Church World Service

Facts Have Faces.”  These are downloadable or can be ordered.

• Uprooted Peoples (on refugees)

United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees

This page includes a link for lesson plans for incorporating the plight of refugees into history, civic education, geography, human rights, language and literature and art classes.  There is also a link for teacher’s tools.  Some of these tools are web based and others can be ordered via an e-mail link from Switzerland.  One of the activities is a simulation about refugees.  There are also kits and brochures.

Planet Teacher

This is a UK site so some of the information and spellings will need some “translation.”

Suggested for approximately grades 4-6. One of the buttons on the web page is the “hot news” button.  This link will send you to a page which has suggestions for follow-up action. 

• Refugees - Run for your life  - This Planet teacher topic looks at the issue of refugees.

You can also sign up for their e-zine free of charge.  They also send out information for use by youth group leaders.  Also free of charge.

These lessons from Catholic Relief Services include a free CD-Rom (you can order online), a backgrounder piece, lesson plan, powerpoint presentation and prayer service.

What can be a little confusing is that you need to visit two pages to access all the information available. Visit the resource page to find the lesson plan and the prayer service (scroll down).  Use the Sudan portal to order the CD-Rom. On the "Faces of Sudan" page there is a link for a virtual tour of a Sudanese refugee camp.

The Immigrant Experience

A young man talks about his experience of being an immigrant.

 There are lesson plans available about immigration

• The New Americans

• Reluctant Immigrant

• Point of View

A Line in the Sand: Stories from the U.S./Mexican Border

You can request a script and the supporting materials for the one-hour production from CRS which is meant to spark a discussion about immigration.  Discussion materials are also provided. There is also a DVD available of the play.   They only ask for a donation to cover shipping costs.

Power point based on Justice for Immigrants Campaign

The button for the power point is on the right hand side of the page.  It deals with some facts and figures about immigration, Scripture and the Catholic church’s response.

Refugee Camp - Doctors without Borders

This online exercise walks students through the realities of being a refugee. It provides powerful pictures and good information about the plight of refugees.  Suitable for middle school students and older because of reading level.

CSPE stands for Civil, Social and Political Education. This is a curriculum based on human rights and social responsibilities. This website has components for teachers, students and parents.

For teachers, the framework includes law, dignity, democracy, stewardship, development, interdependence and rights and responsibilities. 

For students, the framework is on rights: trade rights, environmental rights, development rights, refugee rights, children's rights, human rights, and stories of human right defenders.  Beside the good information and illustrations that are given, there are also action steps listed for each of the concepts.

There is also a site for parents.  The page "How Can I Support My Child" contains some very useful ideas for raising children with a global awareness. 

This prayer service is from the Education for Justice website.

This site, part of the campus connection, has several resources to look at the issues of migration. It includes information on the U.S. Mexico border debate as well as information on the larger migration issues and church documents.

Justice for Immigrants

This website has a variety of resources for background on immigration as well as church documents about immigrant rights.  There are also suggestions for prayer and homilies.

The short video links the plight of refugees and Catholic Social Teaching.

Just News is a publication of the Office of Justice and Peace for the Diocese of Richmond.  Each issue is devoted to a single topic.

There are issues devoted to America and Outsiders and Welcoming the Stranger.

Sojourners on the Issues

Discussion guides for four sessions each with articles from past issues of Sojourner’s magazine. Cost is $14.95 for each packet.  Available topics are Christian feminism, Christians and Nonviolence, Christians and Politics, Christians and the Environment, Christians and the Global Economy, Christians and Racial Justice, Christians and the Middle East, Christians and Poverty, Welcoming the Stranger: Christians and Immigration and What the Waters Revealed: Christians and Hurricane Katrina.  There is a sample available.

This a 35 slide powerpoint presentation from the Education for Justice website.  The website is a subscription service, but well worth the cost.  You can sign up for a 30 day free trial subscription.  Besides the many other resources they have on immigration (as well as other justice topics) they offer a role play on immigration.

This powerpoint presentation on immigration is from the Archdiocese of Newark.

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