In paperback with illustrations, this is the young adult edition of Howard Zinn’s classic telling of American history. A Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn with Rebecca Stefoff brings to U.S. history the viewpoints of workers, people who are enslaved, immigrants, women, Native Americans, and others whose stories, and their impact, are rarely included in books for young people. Kindle | Audiobook

Background and Resources for Students - As the busy school year begins, many of us are thinking of how we can include the upcoming 20th anniversary of 9-11 in our curriculum. Memorial events will be held all over the country and be widely covered in the news this weekend. Attached you will find a brochure on Afghanistan, and a ready-made curriculum worksheet for students as they watch the webinar:

SATURDAY Sept. 11 WEBINAR

 The curriculum was designed for high school students, but can be adapted.

***PARTICIPANTS MUST REGISTER**

It is our hope that young people across the country are exposed to, and part of the conversation about 9-11, its causes, its aftermath and a vision of where we go from here. 

TEACHERS and STUDENTS: There is also a Downloadable Student Worksheet Available for this resource on Google Docs

War Resisters League has put together a workshop for high school students to learn about the all-consuming war machine which dominates our economy. The workshop curriculum uses hands-on techniques, readings and discussions to build student awareness of the issue. Starting with a breakdown of the federal budget, the curriculum goes on to analyze war profiteers who benefit from the continuation of global conflict to the justifications for the occupation and war in Afghanistan. Students can gain a concrete understanding of priorities through exercises like allocating pennies into labeled jars proportional to our annual federal budget.

Also Listen to   Radio Segment with Ali Issa, national field organizer for the War Resister’s League about this curriculum for students.

Camouflaged: Investigating How the U.S. Military Affects You and Your Community is a tool for educators to help middle and high school-aged students explore the role of the military in their lives and in their communities. Local New York City teachers, led by the New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE), generated the Camouflaged curriculum with the intent of making it accessible to educators across the country in a variety of settings and curricular areas. NYCoRE believes that it is the role of educators as allies to young people to ensure that students have information from a variety of sources before considering enlisting in the armed forces. At this point in U.S. history, military recruiters have unprecedented access to young people in and out of school through a variety of mediums. This curriculum provides a critical lens to help students navigate recruiters’ messages and to examine the role of the military throughout this country’s history to the present.

Source: NYCore: New York Collective of Radical Educators

Power Point Slide show about realities of military enlistment as a counter-recruitment tool. Ready to play without opening Power Point in editing mode.

Source: Veterans for Peace: Chicago-area group

In For High School Students–Notes and Images from the Viet Nam War, director Jill Godmilow uses photographs and images to share information on the Vietnam War with high school students.  Godmilow focuses on the political and economic factors that contributed to the war, the United States’ military tactics, and the anti-war movement and protests that arose in response to the quagmire and the United States’ prolonged involvement in it.  This curriculum guide was developed to support teachers using the film.  It includes additional primary sources and recommended film clips with accompanying questions, as well as Essential Questions, objectives, and activities aligned with each of the three sections of the film.  Used together, the film and the resources here offer students insight into and context for this significant era in in the world’s history.

“What Young People Should Know Before Joining the Military” is a unit designed for a 10th grade US History class. The historical component revolves around imperialism and the Spanish-American War. A contemporary connection is made through a look at imperialism and the Iraq War. The final project for the unit consists of group presentations on what CPS students should know about the military before they consider joining. The presentations were videotaped and then edited and compiled to make a 15-minute video that was posted on YouTube.

An excellent instructive 45-minute film for high school students and their teachers about the history of the Viet Nam War, composed of photographs from that war, by filmmaker Jill Godmilow.

It’s free to stream or download the film by clicking on the link below:.

For High School Students - Notes and Images From the Vietnam War from Jill Godmilow on Vimeo.

