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Resources for Current Events

We live in a global community. Our friends, neighbors, colleagues and allies beautifully represent different parts of the world.  As we come together as school communities, it is critical that we take time to recognize the impact global crises may have on our school communities.  Here, please find resources to support members of your school communities who may be impacted by crises occurring around the globe.  These Current Event resources have been curated by Human Relations, Diversity & Equity as a supplemental resource. Human Relations strives to include all voices in the belief that sharing our stories promotes understanding and respect.  Please direct any recommendations for content to humanrelations@lausd.net.

In LAUSD, our priority is maintaining a safe and welcoming school environment. The District is committed to providing the resources necessary to help every school community cope effectively with traumatic events worldwide. We want to assure you that our schools are committed to helping students and their families navigate these challenging times that may give rise to hate violence.

Letter from the Superintendent to the Los Angeles Unified Family

LAUSD Letter to Employees

LAUSD Letter to Families

Tips for Staff and Educators: Taking Care of Ourselves

Tips for Families: Reducing Violence (Spanish)

Please also visit School Mental Health to learn about wellness programs and supports.

Teaching Resources for Educators

• Teaching Controversial Issues: A Framework for Reflective Practice - Judy Pace  
• Israel-Palestine: Avoiding Antisemitic and Islamophobic Hate Speech - Solutions Not Sides
• Classroom Deliberations: A Model for Structured Discussion of Contested Political Topics  - Street Law
• Processing Attacks in Israel and the Outbreak of War in the Region - Facing History and Ourselves    
• Fostering Civil Discourse: How Do We Talk About Issues That Matter - Facing History and Ourselves (Facing History Login Required)
• Courageous Conversations - LAUSD
• Resilience in a time of war: Tips for parents and teachers of teens - American Psychological Association (available in Spanish)
• How to Support Your Students Following a Traumatic News Day - EdWeek

Social Emotional Learning Resources

• How to Talk to Kids About Violence, Crime, and War: Common Sense Media 
• How to Talk to Your Children About Conflict and War: UNICEF
• Handle with Care: Supporting Young People During Crises: Learning for Justice 
• Israel-Hamas War Mental Health Resources: Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (available in multiple languages)
• Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Families and Educators: National Association of School Psychologists (available in multiple languages)
• Terrorism and War: How to Talk to Children: American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychology
• How to Talk to Your Child About the News: Kids Health  

Trauma-Informed Resources for School Communities 

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network's resources focus on identifying and supporting traumatic responses in young people (available in multiple languages)

Addressing Antisemitism in Public Schools

• Antisemitism and Jewish Middle Eastern Americans lesson plan; Oral history project video series
  • Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA) aims to achieve "universal recognition for the heritage and history of the 850,000 indigenous Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa." JIMENA’s lesson plan has been adopted by the California State Department of Education.
• The Roots and Impacts of Antisemitism lesson plan
• Facing History focuses on using lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. 
• Resource: Educating About Antisemitism Prevention - ShineALightOn
• Resource List: Remembering and Honoring the Holocaust Instructional Resources - LAUSD Department of Instruction
• On May 25, 2023, the Biden-Harris administration released the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.  Along with this newly released strategy, the administration announced over 100 new actions and over 100 calls to action to "combat antisemitism, including new actions to counter antisemitism on college campuses and online."

Addressing Islamophobia in Public Schools

• Countering Islamophobia: Learning for Justice
• Confronting Islamophobia in Education: Intercultural Education
• Educating for Cultural Literacy and Mutual Respect: Islamic Networks Group (ING) Ing.org, joined State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond to discuss understanding and countering Islamophobia, January 2021 
  • A History of Muslims in America: Islamic Networks Group (ING) Ing.org
  • Muslim Contributions to Civilization
• How to Help When Muslim Students Get Bullied: We Are Teachers
• Rethinking Islamophobia: Rethinking Schools
• Stereotypes, Media, and Islamophobia: Facing History and Ourselves

Talking to Students About Current Events

There are a plethora of ways to work global current events into the daily classroom routine.  The articles below may help educators find creative ways to integrate current events into the curriculum.  

Teaching Current Events in the Age of Social Media - Edutopia

Current Events in your Classroom - Facing History & Ourselves

Seven Ways to Bring Current Events Into the Classroom - Education Week

Teaching About Current Events - Educators 4 Social Change

Keeping Up with Current Events

Please find some great sites below for educators interested in catching current events as they happen. 

The Learning Network: Current Events - The New York Times

Kids Press - Scholastic

Lesson Plans by Topic - AllSides for Schools

SHHS Twitter

Department Contact

Coordinator: Judy Chiasson, Ph.D Email: judy.chiasson@lausd.net Office email: humanrelations@lausd.net Phone: (213) 241-0754

 

Organizations, references, links, products or services that appear on this site do not constitute an endorsement of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Student Health & Human Services  (SHHS) or Human Relations, Diversity and Equity (HRDE), nor should an exclusion of other websites be considered intentional. Opinions expressed are solely those of the host website and not necessarily those of LAUSD, SHHS or HRDE. Any advertising presented is solely the responsibility of the host website and not LAUSD.