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Unsung Heroes (Lesson) | Zinn Education Project

Unsung Heroes: Encouraging Students to Appreciate Those Who Fought for Social Justice

Teaching Activity. Essay by Howard Zinn and lesson by Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 17 pages.
Students research and share stories about unsung heroes in U.S. history.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Rethinking the Vietnam War | Zinn Education Project

Rethinking the Teaching of the Vietnam War

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 8 pages.
A role play on the history of the Vietnam War that is left out of traditional textbooks.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Two men carry children blinded by the Union Carbide chemical pesticide leak to a hospital in Bhopal, India, Dec. 5, 1984.

Whose “Terrorism”?

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 11 pages.
Using scenarios based on real situations, this lesson helps middle and high school students examine the definition of terrorism and the use of the term terrorism in the media and U.S. foreign policy.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

The Expansion of Empire

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 15 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 12 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on internal dissent over American expansionist policies.

Protesting the First World War

Teaching Activity. By Colby Smart.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 14 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on anti-war efforts during the first World War, as well as the U.S. government's response.

World War II and McCarthyism

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 16 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on domestic opposition to the "good war" and the impact of McCarthyism.

Pink and Say

Picture book. By Patricia Polacco. 1994. 48 pages.
The narrative of two young boys who meet and help each other during the Civil War. For upper elementary.

Teaching Activity by Patricia Polacco

Vietnam and Beyond: The Historic Resistance

Teaching Activity. By Mike Benbow and Robin Pickering. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 18 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on opposition to the Vietnam War.

Losing Control in the 1970s

Teaching Activity. By Jennifer Rosebrook.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 20 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on the legacy of scandal since the end of the Vietnam War and the Watergate break-in.

Challenging Bill Clinton

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 23 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on the Clinton presidency, as well as domestic opposition to his policies.

book cover showing freedom riders protesting near a bus

A Young People’s History of the United States: Revised and Updated

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff with additions by Ed Morales. 2022. 544 pages.
A young adult version of the best-selling A People’s History of the United States.

Regret to Inform

Film. By Barbara Sonneborn. 1998. 72 minutes. Teaching Guide by Bill Bigelow. Chapter from A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. A profound documentary on the impact of war, with a teaching guide and the chapter of A People's History of the United States on the Vietnam War, "Impossible Victory."

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Voices of a People’s History of the United States, 10th Anniversary Edition

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove. 2014. 704 pages.
Speeches, letters, poems, and songs for each chapter of A People's History of the United States.

A People’s History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence

Book — Non-fiction. By Ray Raphael. Series editor: Howard Zinn. 2002. 528 pages.
Using hundreds of primary sources, this book tells the more accurate, populist, complicated, and interesting story of the American Revolution.

A People’s History of the Civil War: Struggles for the Meaning of Freedom

Book — Non-fiction. By David Williams. 2006. 594 pages.
An account of the American Civil War though the eyes of ordinary people.

Teaching Activity by David Williams

Camouflaged: Investigating How the U.S. Military Affects You and Your Community

Teaching Guide. Edited by Edwin Mayorga, Bree Picower, and Seth Rader. 2008. 188 pages.
Tool for educators to help adolescents explore the role of the military in their lives and in their communities.

Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam

Picture book. By Walter Dean Myers. 2005. 40 pages.
Sophisticated picture book on one soldier's patrol in Vietnam, for upper elementary.

Artists in Times of War

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2004. 112 pages.
In this collection of four essays, Zinn writes about the unique role of artists, activists, and publishers in working toward change.

Teaching Activity by Howard Zinn

Bull Run

Book — Fiction. By Paul Fleischman. 1993. 128 pages.
A historical novel for middle school and above about the Civil War Battle of Bull Run drama told in 16 voices.

Teaching Activity by Paul Fleischman

“The Good War”: An Oral History of World War II

Book — Non-fiction. By Studs Terkel. 2004. 608 pages.
Interviews with over 120 people about WWII.

Teaching Activity by Studs Terkel