Introductory Lesson
This introductory lesson seeks to encourage the development of emotionally supportive and intellectually open classrooms where students are best able to learn about some of the challenging ideas that the North Star film and curriculum address.
Download File
Duluth: The Presence of the Past
In this lesson, students analyze how individuals and groups have responded to the Duluth tragedy throughout the years - in silence or with apology. Through this, students develop a more sophisticated understanding of their own responsibilities for a group's behavior. In the final project, students develop a proposal for addressing a different historical wrong.
Download File
Emily Grey: On the Side of Freedom
This lesson asks students to uncover evidence of St. Anthony's diversity when Emily Grey lived there. Students analyze Emily's reminiscences to find how different groups supported each other and how Emily's status as a black woman affected her experience. In the final project, students write a letter from the perspective of Emily, summarizing what they have learned.
Download File
George Bonga: This is His Place
In this lesson, students analyze sources to uncover what George Bonga's life and character were like. As they uncover inconsistencies, students are challenged to weigh the value of different sources and question their own assumptions about historical concepts of race. As a final project, students create a skit that illustrates what they have discovered.
Download File
Introductory Lesson
This introductory lesson seeks to encourage the development of emotionally supportive and intellectually open classrooms where students are best able to learn about some of the challenging ideas that the North Star film and curriculum address.
Download File
Prince Honeycutt: Prince of Fergus Falls
In this lesson, students analyze evidence to discover why blacks migrated to rural, small-town Minnesota. They compare the motivations of black settlers to those of white settlers at the time and infer what the positive and negative experiences were for black settlers. In the final product, students compare what blacks would have considered the pros and cons of living in small-town, early 1900's Minnesota.
Download File
Lena Smith: Fearless and from the West
In this lesson, students read some of the racist comments surrounding a pivotal housing discrimination case in South Minneapolis, and they identify Lena Smith's character and goals as a lawyer in that case. For the final project, students research and analyze a neighborhoods' changing demographics, predict changes, and suggest ways to peacefully address potential future problems in that neighborhood.
Download File
March on Washington: Minnesotans March
This lesson asks students to research the kind of work required to create a movement and to theorize about how the March on Washington affected people. As a final product, students create an outline for promoting social change today and attempt to convince their classmates to join their "movement."
Download File
Harry Shepherd: Portrait of Progress
In this lesson, students study Shepherd's photographs and an account of his "Unsung Heroes" poster to begin identifying his role as a portrait photographer and early activist, and to question the complexities of his work. In the final project, students create their own interpretation of what Shepherd's "Unsung Heroes" piece looked like.
Download File