"Here's a film for high school students and their teachers about the history of the Viet Nam War, composed of just photographs from that war, narration and, to help us through a damned disheartening story, lots of the Bach Suite for Solo Cello #1 in G. The film is 45 minutes long––perfect for classroom use and repeated screenings by students on their own. It's my response to the flawed Ken Burn/Lynn Novick 18-hour PBS series, The Vietnam War... too long for the classroom and failing in many ways as a useful account of the tragic Viet Nam war. It’s free to stream or download the film from this website, so teachers, help yourselves. I’ve also provided a curriculum, produced by the Zinn Education Project’s Rethinking Schools for teaching this film, and some additional useful writings for understanding the Viet Nam War. I recommend that teachers warn their students that the film is highly critical of the Viet Nam War. Teachers should also warn students in advance that this material can be upsetting. But I believe young adults can, and must, grapple with this grim history and the presence of this war, in order to avoid repeating it."  - Jill Godmilow

Join Frieda as she learns how to make a difference in the world! This is the story about a young girl named Frieda who embarks on a wonderful adventure to bring about positive change in the world. One day, Ana from the United Nations visits Frieda’s school to teach her class about the Sustainable Development Goals—the world’s plan to reduce poverty and protect the planet by 2030. Frieda develops a global perspective and is encouraged to take action against the biggest issues of our day: from combating climate change and protecting endangered species to ending poverty and fighting inequality. But most important, Frieda learns that “everyone must work together to make the world much better for all”. With colourful illustrations, engaging text, and tips on how to change the world, children will discover what they can do to make a difference— in their lives and the lives around them.

• Author: UN, DGC
• Publication date: August 2019
• Page count: 52
• Language(s) in this book: English
• Sales number: 19.I.11

Available in Paperback

Languages:

Español

The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the purpose of propaganda and how governments successfully used propaganda during World War I. This lesson will also ask students to compare how the belligerent nations (and the United States in particular) depicted their enemies and mobilized their respective populations to fight the war.

As attitudes toward war grow dangerously worshipful in the US, quitting our endless wars becomes all the more difficult.
A sweeping history of the passionate men and women in uniform who have bravely and courageously exercised the power of dissent
Before the U.S. Constitution had even been signed, soldiers and new veterans protested. Dissent, the hallowed expression of disagreement and refusal to comply with the government's wishes, has a long history in the United States. Soldier dissenters, outraged by the country's wars or egregious violations in conduct, speak out and change U.S. politics, social welfare systems, and histories.

Audio book available on Audible

Our federal budget is more than numbers on a page. Congresswoman Barbara Lee has called it a “moral document,” a representation of our nation's values. The If I Had a Trillion Dollars youth video contest asks young people from across the country, to tell us about what they value. It asks them to tell us what they would do with $1 trillion – for themselves, their families and for their communities.

This Curriculum Guide is meant to provide a context for young people creating videos for the contest. Through group activities, journaling and facilitated discussion, youth will gain an understanding of how our federal budget works, what our nations priorities are in terms of budgeting and they will begin to explore their own personal budget priorities.

By Ashley Bryan
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan

From celebrated author and illustrator Ashley Bryan comes a deeply moving picture book memoir about serving in the segregated army during World War II, and how love and the pursuit of art sustained him.

In May of 1942, at the age of eighteen, Ashley Bryan was drafted to fight in World War II. For the next three years, he would face the horrors of war as a black soldier in a segregated army.

He endured the terrible lies white officers told about the black soldiers to isolate them from anyone who showed kindness—including each other. He received worse treatment than even Nazi POWs. He was assigned the grimmest, most horrific tasks, like burying fallen soldiers…but was told to remove the black soldiers first because the media didn’t want them in their newsreels. And he waited and wanted so desperately to go home, watching every white soldier get safe passage back to the United States before black soldiers were even a thought.

For the next forty years, Ashley would keep his time in the war a secret. But now, he tells his story.

The story of the kind people who supported him.
The story of the bright moments that guided him through the dark.
And the story of his passion for art that would save him time and time again.

Filled with never-before-seen artwork and handwritten letters and diary entries, this illuminating and moving memoir by Newbery Honor–winning illustrator Ashley Bryan is both a lesson in history and a testament to hope.

Publisher: ‎ Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books (October 15, 2019)
Language : ‎ English
Hardcover: ‎ 112 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1534404902
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1534404908
Reading age: ‎ 10 years and up
Lexile measure: ‎ 990L
Grade level: ‎ 5 - 6

Memorial Day Learning Resource

For Students: Memorial Day background including human costs of our wars in the US.
Document prepared for classroom use by Military Families Speak Out & Veterans For
Peace Chapter 110 - 2022

PDF in sepia and black and white

Download, read, and distribute
the National Call to respond to
increasing military, corporate
and conservative influence in
our public schools.

