Balanced Learning Resources
Lesson Plans

Students apply 10 objective criteria to analyze a social justice movement that is widely noted for its non‑violent, dignity‑centered tactics: the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia (Nov–Dec 1989). Using short videos and primary‑source snippets, learners test whether the movement’s goals, methods, and outcomes align with genuine social justice for all, or reveal red flags. By design, this lesson is based on students’ observations of video content and teacher‑neutrality: the 1

Students will examine the civil rights movement through two key films: Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech and The March (1964), a restored documentary on the March on Washington. After viewing, students will use 10 criteria to evaluate whether the movement meets the standards of a true social justice movement—analyzing its stated goals and actions, commitment to equity and human dignity, openness to dissent, use of nonviolence, reliance on truth over propag

Grade Level: 8–12 Duration of video 1: 7 minutes, 28 seconds Duration of video 2:  44 minutes Themes: Social psychology, Holocaust awareness, Nazism, World War II, media literacy and propaganda, social justice vs. hate movements, active citizenship, moral responsibility Description: This lesson begins with The Path to Nazi Genocide , a short introductory documentary that examines how the Nazis systematically excluded Jews from society and justified escalating violence. Stude