Ability Privilege Lesson
This activity is designed for students to reflect on their own lives and their privilege status. Unfortunately in our society certain groups can navigate with ease, while others must fight for their basic rights. Students will reflect on how their ability (able-bodied or disabled) affects their lives and how they can use their privilege to help others.
Image Description: various heights of different colored bars lined up next to one another. The words “Ability Privilege” towards the top.
Black Disabled Art History Lesson
Students will select a Black Disabled artist from Leroy Moore’s Black Disabled Art History 101. Students will research their selected artist and their works. Students will choose a piece of artwork created by this artist and analyze it using a critical artistic framework. This lesson can be adapted for a wide range of ages.
Image description: Cover photo of Black Disabled Art History 101
Blind Willie Johnson Lesson
Students will learn about one of the most influential blues guitarists of the early 1900s, Blind Willie Johnson. They will read an article detailing his life and how he is remembered. The class will then listen to an example of his music, and covers of his music. Students will also discuss how blind musicians can help advance the discussion concerning the stigma of disability.
Image description: halftone photograph of Blind Willie Johnson
Calendar of Events
A calendar of events that recognizes various days (and months) is an easy way to bring the conversation about disability into your classrooms and schools. Including discussion of disabled people throughout the year sends a message to all that disabled students are recognized and valued as a part of the education community.
Image description: calendar page tilted at an angle, reading glasses rest on the bottom corner of the calendar
Coloring Books, Pages and Clip Art with Disability Representation
Including coloring pages and artwork in lessons (some of these allow you to use as clip art) that includes disability representation furthers the goal of regularizing disability by seeing it and offering opportunities to learn and ask questions.
Image Description: small images of the coloring books on a yellow background
Concentric Circles Lesson
In this lesson students will contemplate how they perceive disability and explore stereotypes and misconceptions of disability through a circle discussion activity. This lesson is intended as an introductory activity on disability. Students are just beginning the discussion on disability.
Image description: rainbow concentric circles
Crip Camp Curriculum - Media Literacy: Understanding What You Are Watching - Lesson 1
In this lesson plan, students will learn about media literacy and apply those skills to the media created for the film CRIP CAMP.
Image Description: “Crip Camp Curriculum” in white text on green background
Crip Camp Curriculum - Power and Disability Justice - Lesson 2
In this lesson plan, participants will explore the concepts of power and justice, and how they relate to disability rights and disability justice.
Image Description: “Crip Camp Curriculum” in white text on green background
Crip Camp Curriculum - Civil Rights, Human Rights and Power - Lesson 3
In this lesson plan participants will explore the concepts of power, civil rights, and human rights, and how these concepts relate to disability rights, and then apply those skills to the media created for the film CRIP CAMP
Image Description: “Crip Camp Curriculum” in white text on green background
Crip Camp Curriculum - Language, Power and Ableism - Lesson 4
In this lesson plan participants will understand how language is connected to power and ableism. This entry links to the resources that are owned by the creators and listed here for easier access within our database of lessons and resources.
Image Description: “Crip Camp Curriculum” in white text on green background
Crip Camp Curriculum - Strategic Use of Power - Lesson 5
In this lesson plan participants will discuss how the strategic use of power helped the disability rights movement in the US evolve.
Image Description: “Crip Camp Curriculum” in white text on green background
Defiant Lives Disability Rights Lesson
Students will watch “Defiant Lives: The Rise and Triumph of the Disability Rights Movement in the United States, England, and Australia.” It covers important milestones in disability activism, from breaking people out of nursing homes to advocating for equal rights. The discussion topics in the film vary from institutionalization to passing legislation. The film highlights in particular, the vast differences between the medical model of disability and the social model of disability. For 5 days, students will watch a segment of the film and record their own thoughts and then discuss their thoughts with a partner and the full group. The last two days students will work together to create their own plan to address an issue in their own community.
Image description: Defiant Lives poster showing stairs and projected onto the stairs is a pink and black wheelchair and disability activist. Text at the top says Defiant Lives and text at the bottom says the Rise and Triumph of the Disability Rights Movement
Demystifying Pennhurst State School Lesson
In this lesson students will compare and contrast 3 videos on Pennhurst State School. Students will delve into two narratives, The “horror” and “historical”. In a class discussion, students will discuss the implications of each narrative on how society views mental illness and intellectual disability. Students will learn about Pennhurst and the historic self-advocacy of the residents and the eventual closing of the PA institution.
Image description: Black and white photograph of Pennhurst
Disability and Disability Arts Invisible Disabilities/Autism/Poetry/Golden Shovels Poetic Form
Lesson title: Disability and Disability Arts - Disability and Disability Arts Invisible Disabilities/ Autism/Poetry/ Golden Shovels Poetic Form
This is a three part lesson to introduce the student to disability and a disabled artist's work. Disability arts is an art form where the context of the art takes on disability as its theme. Disability art is about exploring the various realities of what it's like to be disabled. The theme of disability may be used in a variety of ways in how the artist chooses to represent the theme in their work. This lesson uses poetry created by Ian Fay.
Disability and Disability Arts - Invisible Disabilities - “See Me; Invisibility” Paintings Lessons
Disability and Disability Arts - Invisible Disabilities - “See Me; Invisibility” Paintings Lessons
This is a three part lesson to introduce the student to disability and a disabled artist's work. Disability arts is an art form where the context of the art takes on disability as its theme. Disability art is about exploring the various realities of what it's like to be disabled. The theme of disability may be used in a variety of ways in how the artist chooses to represent the theme in their work. This lesson uses 3 paintings created by Mali Fenning.
Disability History through Primary Sources
As our friends from Engaging America state, “Primary sources … can provide entry points and deepen exploration into historical events. Primary sources add immediacy, such as the faces in a photograph, the emotional tone of a drawing or song, or the complex look of a handwritten document. Documents from multiple points of view can illuminate conflicting ideas and events. Varied media, including maps, oral histories, published reports, and graphs offer many options for connection and investigation”.
We share these collections or primary sources as tools to continue introducing disability into the conversation from natural perspectives, using disabled people to tell their own stories whenever possible.
Image Description: Article from Dallas Times Herald, Wednesday, January 14, 1986 in section “Community Close-Up” titled “Police on sidewalk wheelchair ramps changed”
Full image description can be found at: https://adaptmuseum.net/gallery/picture.php?/451/category/16
Disability Justice Lesson Plan - Education Amplifier
In this lesson plan, you’ll find six modules that you can mix and match, that all teach about different aspects of disability rights and disability justice.
Image Description: Education Amplifier’s illustration of Lydia X.Z. Brown
Easterseals Short Films Lesson Plan
Students will review the social model of disability and then apply it to 4 short films created for the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. “The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge gives filmmakers—with and without disabilities—the opportunity to collaborate to tell unique stories that showcase disability in its many forms (disabilityfilmchallenge.com).” Students will watch the 4 winning films, and then break into groups to focus on analyzing one film as a group.
FDR Hiding his Disability Lesson
Students will engage in discussion about the Stigma associated with disability. They will then learn about FDR and how illness made him lose the ability to fully walk. They will then learn about how FDR, the people around him, and the press worked to keep his disability as secret as possible. This will lead to a discussion about the impact of his decision to hide his disability, and how taking a prideful approach to his disability could have changed how people perceived him and others with disabilities.
Image description: photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Hephaestus - Greek Mythology
Students will read about Hephaestus. After reading each passage, they will be able to reflect and write about how Hephaestus is portrayed in that specific passage. Using evidence from each passage, the students must justify their opinions.
Image description: Statue of Hephaestus