Instructional Resources for California Educators, Students, & Families
This lesson provides an opportunity for middle and high school students to understand the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, learn about how hate escalates, connect the understanding of the escalation of hate with Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.’s murders and consider what young people can do in their schools and communities to prevent hate crimes.
In this lesson, students learn the definition of “hate” and how to use alternate words, discover and understand how national laws are made and apply that understanding to the concept of government protection.
In this lesson, students learn to access, study and compare primary-source documents, to research and organize information and to plan, organize and execute a live performance.
This activity is designed as a fun and interactive way to raise students’ awareness of LGBT people and the contributions they made in the history of the United States. Students will learn about key events in the LGBT civil rights movement. Students will have an opportunity to create signs regarding these events to spread awareness throughout the school.
Students will learn about Matthew Shepard and Brandon Teena, two young men who were murdered because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Shepard was targeted on the basis of his sexual orientation and Teena was targeted on the basis of his gender identity.