Resources from the 2026 WCSS Preparing Students for Diverse Democracy presentation
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In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught." - Baba Dioum |
Bringing Diverse Humanity to the Triangle Trade
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Identities of the Global Trade: Bringing diverse perspectives back to the human side of history
The problem: Our unit on globalization put economics at the forefront and lost the human impact of slavery, the triangle trade, and industrialization. The solution: Using AI prompting, I create a list of 30 historical fiction characters to represent European, Middle Eastern, African, South American, Central American, Caribbean, and North American perspectives. I kept revising the list by prompting for more women, people of color, and younger people. How I used it: The journal prompts were used as a warm-up to start class for high school freshmen, but making connections between people to build empathy still seemed like a struggle, so I added a choose-your-own-adventure-style element and prompted AI to create the 1720 Almanac writing prompts. Finally, as a connection between the global triangle trade and the industrial revolution, I asked AI to use the same characters, but create situations they would face with the advent of industrial-revolution-inspired change. Click on any of the buttons below to access pdfs of the resources. Contact me for Google Drive files. |
Diverse American Perspectives on WWII
The problem: My students were working on the skill of looking at the end of WWII from different perspectives, but the sources seemed so black and white. They started with isolation v. intervention, then ended with drop the bomb or don't drop the bomb. The reality of historical perspectives is far more complex than a simple dichotomy.
The solution: Based on a format we used in an immigration simulation, I asked AI to create identities from a variety of locations in the United States that were a mix of races, genders, social class, occupation, etc. Once again it left out the diversity of Asian identities, and tended towards white men. I prompted for younger people to be included.
How I used it: I used this journal in a sophomore level US history class. Either as an opener for the day or as a reflection tool after taking notes about a topic from the war, I gave students time to reflect on what they learned and apply the perspective of their character. Many students were quite thoughtful and some were very brief, but if offered the opportunity to bring in more events that I normally wouldn't have covered, like the Zoot Suit Riots. I did find that the final project - a podcast about dropping the bomb - did have richer arguments that considered more than black and white differences in opinion.
Click on the buttons above for pdfs. Contact me for google drive files.
The solution: Based on a format we used in an immigration simulation, I asked AI to create identities from a variety of locations in the United States that were a mix of races, genders, social class, occupation, etc. Once again it left out the diversity of Asian identities, and tended towards white men. I prompted for younger people to be included.
How I used it: I used this journal in a sophomore level US history class. Either as an opener for the day or as a reflection tool after taking notes about a topic from the war, I gave students time to reflect on what they learned and apply the perspective of their character. Many students were quite thoughtful and some were very brief, but if offered the opportunity to bring in more events that I normally wouldn't have covered, like the Zoot Suit Riots. I did find that the final project - a podcast about dropping the bomb - did have richer arguments that considered more than black and white differences in opinion.
Click on the buttons above for pdfs. Contact me for google drive files.
Jigsaw a choice board: Ways to include the multifaceted tragedy of slavery
Contradictions in WWI: Service by non-citizens? Valor from aliens?
I wrote about this new AAPI & Latino-focused lesson plan focused on WWI in my blog.
