Hopefully, then, they will become more aware of the problems that plague our society. Anybody who says Columbine happened because kids had guns is missing the point. We have to teach kids to accept that other people being different is not bad. Acceptance of others is one of Urbanek goals as he builds curriculum for his American History unit on slavery. I want students to not only understand what went on, but why.
Students see slides of Civil War battlefields, then read diaries of soldiers who fought there.
Students journal, and are asked to examine their beliefs and values, and then they write first-person essays. I want them to be part of a slave ship, for example. So I ask them to write about their reaction the first time they see a white person with red hair, or see the Captain drinking a glass of red wine. The 1998 Social Studies Teacher of the Year says there are also very practical reasons for delving into sensitive issues such as race. To cooperate, you must first understand them.