Planning intentional, visible learning
Schools regularly engage in visible moments that bring history, values, and community into focus—commemorations, assemblies, classroom lessons, public statements, and community events. When these moments are planned thoughtfully, they can deepen understanding, build trust, and reinforce belonging. When they are rushed or reactive, they can unintentionally cause harm or confusion.
This section supports intentional planning for moments that are public-facing, emotionally charged, or symbolically significant—so they reflect shared values and sound pedagogy rather than urgency or pressure.
Recognition of faith- and cultural-based holidays and commemorations can be important for your community. These days often change and are not always based on a Gregorian calendar. Assessment of dates should be done on an annual basis and reflected in a school/district calendar as appropriate.
What This Section Does
- Empower schools and communities to plan meaningful recognition on an annual basis
- Coordinate across classrooms, schools, and central offices
- Align instruction, communication, and student support
- Prepare adults and students for emotionally complex learning experiences
Questions This Section Answers
How do we plan for and lead meaningful, visible moments in ways that are intentional, educational, and supportive—rather than reactive or performative?
What You’ll Find in This Section
- Teaching Current Events Responsibly. Guidance and structured learning experiences from Facing History & Ourselves that help educators use current events to build civic agency, media literacy, and informed discussion in ways that strengthen democratic participation rather than polarization.
- Commemorations and Civic Memory. Resources that support intentional planning for remembrance days and memorial moments, including structured reflection and student-designed memorial projects that connect historical memory to civic responsibility.
- Facilitating Critical Conversations and Civil Discourse. Discussion protocols and lesson models that prepare students to engage respectfully with complex, identity-based, or historically sensitive topics, emphasizing inquiry before debate and reflection before reaction.
- Survivor Testimony and Commemorative Learning Experiences. Guided commemorative experiences that center survivor testimony, cultural expression, and reflection to humanize historical events and foster collective responsibility in shaping memory.
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Teaching Current Events Responsibily
Teaching Current Events: Schools are microcosms of democracy, and classrooms are an ideal place for students to develop and practice the media literacy and discussion skills that are needed for civic participation and are foundational to navigating current events. Facing History & Ourselves provides high-quality learning experiences about current events that are proven to increase students’ interest and engagement in school as well as their sense of civic agency.
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Commemorations and Civic Memory
Choosing to Participate: Moving from Reflection to Action: A Facing History & Ourselves activity that invites students to explore how communities remember genocides and the Holocaust through existing memorials and to design their own, encouraging reflection on the role of memory and civic responsibility in shaping historical understanding. This resource supports intentional planning of learning moments connected to remembrance and civic connection, ideal for structured units, commemorations, or culminating activities.
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Facilitating Critical Conversations and Civil Discourse
Navigating Critical Conversations and Fostering Civil Discourse: A Facing History & Ourselves lesson that prepares students to engage in difficult but productive conversations about identity, community, and historical decisions, modeling inquiry before debate and fostering civil discourse. This resource builds students’ and adults’ capacity to navigate sensitive topics respectfully and thoughtfully, aligning with prevention work that strengthens culture and discourse norms.
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Survivor Testimony and Commemorative Learning Experiences
Tebi Abaka/Towards the Future: This is an educational commemorative experience that engages learning communities with survivor testimony, cultural expression, and reflection. This guided experience commemorates Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day observed on April 24. It can be facilitated anytime throughout the year in a multitude of settings, such as a classroom, small auditorium, or even in a virtual space. Engaging students in this humanizing commemoration inspires a sense of responsibility for shaping the way the Armenian Genocide is remembered as a community and as an individual.
The JFCS Holocaust Center’s Speakers Bureau: The William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau educates about the Holocaust and genocide through survivor testimony. Speakers, including survivors and descendants, share firsthand experiences, promoting tolerance and diversity, and countering hatred. Their stories cover a range of experiences, including Hidden Children, Kindertransport survivors, and refugees.