Curriculum

What might we learn about our loved ones from photographs?

Familia or family is really important. Family can be people who are connected to you because they are related to you. They can also be people you live with and people you choose to call family. Many times families live far apart so abuelitas and abuelitos (grandmothers and grandfathers), tias (aunts), tios (uncles), cousins, madrinas y padrinos (godmothers and godfathers) step in and share family stories. All of those kinds of families participate in platicas to share love, ideas, joy, and support.

Platicas or conversations in the LatinX community are one way people or families come together and share stories, ideas, “dichos” or proverbs, music, and traditions. Many times the platicas happen at gatherings or parties. Other times they happen when a meal is being prepared over dinner or when stuck in traffic. A huge way that LatinX children and teenagers learn family and community stories is in this informal way of passing down traditions, culture, knowledge, music, wisdom, and joy.

What actions did people take in order to live freely in my community? What informed actions can we take today?

This unit consists of four lessons and was creating using the UCLA History-Geography Project’s version of the C3 Inquiry Design Model (IDM). The IDM allows teachers to teach one of the four lessons individually as well as teach the unit in its entirety. Each lesson is driven by a Historical Inquiry Question which is connected to the larger Essential Question.

What evidence can we use to see how our community has changed over time?

Historians ask big questions about the past. These big questions begin with evidence. Historians use evidence, such as photographs, letters, maps, and newspapers to learn about the past. In this activity students will become historians who will use photographs to learn about their communities. Like all historians students will 1) ask a big questions about their communities, 2) analyze evidence to help them answer the question , and 3) document what they’ve learned.

How can we continue to help preserve our communities’ stories?

Students will examine oral histories and pictures showing community members from A People’s History of the Inland Empire Story Maps and Bridges That Carried Us Over oral history collection. This collection examines the great migration of African Americans to California from 1940-1960. This lesson also focuses on how people build community when they move to new places and the impact the Great Migration had on the Inland Empire today. The students will look at examples of how community is created and continued. For the assessment portion, the students will interview and record an oral history of someone within their family, remembering the places where they felt at home in their community and how those places shaped their neighborhood. This assessment is an effort to continue to help preserve our communities’ stories today.

3.1 Chavez Ravine: What happens to a place across time?

In this lesson for elementary age students grades 3-5, students will examine the land around Dodger Stadium’s complex evolution. Students will view segments of Lost LA’s Season 1, episode 2 “Before the Dodgers” and move through five rotations (explorations) to examine a variety of primary source documents. Within each exploration, students will analyze the growth and change of the area surrounding the current Dodger Stadium, while filling out graphic organizers. As a culminating activity, students will create an artistic representation/ timeline of Mount Outlook, drawing upon information gathered in the graphic organizers created in the explorations. Students will use key phrases, symbols, and drawings to create five “layers” of the physical mountain, with the top layer being an imagined future use of the space “after the Dodgers.”

– Lost LA Curriculum Project

3.1 What can this photograph tell us about the Harvey family in 1874?

This lesson includes the primary source analysis chart and writing frames.

– UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project

3.1 What can we learn about Japanese culture through their folktales and artwork?

– UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project

3.3 What impact has urban development had on biodiversity in the Los Angeles area?

Students will learn about the significance of the grizzly bear in California through an exploration of primary sources and illustrations that trace how it interacted with local populations as well as what factors led to its eradication in the Los Angeles area. Students will use their understanding of the plight of the grizzly bear and apply their knowledge to the present issues that face the local mountain lion population, in particular, P22.

– Lost LA Curriculum Project

Content Standard

Inquiry Question

4.2

What was life like for the Tongva Before and After Spanish Arrival? Students will produce a written response, using a mural of Toypurina (a Tongva hero) as a prompt. They will also examine images of California natives within the context of how they lived “before missions” and “within the mission system, and the impact on their culture and quality of life. Collaborative groups will study images and record on a primary source graphic organizer their observations, inferences and questions. Groups will discuss their findings with each other and will present their reasoning as a group to the whole class referencing projected images. They will watch a clip from “Borderlands” Lost LA and conclude by evaluating their written response to the Toypurina mural. – Lost LA Curriculum Project

