Looking for Open Education Resources (OERs) to incorporate into your curriculum? Brown University's Choices Program offers "Teaching with the News" online lessons that connect the content of your classroom to headlines in the news. Topics cover a range of domestic, foreign policy, and international issues. The Choices Program also produces short videos featuring leading experts — professors, policy makers, journalists, activists, and artists — answering questions that complement the curricular resources. Videos are tailored to fit a range of learning styles and abilities. For more information…

Today, an estimated 30 million children are on the run. They have fled their homes because of brutal violence, extreme poverty, or both. The newest edition of UNICEF ACT magazine for kids, “Children on the Move,” provides a comprehensive and child-friendly look at this global refugee crisis. Two separate publications are available for grades 3–5 and 6–8. Along with the magazines, educators can access teacher’s guides, supplemental activities, and ideas for taking action. To download these free resources, visit http://www.teachunicef.org/unicef-act/children-move. “Children on the Move” is a…

The State of Black America (SOBA) is an annual report by the National Urban league that compares the status of blacks against whites (and Hispanics against whites), across a variety of indicators including education, economics, health, social justice and civic engagement. The report, now in its 40th edition, contains essays authored by nationally recognized scholars. Each essay is based on one of the areas measured in the report. Read it all free at soba.iamempowered.com. 

The Middle East Policy Council's educational initiative, TeachMideast, aims to give high school teachers and students the tools and knowledge to become better-informed global citizens. Curriculum resources, classroom guides, in-depth essays, professional development opportunities, and film and book lists are all available. “Country Profiles” provide closer looks at the distinct challenges and qualities of 21 different countries. Links give further insight on a variety of subjects for further exploration, and up-to-date information can be used for student projects. For example, “This Week in…

PBS/ National Black Programming Consortium  Experience a year of a Southern town’s efforts to address the urgent demand for reform in American public schools and watch what happens when the systems that can either fuel or diffuse that reform interact and intersect. Visit www.pbs.org/black-culture/shows/list/180-days/series/hartsville.

August 2016 (check local listings) PBS/ WTTW Chicago Meet a fierce advocate for the common good, former FCC chairman Newton Minow, who elevated television to higher standards and fought for civil rights while offering counsel to presidents, politicians, corporate leaders, academics and others. Visit ww.pbs.org/video/2365483347/ and also see www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/us/08cncwarren.html?_r=0.

PBS/ Partisan Pictures This film celebrates the 200-year history of the White House through the stories of the First Families who have called it home, and through the recollections of workers, historians and members of the press who have spent time within the illustrious building. Weaving together video footage, still photos and interviews, “The White House: Inside Story” explores the history of the executive mansion through the eyes of the remarkable people who help make this institution live and breathe – both past and present. “From the Oval Office to the family dining room, through crises…

(check local listings) PBS/ WTCI Chattanooga In this new documentary, viewers follow ballet dancer Frederick Davis’ personal journey, which began with a broken family and homelessness. His exposure to dance at the age of eleven changed his life—he found inspiration and support from Ballet Tennessee, his church, and a caring community.  The film is streaming on the Internet for a limited time. Visit www.streetstostagefilm.org.

(check local listings) PBS/ Boston Film & Video Productions This is the first film (and companion book) to be produced about the immigrant hospital on Ellis Island. Opened in 1902, the hospital grew to 22 medical buildings that sprawled across two islands adjacent to Ellis Island, the largest port of entry in the United States. Massive and modern, the hospital was America's first line of defense against contagious, often virulent disease. In the era before antibiotics, tens of thousands of immigrant patients were separated from family, detained in the hospital, and healed from illness…

Free at an Education Week blog, this article, by Boston University’s African Studies Center, provides educators with relevant and interesting introductory video clips that begin to undermine stereotypes about Africa through African voices and a variety of narratives. It states, "The video resources we have included here are only entry points to teaching about Africa and work best when used to frame more in-depth discussion. They provide the initial African perspective and serve as a starting point for African voices in the classroom and for a dialogue between students and Africans.” The blog…