Students at NYC's Beacon High School.
Photo© Carolina Kroon



Our Diversity Work In the Media

  • As part of its documentary The New York Connection, Dutch Public TV turned its cameras on Morningside Center trainers Marieke van Woerkom and Emma Gonzalez, student diversity panel members, and a mediation session led by young peer mediators -- all part of our ongoing diversity program at Brooklyn's PS 24. See our work in action in this 5-minute video clip!

  • See Eleanor J. Bader's richly drawn portrait of Morningside Center's work in schools, focusing on Brooklyn's PS 130, in the online publication On the Issues --Beginning with the Children: To Teach Peace.


PBS NewsHour features
Morningside Center's work

On July 21, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aired a segment on the remarkable success of Morningside Center's programs at Brooklyn's P.S. 24. The segment highlights our classroom-based 4Rs Program (Reading, Writing, Respect & Resolution), an innovative, research-based approach for fostering students' social and emotional learning. more>>

Visit www.morningsidecenter.org for more info about our work.



About Morningside Center

TeachableMoment.Org is a project of Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, and furthers our mission of fostering social responsibility in young people.

Morningside Center
educates young people for hopeful and intelligent engagement with their world. A national leader in fostering social and emotional learning (SEL), Morningside Center reaches tens of thousands of educators and students each year through an array of programs that develop such skills as handling anger, being assertive, solving conflicts creatively and nonviolently, and dealing well with diversity. We help teachers make their classrooms more caring and productive. We support students in taking leadership to improve their communities--from the classroom to the world.

Morningside Center relies on individuals to help support our work, including the free lessons available on TeachableMoment. Please contribute!

 




Iraqi family finds refuge in Jordan.
Photo © Lori Grinker

Nothing Like My Home
The Iraqi Refugee Crisis

Morningside Center's Nothing Like My Home Project uses the arts and media to engage young people in the plight of 4.7 million Iraqis displaced by war.

 

Latest Activities

The classroom lessons on TeachableMoment.Org foster critical thinking on issues of the day and a positive classroom environment. Teachers are free to use these lessons in their classrooms. We welcome feedback! Send comments as well as requests for permission to reprint materials for widespread circulation to: info@morningsidecenter.org.

Hundreds more interactive classroom activities are available on our elementary, middle, and high school index pages.

FROM BAGHDAD TO TUCSON: The Story of a Young Iraqi Refugee (11/18/09) Students consider their views about Iraq and reflect on one young Iraqi refugee's view of the U.S.

The American Heritage of Race, Interracial Sex & interracial Marriage (11/10/09) Four student readings explore the sensitive and controversial issues of race, interracial sex and interracial marriage--including the Jefferson-Hemings relationship and Michelle Barack's ancestry.

Juan Cole on ENGAGING THE MUSLIM WORLD: An Overview for Teachers (10/28/09) Alan Shapiro provides background for teachers on the 'standoff' between the Muslim world and the West through an overview of the new book by Middle East scholar Juan Cole.

COPENHAGEN CLIMATE CONFERENCE: Will we continue to be 'slowly boiling brainless frogs'? (10/19/09) This December 2009 conference presents an opportunity for students to consider some key issues facing our planet - and possibly to take action in demonstrations this month.

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER: President Obama (10/20/09) A student reading includes the president's statement on receiving the prize, an excerpt from the Nobel Committee's announcement, and a sampling of reactions to the award. Discussion questions follow.

AFGHANISTAN: A War of Necessity? (10/8/09) Two student readings consider the president's position, recent military assessments and other views on the 8-year-old war. Discussion questions and suggestions for inquiry follow.

The CIA: An Inquiry (9/30/09) A student reading explores the debate over the agency's "enhanced interrogation techniques." Instructions for how to formulate questions for a student inquiry follow.

OBAMA'S HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN & ITS CRITICS (9/16/09) Student readings examine the president's plan and the responses of critics and commentators. Discussion questions follow, as well as suggestions for engaging students' family members in a dialogue about the issue.

HENRY HUDSON IN MANNAHATTA (9/9/09) The 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival in Manhattan make September 2009 a teachable month. A student reading describes Hudson's 1609 voyage, relations with native people, and aftermath. Discussion questions and inquiry suggestions follow, along with information on web and museum resources.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU: Classroom Activities for Starting Off the School Year This 28-page PDF booklet includes great activities to get your class (grades preK-12) off to a good start in the new school year.

TEACHING IN A TIME OF CRISIS (9/2/09) Educator Marieke van Woerkom provides timeless guidelines for opening up discussion on difficult issues--like the current economic recession--with your elementary and middle school students. Also included: links to resources on the economic crisis to inform the class discussion.

'THE ROOF IS CAVING IN': Americans Still Losing Jobs & Homes (9/2/09) Alan Shapiro offers two readings to help high school students consider the impact of rising unemployment and continuing foreclosures. Discussion questions and suggestions for inquiry, writing, and citizenship follow.

DR. GATES, SERGEANT CROWLEY & PRESIDENT OBAMA (7/29/09) President Obama hopes that the incident between police officer James Crowley and scholar Henry Louis Gates "ends up being what's called a teachable moment." We oblige with a lesson including student readings and discussion questions.

THE BUREAUCRATIC MACHINE (7/21/09) In three student readings and activities, Alan Shapiro invites students to consider the behavior of people in bureaucracies, including the health insurance industry, finance, and the military.

I.F. STONE: 'All Governments Lie!' (7/15/09) At a time when newspapers are struggling to fund investigative reporting, three student readings examine the work and impact of journalistic inquirer I.F. Stone. Discussion questions and suggested inquiry and citizenship activities follow.

Supreme Court ruling: CAN SCHOOLS STRIP SEARCH STUDENTS? (7/8/09) The court's recent ruling on the right of schools to conduct drug searches leaves some questions unanswered. Two readings, discussion questions and suggestions for inquiry help students consider the issue.

IRAN'S TURMOIL & Relations with the U.S. (7/1/09) Three student readings provide an overview of recent events in Iran and outline that country's post-World War II relationship with the U.S. Discussion questions and suggestions for further inquiries follow.

CIGARETTES: Cracking down on the 'deadliest legal product known to man' (7/1/09) A reading outlines the new Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and provides information about teenage smoking and its effects. A writing assignment, discussion questions and subjects for further inquiry follow.

. . . And more for elementary, middle & high school.

  
 
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New York, New York 10115
212.870.3318 | fax: 212.870.2464
info@morningsidecenter.org