• Teach children the concepts of diversity, culture, community, the effects of prejudice, and human rights.
• Share a vision of a world where people are embraced for their similarities and appreciated for their differences.
• Create an understanding of the harm caused by prejudice and develop an ability to confront prejudice individually and as part of a community.
• Develop an ability to think critically about human behavior.
• Instill a desire to act morally.

Rather than focusing on one discrete event in history, each guide offers age-appropriate strategies and lesson plans for teaching students about the fundamental causes of human rights violations and developing their awareness of ongoing social issues. Lesson plans include exercises that explore underlying concepts while teaching students about geography, history, social studies, math, art, music, and science. Each guide can be used as a curriculum itself, or individual lesson plans can be used as they fit in with an existing curriculum. Complete, annotated bibliographies include both print and non-print resources, and appendices include articles for teachers and helpful information on locating further resources.
     Laura Petovello is an attorney and community organizer with long experience working for the human rights of children and people with disabilities. Rachel Quenk is the children's librarian at the Thomas Library, Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

Teachers Take Note:
The Spirit That Moves Us; Volumes I & II These wonderful and effective resource guides use your favorite books to inspire classroom conversations about:
• Community and identity
• Ethics
• Moral decision-making
• Prejudice
• Human Rights
• The Holocaust

Since the Holocaust is difficult for younger children to grasp, Volume 1, for grades K-4 provides a foundation for learning about issues of diversity, tolerance, and race. Not until the final chapter, geared for children in grade 4, does the guide deal with the actual Holocaust. Volume II (grades 5-8) continues the focus of Volume 1 and provides curriculum suggestions for upper elementary and middle school teachers who wish to emphasize the broad issues of identity and prejudice, moving from general to more specific themes to place prejudice and the Holocaust in the context of an ongoing social problem. Both guides are relevant to any curriculum that is concerned with diversity.

Lesson plans for the following books are featured with creative and thought provoking activities in The Spirit Moves Us, Vol. 1. Everybody Cooks Rice; Ben’s Trumpet; How My Parents Learned to Eat; My Buddy; Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears; Gluskabe and the Four Wishes; Brother Rabbit: A Cambodian Tale; The Woman Who Outshone the Sun; The Mitten; Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt; Blueberries for Sal; Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen; Amazing Grace; Tar Beach; Angle Child, Dragon Child; The Hundred Dresses; White Wash; Terrible Things; Best Friends; The Lily Cupboard; The Number on My Grandfather’s Arm; Child of the Warsaw Ghetto; and Passage to Freedom.

In The Spirit that Moves Us,Volume II, the books include:
A Gift for Mama; The Land I Lost; The Big Wave; Letters from Rifka; Children of the River; Lupita Manana; Morning Girl’ Chernowitz!; Journey to Topaz; The Friendship; Shiloh; Tunes for Bears to Dance To; Nothing But the Truth; Freidrich; Upon the Head of the Goat; Daniel’s Story; Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl; Grace In the Wilderness; Night; The Upstairs Room; Number the Stars; and Sky.

Resources:
• Tolerance and Understanding
The Simon Weisenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance
The Museum of Tolerance provides important information on the dynamics racism and prejudice in America. It also has a number of resources on the Holocaust. www.wiesenthal.com
Teaching Tolerance: This magazine’s website contains a wealth of information for teachers, parents, teens, and kids. Extensive links make a visit to this web site among the most helpful. www.teachtolerance.org
Anti-Defamation League: ADL has been fighting Anti-Semitism, bigotry and extremism since 1913. In 1999 ADL joined forces with Barnes and Noble to produce education materials aimed at breaking the cycle of hate through reading. Many of the resources from this partnership are now available for free on their website. These include handouts such as: "101 Ways You Can Beat Prejudice" and "Hate Hurts: How Children Learn and Unlearn Prejudice." www.adl.org
• The Holocaust
U.S. Holocaust Memeorial Museum: This Museum has two galleries dedicated to children's education. Daniel's Story is intended for children ages 8-13. Many fine curricula have been developed to teach about the Holocaust in sensible, meaningful and productive ways. http://www.ushmm.org
Florida Holocaust Museum ‘s Teacher's Guide To The Holocaust: The Holocaust museum now has a companion website with a timeline and a complete set of links and references. http://www.Flholocaustmuseum.org/
Holocaust Education Foundation: Focus is on both rememberance and research. www.holocaust-trc.org/home.htm
The Cybrary of the Holocaust
The Cybrary uses art, poetry, discussion groups, photos, and video to provide information on the Holocaust. www.remember.org
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
The Fortuneoff site provides excerpts from the text of personal testimonies of survivors along with audio and video. www.library.yale.edu/testimonies/homepage.html
Yad Vashem
This is the official site of Israel's Holocaust memorial. This site includes FAQ, a bibliography, and a section on the Righteous Among Nations, those who are recognized for helping Jews during the Holocaust. www.yad-vashem.org.il

Activities:

• As an assignment to introduce the idea of cultural heritage to younger children, have them look closely at the quilt pictures in Tar Beach. Then have the students draw their own story quilts about their cultural heritage. Have the students share their quilt's story to the class.

• Have children suggest what they would do if they or a friend were bullied. Explore the power people have to stop a bully; for example, speaking out rather than staying silent, asking others for help, forming groups to protect themselves, or escaping when bullies have too much power for an immediate confrontation.

• Have older children read a biography then and do a report on the person they chose. They should include an analysis of whether the person exhibited courage in any way.

• Read a biography of Samantha Smith and discuss what children think she did to make a difference. Brainstorm a list of other people who alone have made a difference in the world such as Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Oscar Schindler, etc. Include what they did to make a difference. Try to include other children on the list. Help children understand that they don't have to be adults to make a difference and one person alone is able to affect change or raise awareness on an issue.