2022 version

Institute for Policy Studies: In this report, we lay out how militarism and the climate crisis are deeply intertwined and mutually reinforcing. The military itself, we explain, is a huge polluter — and is often deployed to sustain the very extractive industries that destabilize our climate. This climate chaos, in turn, leads to massive displacement, militarized borders, and the prospect of further conflict.

True climate solutions, we argue, must have anti-militarism at their core.

Peace Pill Videos celebrate those individuals and movements that struggle for peace, past and present, and educate us on a history that is intentionally left out of the official narrative about war and peace.

We use variations of these exercises in our peaceCENTER training, If you are using peaceCENTER material in your classroom, we would be delighted to add your lesson plans to the list. You can e-mail them to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Revised 10/13/2017

Planning to Change the World: A Plan Book for Social Justice Teachers 2020-2021 is a plan book for educators who believe their students can and will change the world. It is designed to help teachers translate their vision of a just education into concrete classroom activities.

Source: NYCore: New York Collective of Radical Educators

Selene Rivas presents a series of brief articles exploring how the U.S. citizenry has been normalized to accept a permanent state of militarism through popular culture: Movies, video games and comic books.

"Over the course of this series, we have explored several concepts which are building blocks for the social sciences (“normal”, “normalization”), which in turn have helped us understand and define “militarism” and “militarization”. After this, we dove into the transformative potential found within popular culture: how can it affect the people who consume it? "

Selene Rivas

Costs of War Project research supports an interdisciplinary approach to teaching on the post-9/11 wars, so this community is open to instructors, students, and researchers from all fields. Do you have a resource that should be included on this page and shared with the Costs of War's community of students and instructors? Submit resource details here.

Resource Spotlight:

Costs of War Lesson, Choices Program - videos and class resources to teach the costs of war. From the Choices Program at Brown University. Also includes lesson plans, activities, and readings.

    Video (5 min.): What is the war on terror?

    Video (2 min.): What is the Authorization for the Use of Military Force?

    Video (3 min.): What have been the human costs of the War on Terror?

    Video (2 min.): How are the Iraq and Afghanistan wars different from previous wars?

    Video (2 min.): What are some myths about U.S. defense spending?

    And more..

Rethinking Elementary Education - Edited by Linda Christensen, Mark Hansen, Bob Peterson, Elizabeth Barbian, and Dyan Watson - Rethinking Schools - 2012
Rethinking Elementary Education collects the finest writing about elementary school life and learning from 25 years of Rethinking Schools magazine. The articles in this volume offer practical insights about how to integrate the teaching of content with a social justice lens, how to seek wisdom from students and their families, and how to navigate stifling tests and mandates. Teachers and parents will find both inspiration and hope in these pages.

Teaching About the Wars breaks the curricular silence on the U.S. military engagement in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Even though the United States has been at war continuously since just after 9/11, sometimes it seems that our schools have forgotten. This collection of insightful articles and hands-on lessons shows that teachers have found ways to prompt their students to think critically about big issues. Here is the best writing fromRethinking Schools magazine on war and peace in the 21st century.

Teaching About the Wars is divided into five chapters:

1. Introduction: Breaking the Silence on War
2. The Road to War
3. The Human Face of War
4. Military Recruitment
5. Anti-War Resistance

Contributing authors include Bill Bigelow, Ann Pelo, Margot Pepper, Bob Peterson, Özlem Sensoy, and Howard Zinn

We constantly reach out to educators so we can interact with more students offering our program, which entails no charge to the schools due to our constant fundraising. We network through former colleagues, friends, and family as well as other anti - war or peace organizations. We meet teachers at demonstrations and events. We attend educational conferences. We email and call administrators and counselors – and follow up regularly. We join educator list - serves and utilize the email list of World Can’t Wait. Of course, we have our website, WeAreNotYourSoldiers.org, and Facebook page. We encourage all the readers of this article to visit these sources where much more information can be found. Contact us if you’d like to arrange a visit to your class.

This 100-page teaching guide, prepared by the Zinn Education Project for middle school, high school, and college classrooms, enhances student understanding of the issues raised in the award-winning film, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.