Content Standard	Lesson Title
8.6	What was life like for Chinese Railroad Workers in the 1860s? In this lesson, students will analyze a variety of primary and secondary sources that discuss the experiences of Chinese railroad workers in the1860’s. Chinese railroad workers were essential to the construction and completion of the transcontinental railroad, however, they are often underrepresented in historical sourcing and written records. One of the major challenges that the Chinese railroad workers encountered was the anti-Chinese sentiment that was supported by exclusionary laws and discriminatory practices. Students will be able to explore the contributions and sacrifices of these individuals as well as reflect upon their courageous actions of self-advocacy and resilience in spite of societal intolerance. The final assessment for the lesson will be for students to write a letter from the perspective of a Chinese railroad worker.
8.12	Were Chinese Americans free in the West? In this inquiry-based 8th grade U.S. History lesson, students investigate the experiences and challenges faced by Chinese Americans during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through analysis of multiple primary sources—including political cartoons, legal documents, photographs, posters, and personal narratives—students explore the complex realities of freedom, discrimination, labor, and exclusion faced by Chinese immigrants in the American West.
8.11	How did the African Americans of Santa Monica and Los Angeles challenge racial discrimination and segregation at beaches to form community spaces during the 1900s? In this lesson, students will learn about the experiences of the African American community that lived in Santa Monica and a few who visited from Los Angeles during the early twentieth century. You will also learn a little bit about the African American community experiences at the shoreline of Manhattan Beach during this time period. Although beaches were public spaces that were legally open for all to enjoy, the African American community was at times aggressively and hostilely discouraged from frequenting certain areas of the beach due to anti-Black racism, discrimination and attempts at local segregationist practices. Students will examine various primary and secondary sources in an effort to become familiar with the challenges that African Americans faced in their attempts to advocate for fair and equal access to employment opportunities and leisure spaces. Students will complete graphic organizers as they explore the documents and photographs in the lesson. The assessment for the lesson requires students to respond to the historical inquiry question by writing a paragraph response in which they cite evidence from the lesson sources. Sentence starters are provided to help support student writing. The historical inquiry question for the lesson is “How did the African Americans in Santa Monica challenge racial discrimination and segregation at beaches and community spaces during the 1900s?”
8.11	What consequences did the pursuit of Manifest Destiny have on liberty and freedom for the expanding nation? This inquiry-based unit invites students to explore the consequences of Manifest Destiny through the lens of liberty and freedom. Grounded in the C3 Inquiry Design Model, the unit poses the central question: “What consequences did the pursuit of Manifest Destiny have on liberty and freedom for the expanding nation?” Students investigate how westward expansion impacted different cultural groups, including Native Americans, African Americans, and Mexican communities. Using historical sources, images, and guided inquiry, students examine the promises and contradictions of American expansion. Through scaffolded questions, analysis of primary sources, and collaborative tasks, students build evidence to answer the inquiry question. The unit culminates in a student-created Flipgrid video and a land acknowledgment project that connects historical study to civic action.

11.2 What were the causes of the Anti-Chinese Massacre?

In this lesson, students explore the complexities of race, violence, and vigilante justice in early American Los Angeles. In 1871, the population of Los Angeles was 6,000 people. This diverse population participated in the lynching of nearly 20 Chinese in Los Angeles. Why did the Chinese Massacre of 1871 happen? And what does that tell us about early American Los Angeles? That is the question students must answer through watching a segment of episode 2 season 2 of Lost LA, reading, and analyzing documents to develop their own answer. This lesson works best when students have background knowledge about 2 key historical trends: Lynching and anti-Chinese sentiment in the West.

How to teach this lesson:

– Lost LA Curriculum Project

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

In this lesson, students will analyze how the conditions of urbanization led to challenges of gender expression and how society responded to these challenges in the late-19th century. As cities fostered increasingly growing and diverse populations, the emerging opportunities of entertainment and recreation allowed for gender bending cultural expression. These opportunities included Vaudeville theater performance, variety shows, and the popularization of the bicycle. In this lesson students will analyze primary documents that illustrate how in parks, in the streets, and in theaters, city dwellers were not only exposed to gender bending costumes and clothing, but were empowered by the anonymity of the city to make riskier choices in how they dressed. The “freedom” the city presented allowed for an increased popularity of cross dressing. Finally, students will be asked to analyze primary sources that demonstrate the varied responses to these gender challenging expressions of fashion and performance. This lesson, depending on your grade level and students, may take from 3-4 class periods of 45 minutes.

