Welcome to the 3E Program for Social Justice and Change! The program consists of lessons designed by teachers for teachers who seek a progressive approach to teaching U.S. History topics free of omissions and distortions as it relates to African Americans and BIPOC communities. Rooted in social justice, the program is designed to challenge students’ assumptions and beliefs regarding racism and assist them in formulating their own ideas and opinions about past events.
We strongly suggest that teachers begin this study by introducing the definition of racism as it is defined in the dictionary. According to Oxford Dictionaries, racism is “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.” It is imperative that the students understand the concept of racism in order to tackle the difficult topics and conversations that will be addressed in the lesson plans. We recommend that instructors encourage their students to keep an open mind as they go through the lessons and understand that their ideas around racism may or may not be challenged.
LESSONS
The 3E program consists of 18 middle and high school U.S. history and current event lessons, supporting materials, and film segments, covering 9 topics. Topics labeled 1.1 include lessons designed for middle school students and those labeled 1.2 include lessons for high school students. These lessons are interchangeable based on the students’ academic level. Additionally, many of the topics are sensitive. It is important to assess the maturity level of your students and make any necessary adjustments prior to executing a lesson.
Lesson plans are based on the New York State curriculum standards for civics, citizenship, and government. These standards require the ability to “ask and answer analytical questions, take a skeptical attitude towards questionable arguments, formulate rational conclusions, and develop and refine participatory skills.”
The topics covered were arranged in a specific order, mostly by date of events. While it is recommended that those teaching the full curriculum teach the topics in their arranged order, lesson plans can be implemented out of sequence. Rather than teaching the entire course, the 3E Program lesson plans can be used as a supporting aid to other curriculum. It can also be used to highlight important events that are memorialized or celebrated throughout the year.
VIDEO CLIPS AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS
There are video clips that correspond to each lesson topic. These video clips are essential for properly executing each lesson. A list of video topics and their links are included in this book. There is also a list of links to supporting articles used in each lesson plan included.
Links to video clips and supporting articles, along with downloadable access to quizzes, assessments, and handouts are also available online at www.3eprogram.com. Lesson plans are not currently available for download.
Terms unfamiliar to students may come up during lessons. Use the glossary to teach these terms so students are able to understand the lesson.
ASSESSMENTS
Pre-Post 3E History Course Assessment
The 3E Program has designed a Pre-Post 3E History Course Assessment that tests the students’ knowledge of the subject content before and after being taught lessons from the program. Taking the assessment, before and after, helps to measure the success of the program and understand how much knowledge students have gained.
Attitudinal Survey
The 3E Program Attitudinal Survey is an assessment of students’ attitudes toward racism. Students anonymously take this survey, before and after being taught the program. There are no right or wrong responses for this assessment. Although student names will not be included on completed surveys, 3E Program personnel will be able to statistically measure the growth of the entire class’s empathy, biases, and prejudices. Please scan and email completed attitudinal surveys to info@3eprogram.com. Write “Attitudinal Survey” in the subject line. Be sure to include the name of your school or organization in the email.
Quizzes
There is a unit quiz for each topic. Quizzes are designed to test students’ acquired knowledge of the topic and should be taken once all content from topic lesson plans have been taught. The teacher may modify the quiz to correspond to the material taught by adding, deleting, or rephrasing the questions based on what was taught during the lesson.
ADDITIONAL SERVICES
Professional development is available to teachers and other educational staff. To request professional development, contact info@3eprogram.com.
If you would like to arrange for your class to watch the entire documentary (Betrayal of a Nation) that is broken up into the video clips used for the lessons, send a request to yet2evolve@gmail.com, to book a screening.
Assessments
Below are two assessments that measure the efficacy of the 3E Program. In order to properly do so, your students must take both assessments before starting the 3E Program and after the program has been completed.
Below is a list of links to media clips that should be used with 3E Program lesson plans. Clip titles match 3E Program Lesson plan titles. Each video clip included is for both lesson plans 1.1 and 1.2.
Supporting Article Links For 3E Program Lesson Plans
Below is a list of links to supporting articles to be used with 3E lesson plans. The most updated version of these links can be found here.
Below are required handouts for 3E lesson plans. Use as needed.
3E Note Taking Sheet
3E T-Chart
3E Venn Diagram
Leaders, Informants, Government Chart
BON List of Charges
Anonymous letter to Dr King from the FBI
Glossary
The following terms appear within 3E lesson plans. Use the definitions below so that you and your students become familiar with these terms.
African American
A person from America who is a member of a group of people who have dark skin and whose ancestors came from Africa
Allegedly
Expressed as though something is a fact but without giving any proof
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Arrest Quotas
Police quotas that are formal and informal measures that require police officers to issue a particular number of citations or make a certain number of arrests
(Police Quotas by Shaun Ossei-Owusu)
BIPOC
Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color
Birthright
Any right or privilege to which a person is entitled by birth: Democracy maintains that freedom is a birthright
(Dictionary.com)
Black (People)
Belonging to people who are part of the African diaspora. Capitalize Black because it is a reflection of shared cultures and experiences (foods, languages, music, religious traditions, etc.)
(The Case for Capitalizing the B in Black. By Kwame Anthony Appiah)
Broken Windows Policing
A theory that cracking down on minor crimes will prevent major ones. This theory is often practiced by police officers and is referred to as Broken Windows Policing
Brown (People)
A person of color that is not Black or African American
Cash Bail System
Cash bail is a system under which a defendant who has been accused of a crime is required to post money in order to secure release from jail pending trial.
