The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) in collaboration with institutions of higher education, social studies experts, cultural centers, and the 12 federally recognized tribes of Michigan that form the Confederation of Michigan Tribal Education Departments came together to launch a Teaching American History Toolkit. Its purpose is to provide professional development regarding the teaching of the full and complex American history across subject areas including the histories of communities of color and other marginalized communities.
This toolkit provides educational leaders with guidance and resources for implementing professional development as aligned with Michigan’s academic standards regarding the teaching of the full and complex American history across subject areas. By using this toolkit, schools can support student learning through assisting educators with the teaching of and learning about comprehensive history by way of growing cultural understandings.
The MDE encourages educational leaders to utilize this toolkit for accessing resources to guide learning opportunities related to historical content implementation at the local level to build factual historical understandings, grow empathy, and boost student engagement across subject areas.
For further information around the toolkit please contact Toolkit Project Lead: Hannah Franklin Grisham, Ph. D., GrishamH1@michigan.gov or Social Studies Consultant: Scott Koenig, KoenigS1@michigan.gov
Begin exploring the toolkit resources below, or use the search bar to search for specific content.
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Curriculum Guide
To enhance the State of Michigan Social Studies standards, the Jim Crow Museum recommends supplementing the current standards with period-specific objectives and outcomes. Topical suggestions are designed to broaden, enhance, and diversify the social studies curriculum that 9th to 12th-grade students receive. Furthermore, educators will be better prepared to deliver Jim Crow-specific content, and educators and students may be empowered to identify and address racism as it occurs. -
Cultural Diversity
This third-grade inquiry expands students’ understandings of how groups represent themselves through what they wear. The compelling question—“What do things I wear say about me?”—engages students in an examination of material culture by considering the factors impacting their own choices of what they wear such as geography, culture, and religion. Students will examine the similarities and differences they share with their classmates, as well as diverse cultures in their communities and around the globe. -
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A mix of resources to build teacher background knowledge and classroom ready lesson plans. -
Arab American Race and Ethnicity
In this lesson, students will examine how society interprets race and ethnicity as a part of identity. In particular, how questions of race and ethnicity have impacted the Arab American community and early attempts to gain citizenship and eventually a separate census category. -
American Dreaming
In this lesson, students will engage in interactive exercises in the classroom and in the museum to better understand the history of the American Dream, how it applies to their own lives and the lives of Arab Americans. This lesson can be used in Social Studies classrooms as well as English classrooms discussing the theme of the American Dream. -
Understanding Arab Refugees
This unit is designed for upper elementary students. In this unit, students will read a picture book about an Arab refugee family that tries to escape a conflict in their country and head to Europe. Students will learn what it means to be a refugee and how a refugee differs from being an immigrant. Students will also learn how other countries have tried to help refugees and then examine what they would do to help a new refugee student.
