| By Gale Staff |
For nearly 25 years, people in the United States have celebrated Pride Month. Each June, in honor of 1969’s Stonewall Uprising, people who identify as LGBTQ+ and their allies take to the streets for parades and festivals in major cities across the country. It’s a time to remember the individuals who worked tirelessly to advance the rights of LGBTQ+ people, but it’s also an opportunity to have fun and share in LGBTQ+ culture.
High school teachers preparing to wrap up their school year lesson plans can lean on Gale In Context: High School to create engaging Pride Month activities. After all, with AP tests over and summer on the horizon, your students will appreciate the cheerful, colorful energy that Pride Month celebrations often bring. Moreover, the topic is culturally relevant for Gen Z students and will no doubt inspire meaningful conversations within your classroom.
Start with a Roadmap
Don’t overburden yourself by starting your lesson plans from scratch. Instead, take advantage of Gale’s collections of Content Specific Training Materials through our support site. These compilations feature tip sheets, classroom activity ideas, lesson plans, and printable worksheets organized around special themes and cultural observances. Materials are designed with curriculum standards and age-appropriateness in mind, allowing educators to take a backseat and let students engage more fully with the content.
The Pride Month collection serves as your starter kit. First, the tip sheet helps users navigate LGBTQ+ content housed in Gale In Context: High School. You don’t need to be the expert. Our Pride Month topic page includes a wealth of information regarding the LGBTQ+ community, both current and historical. We strive to organize the content so it is easily accessible for high school students still developing their research skills. Advanced search features provide recommendations for further reading, and user-friendly filtering tools assist students in identifying the exact sources they need.
Practice Hands-On Research
Fun lesson plans make learning easier for students, so why not introduce them to Pride Month research with a game? We’ve developed an LGBTQ+ Pride Month Escape Room activity for you and your high schoolers. The Pride Month Escape Room includes a guide for teachers and easy-to-print worksheets for students to complete including a crossword puzzle, a logic puzzle, a cipher, and a fill-in-the-blank activity. The escape room activity integrates skills like reading comprehension, team building, logic, vocabulary, and memorization, all while introducing students to LGBTQ+ figures and historical events. These types of activities help capture students’ creativity and competitive spirit, aiding them to better grasp difficult concepts.
pride-month-escape-roomOnce you’ve got your students energized about Pride Month, there’s no shortage of directions to take. What is the history of the Pride Flag? Do your students know all of the different LGBTQ+ flag iterations? Encourage them to expand their curiosity to other countries. What is the state of LGBTQ+ rights in Australia or Russia? Bake rainbow cupcakes in home economics class. Study LGBTQ+ scientists in your science class. Explore the commodification of Pride Month in business class. This is a theme that adapts to any subject!
Explore Current Topics
Once your students are more familiar with the basic structure of Gale’s Pride Month content, allow them the freedom to explore. The Gale In Context: High School Pride Month topic page has three key focus areas: LGBTQ+ Community Equality, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and LGBTQ+ Marriage Equality. Each includes current articles, historical insights, biographical information on significant LGBTQ+ figures, and more.
Pride Month is many subjects under one umbrella, and some can be challenging for young students. Not every student is bringing the same experience and perspective. Teachers can trust that the resources Gale presents are vetted, accurate, and unbiased. Allow students the autonomy to discover information on their own and the freedom to challenge personal predispositions.
Lean on Gale
If you’re unfamiliar with Gale products or need a refresher, you can rely on Gale In Context: For Educators. This is a platform dedicated to teachers, helping you master the tools and accessibility features that Gale offers. With Gale In Context: For Educators, you can guide your students in taking full advantage of Gale as a resource, no matter what topic you’re focusing on this month. Additionally, don’t forget about the Content Specific Training Materials collections, which provide starter kits for observations like Black History Month, National Poetry Month, and other major holidays and special periods of recognition.
Gale In Context: For Educators features lesson plans, activities, on-demand training videos, and printable tip sheets. Find guidance on embedding Gale within your school’s Learning Management System or setting up quick assessment exercises to help you evaluate your students’ comprehension. You can explore professional development material and steps for integrating Gale resources within your school’s technical culture. Have a question? Gale’s support site has search tips and specialized support options. Teachers work hard, and we’re excited to develop resources that can support them.
Acknowledge Pride Month with your students and integrate LGBTQ+ voices into your lesson plans this June. The LGBTQ+ community, like many other underrepresented subgroups in our country, has accomplished vital steps toward advancing civil rights and honoring the diversity of all Americans. Learning about Pride Month, especially while younger, will help your students develop a better understanding and acceptance of all people, regardless of race, gender identity, or relationship preferences.
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