Anti-Racism Lessons & Videos

Educators who want to engage with students about the death of George Floyd and racism in America, may find helpful these resources compiled by The New York City Department of Education. Below are lessons and videos to teach episodes from our history and our present, episodes where these same shudders of injustice and outrage, peaceful protest, and also violence and destruction have ripped through our city and society.

A memorial to Mr. Floyd in Minneapolis on Thursday.
This photograph originally appeared in the article,
“George Floyd Protests in Minneapolis: Live Updates.”Credit...
Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times

Educator Resources

Lessons

• WeTeachNYC on Racism and WeTeachNYC on Civic Education
• Morningside Center Teachable Moment :Listening Circle for George Floyd
• Reckoning-Amidst-Pandemic
• Violence and Backlash
• Teaching Tolerance: Resources on Race and Ethnicity
• Anti-Defamation League: Engaging Young People in Conversations about Race and Racism
• NY Times The Learning Network : "I Can’t Breathe"
• First Encounters With Race and Racism: Teaching Ideas for Classroom Conversations

Video Resources

• A Conversation With My Black Son (5 min.)
• A Conversation About Growing Up Black (5 min.)
• A Conversation With White People on Race (5 min.)
• A Conversation With Police on Race (7 min.)
• A Conversation With Black Women on Race (6 min.)

When watching a video, it is important to use the Frame, Focus, Follow up technique. 

• Frame the video by letting students know what they are about to see.
• Focus by letting students know guiding questions to focus on.
• Follow up by letting students respond to those questions either via discussion board or in a video conference.

The New York Times suggests these guiding questions:

• What moments in this film stood out for you? Why?
• Were there any surprises? Anything that challenged what you know — or thought you knew
• What messages, emotions or ideas will you take away from this film? Why?
• What questions do you still have?
• What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why?
• Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?

Creating Breakout Rooms with Google Meet

It's easy to create breakout rooms using Google Meet.  Start by creating a hyperdoc agenda that lists each topic and with that topic provide a link to the breakout room agenda.  It's also a good idea to have a main room / lounge where participants can come at the start and end of the event.  

To create breakout rooms, do the following:

1. Go to calendar.google.com
2. Select create and name your room
3. Select "Add Google Meet video conferencing"
4. Select save
5. Go back into your event and copy the meeting link to place in your agenda

Here is what this would look like in an agenda. Visit the agenda.

This is how most folks do it, however, if you want extra security for your event, there is a different set of steps that you can follow that are posted at the ClayCodes blog. His process will show you things like how to ensure participants don't enter before you and can't stay after you end the meeting. 

Once the conference is in place, participants can go to the appropriate meeting room and enjoy their learning.