– ONE Archives

11.5 How can memorials help us understand continuity and change in our community?

This inquiry leads students through four separate mini-inquiry activities that will enable them to explain continuity and change in Santa Monica, using memorials as their focal point. In the first inquiry question, students will do a warm up activity. This warm up serves as a bridge–from materials many 11th grade teachers already use in their classroom to an exploration of local history. Next, students will investigate news coverage of Santa Monica’s black community in the 1920s. This activity allows them to test their assumptions about race, Santa Monica, and commonly held values in the 1920s. Students analyze primary sources from Santa Monica’s past and discuss implications of those sources. In the third inquiry question, students will identify elements of popular memorials in public spaces with an eye to controversies in current events over memorials. In the process, students will identify whether public spaces and memorials owe more to the past than the present or future community by evaluating what community artwork says about the values and goals of the communities which produced them. Finally, students will analyze April Banks’ artwork for the Belmar neighborhood (“A Resurrection in 4 Stanzas”), and select a performance task to express their ideas.

While exploring these inquiry questions, students will be able to discuss recent activism in Santa Monica and community responses to the activism. However, it is not the goal of this lesson to promote a single view of those events or to force students to come to a consensus as a class on those events.

11.5 In what ways did the Entertainment Industry Impact African Americans in Los Angeles During the Early 1900s?

Students will explore various ways the entertainment industry in Los Angeles was a motivating factor for African American migration west. Students will evaluate multiple primary and secondary source documents in order to understand why African Americans looked at the entertainment industry as an opportunity for economic and social status. Students will also view and analyze video clips that support the information presented in the written documents. Finally, students will be assessed by their ability to write a letter from the perspective of an African American migrant hearing of job opportunities in Los Angeles.

– Lost LA Curriculum Project

11.5 What were the costs and benefits of Los Angeles urban growth in the 1920s?

In this lesson students will explore the factors that led to building infrastructure of Los Angeles and its surrounding communities using the Redwoods of Northern California. Students will have a debate (or dialogue) about the environmental costs outweighing the benefits of urban growth, in particular Los Angeles in the 1920’s.

– Lost LA Curriculum Project

11.5 Were LGBT Americans welcome in Hollywood during the 1920s and 1930s?

This lesson is ideally used to supplement student learning of the 1920s era, and can provide opportunities to discuss social changes that accompany the Great Depression and the shift from the Roaring Twenties to the Great. It asks students to explore this era in Los Angeles, specific the entertainment industry and the nightlife developing in Hollywood during and after Prohibition. First in New York City and Harlem, then in Los Angeles, drag shows that drew crowds of black, white, gay and straight audiences gained popularity in these underground bars and venues. In addition, the changing nightlife of the 1920s was accompanied by shifts in literature, art, music, and film that challenged gender norms, embraced sexual ambiguity, and even featured LGBT characters or actors/performers in drag. The popularity of drag shows and blossoming of LGBT night life during this era, however, can be contrasted with the discriminated still faced by LGBT Americans. This included actors and actresses needing to keep their sexuality hidden, clubs being targeted and raided by the police, and by the 1930s, the industry regulating and censoring its content. In this lesson, students are challenged to consider whether or not LGBT Americans were welcome in Hollywood during the 1920s and 1930s. They will first examine several primary and secondary sources to better understand this trend as well as the experiences of some LGBT individuals in Los Angeles (specifically Hollywood) during this time. Then, students will consider and gather evidence from these sources to engage in a Structured Academic Controversy.

– ONE Archives

11.6 What internal and external factors shaped African-American South Central between the 1920s and 1950s?

In this lesson students examine four secondary documents and create a DBQ poster that will answer the the inquiry question: What internal and external factors shaped African-American South Central between the 1920’s and 1950’s? Between the 1920’s and 1950’s South Central was a neighborhood in which African-Americans were both welcomed and confined. Escaping the oppression of the South, black folks fled to Los Angeles, among other cities, for a better life. Before WWII, the black residents of Los Angeles had the highest rate of urban home ownership. Black intellectuals, politicians, athletes, artists and musicians from around the country flocked to South Central. Central Avenue became known as “Little Harlem.” Although Los Angeles was a space of refuge from the South, it was not free of institutional and interpersonal oppression. Housing discrimination and work discrimination were prevalent. Civic engagement was the response. The first west coast NAACP convention was held in the Somerville Hotel on Central Avenue. The Somerville Hotel was founded by the first black male and female USC dental school graduates.

