Curriculum
The Student Voices Curriculum provides educators with resources for engaging youth in meaningful discussion on topics related to gun violence in order to empower youth to use their voices toward positive change. The lessons and activities provided are appropriate for various content area and grade levels, designed to meet multiple learning styles and aligned to state standards. The catalogue below provides a brief description of each curriculum resource and a link to a file containing all materials, including lesson plans, student handouts, assessment rubrics, and more.

Gone Too Soon
Students explore the impact of historical events on society by researching and writing about historical figures who were killed by gun violence.
Grades: 4-12
History/Social Studies
English Language Arts
Theatre/Drama

Looking Upstream
Students examine the causes and effects of gun violence in order to brainstorm grassroots solutions to the problem.
Grades: 4-12
History/Social Studies
English Language Arts

Kids Count
Students visualize the impact of gun violence in Chicago by interpreting graphs and using percentages and fractions to represent data about Chicago homicides in the past year.
Grades: 5-8
Math
Science

When the Bullied Become Bullies
Students draw conclusions about the relationship between bullying and school shooter cases using scientific inquiry, data collection, and statistical analysis.
Grades: 8-12
Math
Science

To the Young Who Want to Live
Students interpret Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem, “To the Young Who Want to Die,” and use poetic devices to create their own anti-violence message.
Grades: 8-12
English Language Arts
Theatre/Drama
Music

Bowling for Columbine
Students identify characteristics of the documentary genre and create an audio-visual message of their own.
Grades: 9-12
Technology/Film
Journalism
English Language Arts
History/Social Studies

Art for Change
Students engage in art criticism techniques to analyze and interpret works of art for peace created in the Vietnam era and then create their own work of art with a non-violent of peaceful message.
Grades: 9-12
Art
History/Social Studies

Give Peace a Chance
Students explore how technical elements, mood, and meaning work together in a piece of protest music from the Vietnam era.
Grades: 9-12
Music
History/Social Studies

Ut Pictura Poesis
Students read and analyze poetry written about works of art and then create imagery-rich, art-inspired poems of their own.
Grades: 6-12
Art
English Language Arts

Bullying Behaviors
Students practice identifying bullying behavior and role-play strategies for dealing with bullies using non-violence.
Grades: 1-5
English Language Arts
Theatre/Drama
Character Education

Little Weapons
Students explore the issue of youth access to weapons through a close analytical reading and discussion of Lupe Fiasco’s song, “Little Weapons.”
Grades: 9-12
English Language Arts
History/Social Studies
Music

Walking Survey: Stats and Facts
Students gain, through a “walking survey,” an introductory look into the issue of gun violence and engage in critical thinking and self-reflection about the problem and how it impacts them.
Grades: 6-12
English Language Arts
History/Social Studies
Math
Science

The Right to Arm Bears
Students identify and analyze the persuasive techniques used in political cartoons and will use these strategies to create their own political cartoons.
Grades: 8-12
English Language Arts
History/Social Studies
Art

Bullying and Bullets
Students examine school shooter cases to determine the role of bullying, the profiles of shooters, and the causes behind shootings toward forming and supporting an opinion on the controversial “Zero Tolerance” policy in schools.
Grades: 7-12
English Language Arts
History/Social Studies

Hard Evidence
Students learn about the importance of supporting details in essay writing and will be guided through essay revision to include evidence to back up their claims.
Grades: 6-12
English Language Arts

Don’t Become a Statistic
Students identify concepts of responsible citizenship in relation to gun safety and gun laws on local, national, and global levels.
Grades: 1-5
English Language Arts
History/Social Studies
Math

The Second Amendment Debate
Students practice their persuasive skills through a debate about the 2nd amendment and simulate the operations of legislative branch through discussion of the right to bear arms.
Grades: 8-12
History/Social Studies

The Second Amendment Debate Guns in Our World Part One
Students collect and present data about the impact of gun violence on youth by using tallying and a bar graph and analyze their graphs for form generalizations about the data.
Grades: 4-6
Math
Science

The Second Amendment Debate Guns in Our World Part Two
Students self-reflect on the personal impact of gun violence and create line graphs to represent personal levels of emotion/fear in various situations.
Grades: 4-6
Math
Science