The film and teaching guide are ideal resources for students trying to understand the news about WikiLeaks today. Through the story of Daniel Ellsberg, students can explore the type of information revealed by whistleblowers, the risks and motivations of whistleblowers, and the tactics used to silence whisteblowers. As Daniel Ellsberg said: “EVERY attack now made on WikiLeaks and Julian Assange was made against me and the release of the Pentagon Papers at the time.”

Teaching Activity. By the Zinn Education Project. 100 pages.
Eight lessons about the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers, and whistleblowing.

#zinneducation #vietnam #whistleblowing

National Priorities Project (NPP): As part of the annual must-pass military spending and policy bill (the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, or “NDAA”), progressive lawmakers have put forward a proposal to cut the massive $740 billion Pentagon budget by 10 percent.

With military spending at historically high levels, and with additional increases under President Trump, a ten percent cut is an overdue correction to the bloated Pentagon budget.

While the Pentagon will spend close to $74 billion this year on our endless war operations alone ($71.5 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations), here's what a 10% cut to the Pentagon ($74 billion) could achieve if reinvested in any one of these other priorities:

The Class of Nonviolence is an eight session class developed by Colman McCarthy, founder of the Center for Teaching Peace in Washington, D.C. It uses classics in peace and justice literature to teach peacemaking. This course can change your life and you can change the world.

The entire eight-session / 48 essay class can be downloaded as a PDF file - it's free!

If you have suggestions or questions, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

On 13 October 2017, WILPF launched its most recent publication: a collaborative report on the humanitarian impact of drones. With contributions from academics, legal analysts, and survivors of armed drones, this report aims to refocus the debate about drones on the harm caused to people by these weapons as specific technologies of violence. It examines the significant challenges raised by drones to international law, human rights, ethics and morality, peace and security, environmental protection, development, transparency, surveillance, privacy, policing, gender equality, and more.

Edited by Ray Acheson, Matthew Bolton, Elizabeth Minor, and Allison Pytlak • Published October 2017 by Reaching Critical Will, a programme of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Article 36, and the International Disarmament Institute of Pace University

Power Point presentation about the truth of military recruitment information and the realities of military service and veteran services from Rogue Valley Peace Veterans.

Everyone loves a good story! In an exciting blend of action, adventure, and fantasy author Rivera Sun boldly takes the genre in a new direction . . . that of waging peace, active nonviolence, and nonviolent movements. Challenging war cultures and military societies, The Way Between brings the skills of resolving conflict, anti-bullying, and ending violence into a coming of age story for a new generation of readers.

For Students: A brief look at the war in Ukraine with Russia..
Document prepared for classroom use by The National Network Opposing the
Militarization of Youth in collaboration with Codepink San Pedro - 2022

PDF in color

This website is designed with three purposes in mind.  One is to provide a coherent overview of United States foreign policies, covering the nation’s wars, military interventions, and major doctrines over the course of 244 years.  Written for the general public and undergraduate students, each entry draws on the work of experts in the area of study, summarizing major developments, analyzing causes and contexts, and providing links to additional information and resources.

The True Story of a Brave Woman Called Peace Pilgrim

"Imagine walking for 28 years. Crisscrossing the U.S. on foot, carrying only the bare essentials, talking to people about peace. This is how a remarkable woman who went by the name of Peace Pilgrim—convinced that if we all believed in peace as a way of life,

In War Is a Racket, Butler points to a variety of examples, mostly from World War I, where industrialists, whose operations were subsidized by public funding, were able to generate substantial profits, making money from mass human suffering.

The work is divided into five chapters:

1. War is a racket
2. Who makes the profits?
3. Who pays the bills?
4. How to smash this racket!
5. To hell with war!

It contains this summary:

War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

This series of lessons explores possible disparities between the general population and the military, especially among military recruits. Students compare data and statistics on both populations and use various algebraic and statistical methods to compare the two groups.
Resource Type: Curriculum

Source: Radical Math

Womens International League for Peace & Freedom Teaching Resource
Peace Resource Center
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Anne Hoiberg
May 23, 2022

Color PDF

For Students: A document to recognize World Environment Day Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
This learning resource makes a special emphasis on the the destructive influences that global militarism has on our environment
Document prepared for classroom use by The National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth  - 2022

PDF in color