On Wednesday, violent pro-Donald Trump rioters descended on the U.S. Capitol building while lawmakers were working to count the Electoral College votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden's win over Trump. At least 5, including a Capitol Police officer, were killed and many were injured.
The next day, teachers across the country grappled with how to explain the deadly event — during which nooses hanged in front of the Capitol building, confederate flags were waved in the halls and the mob ransacked offices — to students of every age, with several sharing resources on social media and turning to fellow educators for ideas.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, posted a Twitter thread with free lesson plans on topics ranging from the foundations of democracy to the nation's history of peaceful transitions of power.
"Students across America are watching," Weingarten wrote. "You don't have to be a civics teacher to know that this moment is going to be very difficult for so many educators across the country."
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"You can differentiate between peaceful protest and violence," she later advised. "Storming the Capitol and threatening duly elected officials is mob rule not peaceful protest."
Georgia-based teacher Marian Dingle also used Twitter to urge other teachers to take a moment in their classes to acknowledge the events, garnering hundreds of replies and over CONTINUE READING: How Teachers Across the U.S. Explained the 'Traumatic' Capitol Riots to Their Young Students