acquire a deeper insight into gender roles in the past. Students will compare and contrast, through the lens of gender, the work and dress expected of them and their immediate families today to that of their grandparents, parents or guardians when they were children.