– Lost LA Curriculum Project

11.7 How did Zoot Suit fashion challenge the accepted culture of the 1940s?

In this lesson students will examine various primary and secondary sources in order to understand the Zoot Suit fashion culture that emerged during the 1940’s. Students will analyze the reasons for the emergence of this fashion culture and how Zoot Suit fashion culture defied the fashion cultural norms of the time.

11.8 Why are there so many freeways in Boyle Heights?

In this lesson, students will explore the history of freeway construction in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. Students will complete an interactive digital notebook that guides them through warm-up activities, document analysis, and a writing task. By investigating historical maps, photos, and documents, students will analyze why Boyle Heights became a major site for freeway development and reflect on the social and community impacts by writing a short article modeled after the Boyle Heights Beat.

11.8 How did The Ladder magazine provide lesbian women support in the 1950s?

This inquiry-based U.S. History lesson explores how The Ladder magazine and the Daughters of Bilitis provided lesbian women with support, community, and resources during the 1950s—a time marked by severe social stigma, legal persecution, and discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals. Students examine multiple primary sources to analyze how lesbian women navigated the dangers of McCarthy-era witch hunts, bar raids, job discrimination, and social isolation.

11.8 How can we make the Beach Culture in So Cal Equitable for all?

This lesson aligns with the Lost LA episode titled Beach Culture, Episode 3 of Season 3. The episode explores predominantly how the sport of surfing has given the people of Southern California a unique identity; surfing is not only a sport instead, it is also a subculture and/or lifestyle for one to embrace. Throughout the episode, students are challenged to think about “what you need to have a beach culture” and what the “past looked like at Southern California beaches.” If the Beach (and the sub-culture of surfing) tells about SoCal itself, then what is it shedding further light on in terms of equitable experiences by all different communities? Throughout this 2-3 day lesson, students will explore Southern California beach culture by analyzing key primary sources and engaging in a collaborative community action plan. Students will explore issues around equitable access to the beach culture that makes Southern California famous. Students must wrestle with the idea that issues of inclusion today, within particular communities of color, stems from our uniquely disparaging history in Southern California. Once students know this, they will explore what actions might be taken in the future to address these wrongs. This engaging lesson series is meant to challenge students in examining something that we all seem to enjoy, the beach, while also contemplating why some communities did not get equal access to it. Get ready to have some fun!

– Lost LA Curriculum Project

11.8 How did youth in East L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley challenge discrimination and segregation in the 1950s?

The purpose of this lesson is to provide an alternative to the traditional teaching of 1950s youth culture which emphasizes the origins of rock ‘n roll as mainly an East Coast and Midwestern phenomenon. This lesson localizes youth culture to the “Eastside”, or East L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley. Localizing history is important for students to see themselves and their communities in the narrative of U.S. history. We believe that this lesson does just that. Students are introduced to East L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley in the 1950s and explore it from the historical perspective of the youth culture, music, and dance that emerged during that time. The documents range from historian interpretations of this time period to interviews with musicians and Art Laboe. The lesson also includes a “playlist” in the form of QR codes so that students can sample some of the Eastside Sound”. This sound is engrained in L.A. culture. It is the soundtrack for lowriders cruising Whittier Blvd., backyard parties (“Carne Asada’s”), and teenage romances. We hope this lesson gives context for this unique sound and helps students understand that the youth in the 1950s responded to racism and segregation by being creative and forging their own unique and enduring culture.

11.8 & 11.10 How did African Americans adapt to the challenge of traveling in the United States over time?

Students will explore the challenges African Americans faced in the Jim Crow Era and how they adapted to resist that adversity by dissecting primary and secondary texts and then creating a photo essay, found poem and Instagram story. Though the lessons are part of a mini unit designed to address broader historical skills such as change and continuity, cause and effect, and analysis of primary sources, each lesson can be used independently. This enables the teacher to integrate the individual lessons into the units they might already teach.

– Lost LA Curriculum Project

11.8 & 11.10 What can historical markers tell us about what is important in the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) and in the Greater Los Angeles area?

Students will explore the historic processes in which landmarks have been created by analyzing various primary source documents. Students will then use their analysis findings to discuss in small groups and come up with their own definition of what makes a significant event or place worthy of being marked. Finally students will engage in a short research activity using digital archives to make their mark on Azusa, the San Gabriel Valley, and LA county.

