CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideThe African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino Course of Studies is a one credit, year-long elective in which students will consider the scope of African American/Black and Puerto Rican/ Latino contributions to U.S. history, society, economy, and culture. It utilizes Connecticut’s Social Studies Framework themes and inquiry-based approach already familiar to social studies teachers to deliver a content rich and personalized learning experience.The course is an opportunity for students to explore accomplishments, struggles, intersections, perspectives, and collaborations of African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino people in the U.S. Students will examine how historical movements, legislation, and wars affected the citizenship rights of these groups and how they, both separately and together, worked to build U.S. cultural and economic wealth and create more just societies in local, national, and international contexts.Coursework will provide students with tools to identify historic and contemporary tensions around race and difference; map economic and racial disparities over time; strengthen their own identity development; and address bias in their communities. This course will contribute to the critical consciousness and civic-mindedness competencies of a twenty-first century graduate, and ultimately facilitate students’ interest in pursuing further ethnic, anthropology, or human rights studies in the future.

In this unit, students will examine African American history from the political, economic, and cultural impact of Black Power to Black Lives Matter. During this era, African Americans used the vote to demand reform, created organizations such as the Black Panther Party to address police brutality, and created independent social programs. Since 1965, African Americans have made major progress, such as an increase of college graduates and decreasing the poverty rate; however, institutional racism continues to undermine the progress of African Americans and African and Black Caribbean immigrants as well as an expanding Black middle class.In this unit, students will:• Examine the impact of class and gender on how the Black community is shaped by a variety of identities, communities, and perspectives.• Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.• Reimagine new possibilities and more just futures for our country and our world drawn from the legacy of African American/Black experiences, intellectual thought, and culture.Compelling Questions: What are the greatest human rights issues facing America today and in the future? What does radically reimagining new possibilities and more just futures look and sound like now?Pre-Assessment: Poll students’ knowledge of political and cultural accomplishments during this time