8th Amendment Teacher Resources

Why should classes care about the First Amendment? An engaging lesson serves as a powerful tool for answering just that. As all four cases in the lesson relate directly to freedom of expression in schools, young scholars explore the...

Eighty-eight years after women earned the right to vote, a women ran for president. Young analysts consider the role women play in politics, how they are portrayed, the standards they are held to, and if they are still treated unfairly...

What led to the end of Prohibition? In a word: money. To use the words of one historian: the government was desperate for tax revenue in the midst of the Depression. With a series of curated videos, scholars examine the causes of and the...

Introduce youngsters to the first 10 amendments of the US Constitution. Each slide contains one of the 10 amendments, an image, and a brief description of what the amendment entails. Because the images and language used are very...

Who gets to vote? Learn more about struggles for suffrage throughout United States history with a lesson based on primary source documents. Middle schoolers debate the importance of women's suffrage and African American...

As part of a study of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, class members examine four Supreme Court decisions—Gitlow v. New York, Mapp v. Ohio, Gideon v. Wainwright, and Griswold v. Connecticut—that incorporated the due...

Students analyze how the Bill of Rights affected people.  In this U.S. History lesson, students research specific Amendments then prepare an oral report and visual presentation on one amendment to share with the class.

Discover the fascinating history of the Equal Rights Amendment and discuss the major implications and considerations associated with it today. Here you will find background information on the topic, a graphic organizer summarizing...

Did the Emancipation Proclamation free all slaves during the Civil War? Why was it written, and what were its immediate and long-term effects? After reading primary source materials, constructing political maps representing information...

Did you know there are seven Articles and 27 Amendments to the US Constitution? Explore each and every one of them, including the Bill of Rights and other rights around the world, in a super neat US Constitution interactive. 

A short video introduces viewers to the political struggles involved in passing the First Amendment and the many challenges it has faced since its passage.  Viewers then discuss how to balance issues of freedom of the press,...

Students take a closer look at the death penalty. In this U.S. government lesson, students watch a Discovery video about capital punishment in the United States and then compose letters to the editors of newspapers about their stance on...

Students reenact The USA v. Susan B. Anthony and discuss women's suffrage and the 19th Amendment.

The Civil War made slavery illegal, but all ex-slaves were not totally free. Scholars visit eight different classroom stations to uncover life during the Reconstruction Era in America. Groups discover items such as Black Codes, 13th,...

After viewing the documentary The Last Roundup, a documentary about the transitioning of Santa Rosa from a privately own island to a National Park, class members debate the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment that permits the...

Eighth graders examine the current amendments and discuss any change they would like to make. With a partner, they develop a proposal and an advertisement to redo at least two amendments. They also compare and contrast the amendments...

Tackle ethics in your high school history classes with a Socratic seminar about torture as a means for obtaining information. The plan allows for pupils to take the reins during the seminar. On the first day, class members read several...

Freedom of speech is not always free. Scholars investigate how the First Amendment provides for the right to express opinions. Through the court case Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, they analyze free speech using primary documents—and hopefully...

Students examine the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution. They work with a partner to determine which amendment has been violated while working on a worksheet.

Eighth graders, in groups, explore all 26 amendments and group them accordingly.

The American Civil War tore the country in two. What made tension grow between the North and the South? How did the war finally begin? What artillery was used? Answer some of these basic questions using this resource. Consider choosing a...

You are the governor of your state. A man has been sentenced to die for first degree murder, but you've been asked to commute the sentence. What do you do? Scholars consider the difficult question using a conversation starter video that...

Students explore capital punishment. In this death penalty lesson, students research capital punishment and write an editorial defending 1 side of the issue.