It’s January, which means we’re looking forward to a new year of opportunities and committment to education. As we begin 2026, we wanted to take a moment and reflect on the significance of last year. 2025 was a historic year of grassroots organizing, mass protests, and collective action. Across the United States and around the world, people gathered together to stand up against authoritarian regimes, human rights abuses, and environmental degradation. They supported and uplifted their communities and stood tall in their identities, even when faced with oppression. In fact, the No Kings protests in June and October are widely estimated to be the two largest single-day protests in U.S. history.
In honor of this, we’ve focused this month’s Resource Spotlight on social movements throughout history. We encourage you to try out some of the lessons and books listed below in your classroom this year. Learning the history of social movements helps students understand that many of the rights we enjoy now were fought for by those who came before us, and teaching First Amendment rights can inspire students to become more civically active.
Happy New Year from the CHSSP!
Ready-to-Use Lesson Plans
Road to the American Revolution
Although we often associate protests with the civil rights movements of the 1960s, mass protest was also a catalyst for the American Revolution. In this fifth-grade inquiry set, students explore the major events that led to the American Revolution, focusing especially on the growing discontent the colonists felt for the British crown.
This inquiry set for eighth-grade students focuses on the actions of those who fought to raise attention to the horrors of slavery and demand its abolition. Although abolitionism was considered very radical in the 19th century and the arguments of abolitionists were never popular with the vast majority of Americans, it's important for students to understand that there was coordinated opposition to slavery.
Still Sun Mad: Farmworker and Climate Justice
This Ethnic Studies lesson sequence connects the history of the farmworker movement to the current climate crisis. Students learn about the history of the Chicano/Filipino farmworker movement and the Delano table grape boycott, as well as the current ways that farmworkers continue to face unsafe working conditions due to the climate crisis. The lesson culminates in students creating their own “call-to-action” image inspired by those featured in the lesson.
This inquiry set provides eleventh-grade students with historical context for the women’s suffrage movement. Students learn why women desired the franchise, and what strategies they used to convince men to grant it to them.
This eleventh-grade inquiry set examines how the various mid-twentieth-century movements for equality built upon and inspired each other. The chosen material represents the movements against the Vietnam War and the civil rights movements of women, Chicanos, American Indians, Asian Americans, LGBT Americans, African Americans, and people with disabilities.
Current Context: Youth in Action
This Current Context lesson connects youth movements of the 2010s to other social movements throughout U.S. history. There’s also a focus on Constitutional Rights.
In this lesson, from our LGBTQ+ History Through Primary Sources collection, students learn about how lesbian and gay activists fought back against restrictive and homophobic laws in the 1950s and 60s, leading to the “gay liberation” movement in the late 1960s and 70s.
#KatesBookClub December Reads:
Barrio Rising: The Protest that Built Chicano Park by Maria Dolores Aguila, illustrated by Magdalena Mora. Account of community activism in San Diego’s Chicano Park, home to the largest outdoor mural collection in the United States. In the early 1970s, residents of Barrio Logan learned that a construction crew they believed to be building a park was actually breaking ground for a police station. The Mexican-American community of the Barrio launched a successful twelve-day occupation of the land, and ultimately built the colorful park that is a national landmark. Visit the Chicana Park site for more information.
Evicted! The Struggle for the Right to Vote by Alice Faye Duncan, illustrated by Charly Palmer. Ideal for middle and high school students, this book highlights the Fayette County Tent City Movement of Tennessee in the late 1950s. During this time of Jim Crow laws and segregation, Black residents were barred from voting in public elections and evicted from their land for trying. Black sharecroppers were forced to live in tents, and many were blacklisted from shopping for groceries and other necessities. Excellent resources and timeline included. A nice overview of the protest can be found on the University of Memphis website.
Let Us March On! James Weldon Johnson and the Silent Protest Parade by Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long, illustrated by Xia Gordon. Story of James Weldon Johnson and the first mass all-Black march for civil rights in the United States when 10,000 Black protestors, including children, marched in silence down New York City’s Fifth Avenue in July of 1917. The parade stands in history as an example of the power of protest, and especially the power and resilience of young people in the face of ongoing racial hatred and violence. James Weldon Johnson also wrote the poem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which became known as the Black national anthem. Weldon was the first Black faculty member at NYU.
Rise Up and Sing! Power, Protest, and Activism in Music by Andrea Warner, illustrated by Louise Reimer. What a great opportunity to show the intersection of music, activism, and social justice. This gem of a collection includes playlists for each social justice issue - climate change, indigenous rights, civil rights, disability rights, LBGTQIA+ rights, gender equality, peace/anti war, and human rights. Features music from contemporary artists like Beyonce, Billie Eilish, and Lady Gaga, while also introducing icons of the past such as Nina Simone, Yoko Ono, and Ray Charles. The preface also includes definitions about decolonization, reconciliation, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Fabulous resource.
The Walk by Winsome Bingham, illustrated by E.B. Lewis. I absolutely love this book about a young girl who goes on a walk with her granny. The girl doesn’t know where they are going, but it is clear that granny has a destination in mind. During their walk, the girl and her granny are joined by other members of their diverse neighborhood, many sharing other walks that they have taken, with more and more people joining in. The group finally arrives at the girl’s school which is a designated polling place. Wonderful story about the importance and responsibility of voting, all while gently sharing the historical challenges to voting rights. Could be paired with Leo’s First Vote and Some of Us: A Story of Citizenship and the United States.