Cultural & Digital Literacies Resources for Middle School by Noelle Smart

The Global Oneness Project

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 03:25:04 UTC

This fantastic free resource contains videos, image libraries, lesson plans for educators, and stories to help students gain new understanding and to challenge their perspective on global issues, developing empathy for others around the world in the process.

PBS Learning Media for Teachers

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 03:33:58 UTC

This is a direct link to every video and lesson plan that PBS wrote and filmed for The Global Oneness Project. Please have a look at the link above for more info about this amazing resource that teachers can use for free within their classrooms.

Story Corps

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 03:42:58 UTC

Story Corps is a collection of individual stories, recorded for teachers to use within their classrooms. Students will develop empathy and gain new cross-cultural understanding while listening to students who may be from different backgrounds and have other life experiences than the students who listen.

UNICEF Kid Power

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 04:06:30 UTC

UNICEF developed a library of videos and lessons for teachers to use with their classrooms discussing global issues such as health, rights, and cultural diversity.

National Geographic Kids: World Cultures

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 04:11:52 UTC

National Geographic has built a whole library of interactive articles, photos, and videos about cultures, geography, and global traditions perfect for use in the classroom.

Facing History & Ourselves

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 04:19:13 UTC

According to Winston Churchill, "those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it". Facing History helps teachers facilitate valuable conversations about history so that students can recognize and stand up to racism, bigotry, and hatred.

Common Sense Education: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 04:39:59 UTC

Common Sense Education has developed a collection of free lessons, videos, and tools to help students understand and value difference and inclusion across identities.

NPR Code Switch

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 04:42:44 UTC

NPR Code Switch is a podcast talking about the intricacies of race, identity, and culture. Teachers can browse this library to facilitate healthy dialogue within their middle school classrooms.

Learning for Justice: Teaching Tolerance

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 04:48:35 UTC

This is a free resource highlighting the beauty in human diversity. Learning for Justice has developed free, classroom-ready materials focused on anti-bias and diversity education.

We are Teachers: Diversity Resources

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 04:53:07 UTC

The We Are Teachers website has built a database of vetted books, videos, and activities that support diversity lessons for the classroom, particularly at a middle school comprehension level.

Wayground: Diversified, Gamified, Accessible Assessments

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 05:13:43 UTC

Wayground is a fantastic resource for teachers looking for adaptive learning experiences to use in their classrooms. The gamified element levels up the engagement for students, so everyone has fun while learning and reviewing content.

Teacher Vision

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 05:50:06 UTC

This website offers many resources for Project-Based Learning (PBL) assignments, engaging activities and projects that support cross-curricular, student-centered learning experiences.

Edutopia: Social Emotional Learning Tools

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 05:52:46 UTC

Edutopia is packed with teacher-facing articles and videos on differentiated instruction, social-emotional learning, and classroom culture that support student engagement and confidence.

Common Sense Education: SEL

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 05:57:08 UTC

This resource combines important social-emotional learning needs with digital and technology challenges that students face. There are interactive videos and lesson plans to help students develop interpersonal and self-management skills when interacting with technology.

CTA: Resources for Teachers

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 06:00:53 UTC

The California Teachers Association created a library of content for teachers as they work to develop inclusive, adaptive classrooms that serve a variety of student needs and diversified learning experiences.

iCivics Education: Inspiring Civic Engagement

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 06:03:21 UTC

iCivics is a one-stop shop for interactive activities and lessons that support student understanding of civic action, rights, and community involvement.

SRVCE: Civic Identity & Civic Action Curriculum

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 06:08:47 UTC

This is a set of free curriculum available to teachers guiding students in exploring civic identity, community issues, and planning civic action projects.

Center for Civic Education

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 06:12:23 UTC

This website has resources and activities that help students understand democratic principles and ways to participate in civic life.

Do Something: Tools for Educators

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 06:16:32 UTC

This resource has outh-friendly, non-partisan project ideas and toolkits to support real-world civic engagement and community action. Teachers can use this to help bring social awareness to their students.

CA Dept of Education: Civic Engagment Projects

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 06:19:36 UTC

The CA Department of Education developed a hub of lesson plans and civic action project ideas designed with classroom implementation in mind. All resources are open-access for educators.

Lesson IDEA for Global and Cultural Awareness

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 06:30:04 UTC

Global and cultural awareness can be implemented by viewing a documentary filmed by PBS for The Global Oneness project. Teachers can guide their students through a discussion about how people from different cultures express their identity, traditions, and values and how those may be similar or different from their own experiences. Planning a lesson around global awareness helps to foster empathy, cultural curiosity, and critical thinking while allowing students to connect global experiences to their own lives. Teachers could have students complete the unit by building a Google Presentation displaying similarities and differences between the documentary and the students' own lives.

Lesson IDEA for Diversity

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 06:36:31 UTC

Diversity can be addressed within the classroom by comparing and contrasting an event in history and how that event might have happened differently in today's modern culture, with all of the technological advances and current racial social climate. Teachers can facilitate conversations that emphasize respect and understanding for the past and for current scenarios. Teachers can lead their students through a conversation about bias, perspective-taking, and build inclusive communication skills in a safe and structured environment.

Lesson IDEA for Supportive Learning Environments

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 06:52:54 UTC

The Leader in Me curriculum is a practical and positive option for educators looking to teach social and emotional wellness within their classroom . The curriculum can be implemented in as little as 10 minutes a week, with topics that cover self-care, taking action to complete tasks, student ownership , being a leader, and self-regulation strategies. The curriculum can be implemented as part of the morning routine, with object lessons and scenarios, asking students what they would do in a certain circumstance. The curriculum encourages empathy, inclusion, and support for fellow students and is an excellent resource.

Lesson IDEA for Civic Engagment

noellesmart — 2026-01-08 07:00:35 UTC

Civic engagement can be incorporated through project-based learning that connects classroom content to real-world community issues. Teachers could have students create a Google Form, polling their fellow students and teachers for ideas on how they can make a difference locally. Students can analyze the results to see if there are any ideas that they are capable of accomplishing, such as a canned food drive for the local pantry or a service project for a local residential care facility. Teachers can use the project to teach empathy, student care for their community, how to be active citizens, and encourage responsible participation, problem-solving, and respectful dialogue. Students have the opportunity to experience a field trip that also cares for their local community.

noellesmart — 2026-01-10 21:38:55 UTC

This is a dynamic list of websites that offer innovative ways to differentiate instruction for educators.