The Zinn Education Project features lessons that reveal key aspects of U.S. history and global issues ---- lessons that we hope elicit intense student engagement.
Some of these activities are role plays ---- trials that urge students to reflect on ethical questions about responsibility for injustice; single-group role plays that pose critical strategic questions for those seeking a more just society; mixer role plays that surface diverse perspectives on key events, like the U.S. war with Mexico or the struggle for voting rights; multiple-group role plays that help students recognize the social foundations of conflicts around the U.S. Constitution, the Dakota-Access Pipeline, or the shaping of the New Deal; or role plays that allow students to discover commonalities and build solidarity, like the La Vía Campesina role play about food sovereignty.
Role plays are pedagogically powerful and their success in the classroom requires planning and care.
A mixer activity introduces students to the
powerful ways that enslaved people resisted the brutal exploitation of slavery. The lesson culminates in a collective class poem highlighting the defiance of the enslaved.
A Lesson on Housing Segregation in the 20th Century
This mixer role play is based on Richard Rothstein's The Color of Law, which shows in exacting detail how government policies segregated every major city in the United States with dire consequences for African Americans.
Recently Updated Role Plays
Periodically, we update lessons. Therefore, before using a lesson you've used before, we recommend downloading it again to be sure you have the most recent version. Below are some of the recently updated role plays.
Constitution Role Play:
Whose "More Perfect Union"? and The Constitutional Convention: Who Really Won?
The U.S. Constitution endorsed slavery and favored the interests of the owning classes. What kind of Constitution would have resulted from founders who were more representative of the entire country? That is the question this role play activity addresses.
Seneca Falls, 1848: Women Organize for Equality
A role play allows students to
examine issues of race and class when exploring both the accomplishments and limitations of the Seneca Falls Convention.
Share stories about how you use these lessons. How did students respond? What are your "success stories"? Have you adapted the lessons? Have you encountered difficulties? What alternatives have you created?
The free resources at the Zinn Education Project are possible because of donations from individuals like you. The future depends on your support.
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