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RESOURCES
ALL GRADES
Professional Development
The GLSEN Lunchbox ($129.95) is an actual lunchbox containing a comprehensive training program to provide background knowledge, skills and tools for ending anti-gay bias in schools. The menu consists of exercise cards, a video of youth testimonies, favors for workshop participants and a resource binder. This balanced kit is designed for teachers, guidance staff and administrators in K-12 schools, as well as professionals and family/community members who work with youth.
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
www.glsen.org
Written by Arthur Lipkin, founder of Harvard University's Gay and Lesbian School Issues Project, Understanding Homosexuality, Changing Schools: A Text for Teachers, Counselors and Administrators ($69) offers a wide array of information on gay and educational themes. This book tackles everything from how prejudice develops to practical ways in which schools can create more inclusive (and safe) environments for students of all orientations.
ISBN # 978-0-813-32535-4
Westview Press
www.westviewpress.com
Funding
Teaching Tolerance offers grants of up to $2,500 to support classroom-centered projects that advance anti-bias aims. Among our recent grantees:
- Michelle Morris of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Corona, Calif., received a $2,500 Teaching Tolerance grant to create school-wide lessons that focus on traditionally marginalized students. Some of the topics will include LGBTQ issues as generated from the campus Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). The educators and students will collaborate to create lessons that work toward the inclusion of socially disenfranchised populations addressing gender, religion, race, ethnicity, ability, and social activism.
- Adam Hackel, teacher and advisor in the Montgomery Township School District in Skillman, NJ, received a $1,697 grant to develop and provide resources for a Gay-Straight Alliance. For the last 3 years, the school has had an unofficial GSA, but it was not in the yearbook and has not been recognized or supported by the school. Mr. Hackel will use the grant to advocate recognition and inclusion for the club and members.
EARLY GRADES
Professional Development
The groundbreaking film It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School ($99), developed for parents and teachers, uses student voice and classroom context to explore what happens in schools when youngsters openly discuss homosexuality. This documentary raises essential questions, corrects misinformation and challenges stereotypes.
New Day Films
www.newday.com
Classroom Materials about Family Diversity
The video That’s a Family! ($75 schools, $199 colleges and universities) and accompanying teacher’s guide introduces young students to family diversity in a responsible and engaging way. Students learn that families are not defined by race, blood relations or sexual orientation, but instead by love, respect and comfort. (Grades 3-5)
New Day Films
www.newday.com
(Note: Teaching Tolerance offers a full review of this film, along with lesson plan excerpts.)
During a very typical classroom activity, Molly is asked to draw a picture of her family for Open School Night. When Molly draws her Mommy and then her Mama Lu, the class makes fun of her. Molly’s Family ($16) is about "All kinds of family members. And all kinds of families." (Grades PreK-3)
ISBN# 0-374-35002-7
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Inc.
www.fsgkidsbooks.com
Receiving a starred review from the School Library Journal, And Tango Makes Three ($15.99) tells the sweet story of Silo and Roy, two male penguins who create a family with a little help from their zookeeper. "This joyful story about the meaning of family is a must for any library." (PreK-3)
ISBN-10: 0689878451
Simon & Schuster Children's Books
www.simonsays.com
Antonio's Card/La tarjeta de Antonio ($16.95) tells the story of a boy with lesbian mothers. A poignant story about the celebration of family. Educators may learn an important lesson regarding the celebration of Mother's Day. (Grades K-6)
ISBN# 0-89239-204-5
Children's Book Press
www.childrensbookpress.com
How It Feels to Have a Gay or Lesbian Parent: A Book by Kids for Kids of All Ages ($12.95) by Judith Snow gives voice to more than 30 individuals ages 7 to 31 who have gay and lesbian parents. (Grades 5 and up)
ISBN-10: 1560234202
Harrington Park Press
An Imprint of The Hawthorn Press
www.haworthpress.com
MIDDLE GRADES
(Titles also appropriate for upper grades.)
Boy Meets Boy ($15.95) introduces a flip-flopped world where homophobia has vanished. Meet Paul, a high school sophomore who has a crush on Noah, the new guy in school. And what a school it is: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen and the football quarterback are one and the same person and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance. (Grades 7-12)
ISBN# 0-375-82400-6
Alfred A. Knopf Publishers
www.randomhouse.com/kids
(Note: Teaching Tolerance offers a full review of this book, including discussion questions.)
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun ($5.99) is about a 13-year-old who discovers his mother is a lesbian. It appropriately and poignantly deals with this important and relevant topic. (Grades 7-12)
ISBN# 0-590-45881-7
Scholastic Press
www.scholastic.com
GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens ($15.95) was sensitively written by a young woman who shares her own journey of coming out and becoming comfortable with her own identity. She speaks frankly and directly to teens about homophobia, coming out, sexuality, religion and other important topics. (Grades 7-12)
ISBN# 1-57542-126-7
Free Spirit Publishing
www.freespirit.com
UPPER GRADES
High school teachers can use Dramatic Changes: Talking About Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity with High School Students Through Drama ($21) to incorporate role-plays, scripted dramas, multifaceted and extended dramas and socially critical drama approaches into both classroom and extracurricular activities. (Grades 9-12)
ISBN# 978-0-325-00414-3
Greenwood Heinemann
http://books.heinemann.com
The Academy Award-nominated film Straight from the Heart examines homophobia not simply as a form of oppression but as a denial of human and civil rights. Viewers will understand how negative labeling and the treatment of sexual orientation as a non-issue are equally destructive to the human spirit. Preparation prior to and discussion after viewing are advised. (Grades 9 and up. Length: 24 min. Purchase: $29.95)
Woman Vision
www.womanvision.org
Out of the Past ($99) is a captivating testament to the struggle for gay and lesbian rights in the United States. The little-known history of this tenacious movement is revealed through the lives and works of writer Henry Gerber, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin and other contributors to American life. (Grades 9 and up. Length: 70 min.)
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
www.glsen.org
While several books have been written about the children of gay parents, Out of the Ordinary ($15.95) offers the first collection of essays by people who’ve grown up with at least one gay, lesbian or transgendered parent. By turns funny and wrenching, despairing and hopeful, the 21 personal accounts are crisply written and unflinchingly frank. (Grades 10-12)
ISBN# 0-312-24489-4
St. Martin’s Press
www.stmartins.com
Geography Club ($7.99) is a novel told from the perspective of Russel, a gay teen who becomes a founding member of the club, an undercover gay-straight alliance at a contemporary U.S. high school. The author skillfully blends realistic characters and the themes of friendship, sexuality and social boundaries into a moving and engaging story. (Grades 10 and above)
ISBN# 0060012234
Harper Teen
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
www.harperteen.com
So Hard to Say ($15.95) is Sanchez's third adolescent novel dealing with issues of self-discovery and gay coming-of-age. Frederick has just moved from Wisconsin to California and has become fast friends with a girl named Xio — but it's their friend Victor that he's drawn to. (Grades 10-12)
ISBN# 0-689-86564-3
Simon & Schuster
www.simonsays.com
Although GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) may be awkward to say, viewers of Just Call Me Kade ($49) will better understand the experience of a young transgender person. Kade and his family share their doubts and discomforts with social, emotional and physical challenges, but the 26-minute film presents a realistically upbeat story. (Grades 10 and above)
T526-VHS
Frameline
www.frameline.org |