– Lost LA Curriculum Project

11.9 How were gays and lesbians viewed and treated by the U.S. government?

In this inquiry-based U.S. History lesson, students examine how gay men and lesbians were targeted and treated by the U.S. government during the Cold War. Through the lens of the Lavender Scare—a parallel to the Red Scare—students explore how fears of national security threats were used to justify the mass firing, blacklisting, and surveillance of LGBTQ+ federal employees. Students analyze primary and secondary sources to better understand the intersection of Cold War anxieties, civil liberties, and LGBTQ+ discrimination.

11.9 How did LGBT Americans respond to the Vietnam War?

Students will use a variety of primary and secondary sources to understand the LGBT experience during the Vietnam War. Students will also consider how sexuality and social conditions impacted both LGBT Americans who served in the military during Vietnam, as well as LGBT Americans on the home front. Students will use the evolving hypothesis strategy to answer the inquiry question, by first analyzing primary sources using historical thinking skills of sourcing, contextualization, close reading and corroboration. Students will then be asked to form an initial hypothesis. Subsequently students will be presented with multiple rounds of evidence. With each new round of evidence, students return to the inquiry question to either adjust or defend their evidence-based answer. The lesson will culminate with students working in groups to finalize clear, concise historical arguments in response to the inquiry question.

– ONE Archives

11.10 What led to the segregation of neighborhoods in the United States?

– UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project

11.10 How have opportunities for Mexican immigrants to the U.S. changed during the 20th century?

– UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project

What were the arguments for and against Prop 187?

Students will learn about Prop 187, a proposition passed in California in 1994 that aimed to limit access to public services to undocumented immigrants in the state. Students will examine two claims, one for Prop 187 and one against, to clearly note the differences between the two sides. Students will then analyze various primary sources and sort each one into a graphic organizer, based on which claim each supports. At the end of the lesson, students will be asked to write a short argumentative paragraph supporting one of the claims using the sources provided in the lesson. **This lesson includes primary sources that make derogatory and racist comments about undocumented immigrants. Please consider how you will address this delicate topic and include more humanizing alternatives to “illegal aliens” with your student population before using the lesson in class**

11.10 How was Prop 187 resisted and ultimately defeated?

Overview of Lesson
Students will continue their learning on Prop 187, a proposition passed in California in 1994 that aimed to limit access to public services to undocumented
immigrants in the state. In this particular lesson, students will examine the different ways activists resisted against Prop 187, which was passed in November 1994 but never implemented. Students will participate in a gallery walk in which they circulate the classroom to read quotes of activists from the time period. Their task will be to complete a graphic organizer as they circulate, writing in the quote and determining what type of resistance is embodied in the quote. At the end of the lesson, students will conduct a “One Pager” in which they create a poster with quotes and illustrations, showing how activists resisted the law.

11.10 What caused the Black Cat Tavern Riots?

This inquiry-based U.S. History lesson examines the 1967 Black Cat Tavern Riots, one of the earliest organized LGBTQ+ protests in U.S. history. Students explore the local and national conditions that led to police harassment, arrests, and community resistance in Los Angeles years before the Stonewall Uprising. Through primary sources and collaborative activities, students analyze the causes behind the Black Cat Riots and the early development of LGBTQ+ activism.

11.10 To what extent was the movement for LGBT rights part of the broader movement for Civil Rights?

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 a part 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.

11.10 How did the movement for LGBT equality go from assimilation to “coming out” in the 1950s-1970s?

In this lesson students learn about the diverse perspectives and organizations that shaped the movement for LGBTQ equality from the 1950s through the 1970s. Students will participate in a simulation where they play the role of members of specific, historically significant organizations that emerged in the LGBT movement between 1950-­‐1970s, trying to form a united coalition and make decisions about the big political questions of the day. Students will have to collaborate to write and present statements that represent their organization’s perspective in a political conference that will last 3 rounds. In each round they will discuss and debate a major event/topic in the historical LGBT movement. Then they will vote on proposals. Ostensibly, the group will try to reach consensus but the goal is greater understanding of the arguments, experiences and material conditions that shaped the movement.

11.10 How did Bayard Rustin’s identity shape his beliefs and actions?

In this lesson, students will examine primary sources to understand how Bayard Rustin’s identity shaped and influenced his actions as a Civil Rights leaders. They will participate in whole group discussions and small group work to deepen their knowledge on who Bayard Rustin is and how his identity as a gay man affected his life as an advocate. They will demonstrate their learning by writing an argumentative essay answering the inquiry question.

11.10 11.11 Were the 1950s truly the “dark ages” for gay men and women as some historians have claimed?

