IRA Social Responsibility & Literacy SIG

Resource List

Instructional Strategies - by Beth Breneman

Professional Literature

Professional Literature You Don't Want to Miss, selected by Patricia K. Dean, Ph.D.

Charney, Ruth. Teaching Children to Care

Roadmaps for Social Action
For ways to explore social action with students, check out the NCTE
title A Curriculum of Peace: Selected Essays from English Journal that
includes "Giving Peace a Chance: Gandhi and King in the English
Classroom," which describes how one high school English teacher
developed and taught a unit that would give students the opportunity to
see how violence and nonviolence affects their lives.

NCTE's "It's Our World Too": Socially Responsive Learners in Middle
School Language Arts explores ways to use significant social issues
such as race, class, and poverty to invigorate teaching of literacy and
communication skills. To learn about the ties between active learning
and active citizenship, read chapter one of the text.

For additional suggestions, see Teaching for a Tolerant World, Grades
9-12 and Teaching for a Tolerant World, Grades K-6.

Children, Adolescent, and Adult Literature

Website Links

American Jewish World Service
An international development organization motivated by Judaism’s imperative to pursue justice. AJWS is dedicated to alleviating poverty, hunger and disease among the people of the developing world regardless of race, religion or nationality.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
CASEL enhances children's success in school and life by promoting coordinated, evidence-based social, emotional, and academic learning as an essential part of education from preschool though high school.

Child Development Project
A research-based, multi-faceted school-change program focused on creating caring, supportive learning environments that foster students' sense of belonging and connection to school including cooperative learning approaches, classroom and schoolwide community-building activities, engaging curriculum, and an emphasis on literacy development.

Educators for Social Responsibility
Helps educators create safe, caring, respectful, and productive learning environments as well as helps educators work with young people to develop the social skills, emotional competencies, and qualities of character they need to succeed in school and become contributing members of their communities.

Environmental Education
Gives people a deeper understanding of the environment, inspiring them to take personal responsibility for its preservation and restoration. Helps people gain an understanding of how their individual actions affect the environment, acquire skills that they can use to weigh various sides of issues, and become better equipped to make informed decisions.

Foxfire
Foxfire has helped teachers teach and learners learn, while also being firmly rooted in the culture of the community. Resources include The Foxfire Magazine, The Foxfire Book series, a museum and visitor center, teaching resources, etc.

Museum of Teaching and Learning
The Museum of Teaching and Learning (MOTAL) will be a grand, world-class museum with highly interactive exhibits and activities that will educate and fascinate participants of all ages.

National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy is a non-profit, non-partisan educational institution that provides tools for living democratically in a diverse American society. Partnering with educators and community-based mentors, the National Center works to inspire youth to become active, informed participants in shaping democracy in America.

Responsive Classroom
An approach to teaching and learning that fosters safe, challenging, and joyful elementary classrooms and schools. Developed by classroom teachers, it consists of practical strategies for bringing together social and academic learning throughout the school day.

Notable Books for a Global Society (IRA CL/R SIG)
Selects the most outstanding 25 books annually (K-12) which promote understanding of cultures/perspectives different from one's own as well as celebrating commonalities among the human community.

Teaching Tolerance
Founded in 1991 as a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Provides to educators a variety of free educational materials that promote respect for differences and appreciation of diversity.

World Wise Schools
Lets students interact with a Peace Corps volunteer currently serving in one of more than 70 countries through the Correspondence Match Program for Grades K-12. They also sponsor CyberVolunteer Program (K-12) and classroom resources that help students understand people, cultures, geography, and community service.

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To submit an entry which you believe the public should know about, email your item(s) to our website manager, indicating that it is a resource for the IRA Literacy and Social Responsibility SIG Resource List(s). Additionally, please contact Dr. Beth Breneman to share your ideas for building this resource bank.