Teaching Tolerance

Educational kits designed to illustrate the devastating affects of prejudice and discrimination. YWCA “Teaching Tolerance” kits are available free of charge for educators. Kits can be checked out for one week. However, teaching guides are available in advance for lesson planning. One kit per teacher at one time.

Teaching Kits Available:

Kit # 1 “One Survivor Remembers" (Grades 8-12)
Tells the unforgettable story of Gerda Weissmann Klein's six-year ordeal as a victim of Nazi cruelty. Klein describes her years in Nazi labor camps and months on a forced death march. Though her experience was horrifying, Klein also remembers wonderful acts of decency and normalcy - testaments to the greatness of humanity.

This teaching kit sheds light on the 20th century's terrible history of devastation and prejudice, yet offers hope that hatred can be overcome. It includes:

Kit # 2 “Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks” (Grades 7-12)
This innovative and authoritative history of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott infuses the familiar story of the boycott with first person accounts, stirring dramatizations and narration by young people.
"Mighty Times" includes:

• 40-minute documentary film in VHS format with closed-captioning; and
• Viewer's guide with classroom activities and historical documents that bring the Montgomery Bus Boycott alive for today's students.

Kit # 3 “The Shadow of Hate” (Grades 7-12)
Spanning three centuries, this resource explores the history of intolerance in America and our country's ongoing struggle to live up to its ideals of liberty, equality and justice for all.

Through documentary footage and eyewitness reports, students are given a powerful perspective on historical events from the ordinary people who lived through them.

"The Shadow of Hate" includes:

• 40-minute Academy Award-nominated film in VHS format with closed-captioning;
• 128-page text, "Us and Them"; and
• Teacher's guide with 15 detailed lesson plans.

Kit # 4 "The Children's March" (Grades 7-12)
Tells the story of how the young people of Birmingham, Ala., braved fire hoses and police dogs in 1963 and brought segregation to its knees. Their heroism complements discussions about the ability of today's young people to be catalysts for positive social change.
"The Children's March" kit includes:

• A 40-minute teachers' edition of the Academy Award-winning documentary film (VHS)
• A teacher's guide with 9 standards-based lesson plans for social studies, language arts and music classrooms.

Kit # 5 “A Place at the Table” (Grades 8-12)
Throughout our nation's history, individuals and groups have toppled barriers to become full participants in our democracy.

To help students identify with ongoing efforts to achieve equality, the film is narrated by teenagers who explain how their families struggled for and found "a place at the table."

"A Place at the Table" includes:

• 40-minute documentary film (VHS)
• 144-page classroom text that includes narratives, historical documents, first-person stories and commentary; and
• Teacher's guide with 13 detailed lesson plans

Kit # 6 “America’s Civil Rights Movement” (Grades 6-12)
The story of the struggle and heroism of the Civil Rights Movement is captured through historic news footage, the voices of participants and biographies of those who died in the struggle.
"America's Civil Rights Movement" includes:

• 38-minute Academy Award-winning film, "A Time for Justice," in VHS format;
• "Free at Last", 108 pages of history, profiles and photos; and
• Teacher’s Guide 10 lesson plans that adhere to state standards for U.S. history, civics and language arts.