Students will analyze 6 – 10 (or more depending on the class) primary and secondary sources. These sources will serve as historical evidence for students as they determine their response to the inquiry question. After students read and annotate each source, they will then collaborate and create a DBQ Poster. The DBQ poster process requires students 1) to sort the sources into 2 or more categories, 2) to consider all historically relevant content and 3) construct a group thesis that directly answers the inquiry question.

11.11 Why and how did activists respond to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s?

In this lesson, students will engage in the historical context of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s exploring a timeline of major events and government responses to understand reasons for anger and unrest in the LGBT community. After establishing historical context, students will analyze
activist responses looking specifically at different goals and methods used by the activist organization ACT-­‐UP/Los Angeles.

Learning objectives for this lesson:
a. Explore the reason(s) for outrage during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s
b. Analyze the goals of AIDS activism by examining ACT UP/LA
c. Dissect the methods used by ACT UP/LA to advance their cause

11.11 How did Harvey Milk and the Briggs Initiative unite marginalized groups?

In this lesson, students will analyze the purpose of the Briggs Initiative (Prop 6), which was on the California general election ballot in 1978. The referendum sought to ban gays and lesbians, and potentially supporters of gays and lesbians, from working in California’s public schools. Then,
students will evaluate voices of those opposed to the initiative by reading posters and flyers. Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official, was a key political figure that led the debate against people like Senator John Briggs and Anita Bryant. Additionally, the Briggs Initiative was challenged by other marginalized groups including African Americans, feminists, and unionists. Finally, students will conduct a close reading of Harvey Milk’s speech given after the defeat of the Briggs Initiative on June 25, 1978 at California’s Gay Freedom Day. The lesson may take 90-­‐120 minutes depending on the reading level of students and the language support needed. To divide the lesson into two days, it is suggested that the close read be done on day 2.

11.11/12.2 Through analyzing Audre Lorde’s essay on multiple identities and systems of oppression, how do power and privilege impact the relationships people have with each other as well as with institutions?

In this lesson, students will familiarize themselves with the concept of intersectionality—how intersecting identities and oppressions shape perspectives and experiences. Through the close reading and discussion of the article “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference” featured in the influential book Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde, students will think critically about how multiple identities and systems of oppressions impact the relationships people have with each other as well as with institutions. Audre Lorde, Black lesbian poet and feminist writer, signed a contract with The Crossing Press on November 19, 1982 to publish her monumental book Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Sister Outsider is celebrated as a historic piece of literature exploring the intersections of race, sexuality, gender, poverty, and politics.

How did the failures of Reconstruction impact freedom movements from 1920 – 2020?

This 11th Grade U.S. History unit uses inquiry-based learning to explore how the failures of Reconstruction impacted freedom movements from 1920 to 2020. Students investigate how Reconstruction’s promises of freedom and equality were challenged and how those struggles shaped future Black freedom movements, including the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter.

How did Latinx Riversiders Create a Thriving Community at the Beginning of the 20th Century?

In this lesson, students will explore how Riverside’s Latinx community resisted oppression and built a thriving, resilient community between 1900 and 1950. Over four days, students will investigate themes of placemaking, cultural wealth, and transformative resistance through activities including a Question Formulation Technique (QFT) around the Casa Blanca mural, analysis of primary and secondary sources, and a creative found poem exercise challenging dominant narratives. Students will examine documents related to deportation, redlining, segregation, and community organizing, and will culminate the unit by designing a commemorative zine or digital poster to honor the legacy of Latinx Riversiders.

Do you agree that Syrian Americans can be defined with the term Mestizaje? Why? If not, what term would you use instead? Why?

Immigration to Los Angeles from Syria and Palestine in the 1880s-1920s was due to both ‘push factors’ from the Ottoman Empire, and ‘pull’ factors to North America. Migrants followed routes into the US through family and social ties in Mexico before arriving in Los Angeles. Students will look at immigration documents of Syrian Immigration to the US to generate questions about immigrants, immigration, and the concept of mestizaje.

Content Standard	Resource
11.11/12.2	Through analyzing Audre Lorde’s essay on multiple identities and systems of oppression, how do power and privilege impact the relationships people have with each other as well as with institutions?
12.2/12.7/12.8	The FAIR Act: What are students’ rights to LGBT representation in the classroom?
12.3	What did housing segregation look like in the Inland Empire in the 1920s-1970’s?
12.8	How does the media shape public opinion?