Balanced Learning Resources
Lesson Plans

Grades 5-12. Students learn about Esther Brown, who worked in Kansas during the 1940s alongside Black families and the NAACP to challenge school segregation. Through a mini timeline, short video, guided discussion, and a primary source excerpt from Webb v. School District No. 90 (1949), students examine how local organizing, evidence-gathering, and legal action helped build early challenges to unequal schooling that contributed to Brown v. Board of Education.

Grades 3-5. Students learn about Dr. Jonas Salk, a scientist who helped stop polio by creating a vaccine. Through a short video, guided discussion, and role-play, students explore how identifying a problem, working persistently, and choosing to help others can make a difference. Salk was a Jewish American scientist whose identity and experiences shaped his life and commitment to helping others. Students will connect his work to their own lives by thinking about how they can h

Grades 6-8. Haym Salomon was a Jewish immigrant, financier, and unsung hero of the American Revolution who played a crucial role in securing funds for the war effort. Born in Poland in 1740, he immigrated to America in 1772 and became a successful merchant and banker.