(POLICY DIRECTIVE 2021-02: POLICY ELIMINATING THE USE OF CASH BAIL AND SETTING STANDARDS FOR PRETRIAL DETENTION)
Chattel
An item of property other than real estate
(Oxford Languages)
COINTELPRO
A Counterintelligence Program by the FBI that began in 1956 to disrupt the activities of the Communist Party of the United States. In the 1960s, it was expanded to include a number of other domestic groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Socialist Workers Party, and the Black Panther Party
(The FBI Records: Cointelpro)
Conspire
Make secret plans jointly to commit an unlawful or harmful act
(Oxford Languages)
Covert
Secret or hidden, making it difficult to notice
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Cross Examine
To question somebody carefully and in a lot of detail about answers that they have already given, especially in court
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Cultural Diversity
Sometimes referred to as multiculturalism, is a quality of diverse and many different cultures. Cultural Diversity is a system that recognizes and respects the existence and presence of diverse groups of people within a society
(Cultural Diversity & Cultural Competence Meaning: How & Why Diverse Cultural Competency is important? By Jess Man)
Decimation
The act of killing large numbers of animals, plants or people in a particular area
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
De-escalation
To decrease in extent, volume, or scope
(Merriam-Webster)
Discredit
To make people stop respecting somebody/something
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Disenfranchise
To take away somebody’s rights, especially their right to vote
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Disillusioned
Disappointed because the person you admired or the idea you believed to be good and true now seems without value
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Disparity
A difference, especially one connected with unfair treatment
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Displacement
The act of forcing somebody/something away from their home or position
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Implicit Bias
A bias or prejudice that is present but not consciously held
or recognized
(Merriam-Webster.com)
Incarceration
The act of putting somebody in prison or in another place from which they cannot escape; the state of being there
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Infiltrate
To enter or make somebody enter a place or an organization secretly, especially in order to get information that can be used against it
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Institutional Racism
Policies, rules, practices, etc. that are a usual part of the way an organization works, and that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair
or harmful treatment of others based on race
(Cambridge Dictionary)
LatinX
A person, especially one who is living in the US, who comes from Latin America, or whose family came from there (used as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino or Latina)
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Loophole
A mistake in the way a law, contract, etc. has been written that enables people to legally avoid doing something that the law, contract, etc. had intended them to do
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Million Dollar Blocks
Areas where more than $1 million is being spent annually to incarcerate the residents of a single census block
(Of a disease) Prevalent over a whole country or the world
(Oxford Languages)
People (Person) of Color
A person who is not white
Plea Bargain
An arrangement in court by which a person admits to being guilty of a smaller crime in the hope of receiving less severe punishment for a more serious crime
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Ploy
Words or actions that are carefully planned to get an advantage over somebody else
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Police Brutality
Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose
(Encyclopedia.com)
Pre-pandemic
Used to reference a way of life prior to a pandemic
Propaganda
Ideas or statements that may be false or present only one side of an argument that are used in order to gain support for a political leader, party, etc.
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Racism
Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. The belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another
(Oxford Languages)
Reparations
Money that is paid by a country that has lost a war, for the damage, injuries, etc. that it has caused
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Slavery
The state of being forced to work as a slave
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
Stop and Frisk
Policies that allow a police officer to stop and search any person without making an arrest based on a reasonable suspicion that the person has committed or is about to commit a crime
Systemic Oppression
The intentional disadvantaging of groups of people based on their identity while advantaging members of the dominant group (gender, race, class, sexual orientation, language, etc.)
(National equity project. The Lens of Systemic Oppression)
Whistleblower
A person who informs people in authority or the public that the company they work for is doing something wrong or illegal
(Oxford Learner Dictionary)
White (People)
Belonging to people with light-colored skin, especially those of European descent. Unlike Black, it is lowercase, as its use is a physical description of people whose backgrounds may spring from many different cultures
“African American” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Allegedly”oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press. 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Birthright” dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, LLC. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Covert” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Cross Examine” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Chattel” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Conspire” Oxford Languages via google search engine.Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.|“Decimation” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “De-escalation” Merriam-Webster.com.Merriam-Webster 2022.Web. 6 June 2022.| “Discredit” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Disenfranchise” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “ Disillusioned” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Disparity” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Displacement” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June2022.| “Infiltrate” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Implicit Bias” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster 2022.Web. 6 June 2022.| “Incarceration” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| ”Institutional Racism “ dictionary.cambridge.org. Cambridge University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.|“LatinX” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Loophole” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| ”Pandemic” Oxford Languages via google search engine.Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Plea Bargain” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Ploy” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Police Brutality” encyclopedia.com. Encyclopedia.com. Web. 6 June 2019.| “Propaganda”oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Reparations” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Slavery” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.| “Whistleblower” oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Oxford University Press 2022. Web. 6 June 2022.|
“Cultural Diversity & Cultural Competence Meaning: How & Why Diverse Cultural Competency is important?” Diversity Social. 2021.
https://diversity.social/cultural-diversity/
“Million-Dollar Blocks Map Incarceration’s Costs” NPR. NPR 2022. npr.org/2012/10/02/162149431/million-dollar-blocks-map-incarcerations-costs
“Police Quotas” NYU Law Review. 2021. https://www.nyulawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ossei-Owusu.pdf
“POLICY DIRECTIVE 2021-02: POLICY ELIMINATING THE USE OF CASH BAIL AND SETTING STANDARDS FOR PRETRIAL DETENTION” https://www.washtenaw.org/DocumentCenter/View/19064/Cash-Bail-Policy
“The Case for Capitalizing the B in Black” The Atlantic. Atlantic Monthly Group 2022. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/time-to-capitalize-blackand-white/613159/“The FBI Records: Cointelpro. vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro
“The Lens of Systemic Oppression” “National Equity Project. https://www.nationalequityproject.org/frameworks/lens-of-systemic-oppression