Democratic Principles Teacher Resources

To understand the controversy surrounding the US 2000 presidential election, class members investigate the rationale behind the Electoral Collage, the intimidation involved in the election of 1876, and the 2004 American League...

Should the United States ban the death penalty? Scholars use real-life examples of criminal activity to come to their own conclusions on the death penalty. Primary source documents, as well as video clips, open the issue of capital...

Should democracies include hate speech as a protected right? Scholars analyze the rights found under the First Amendment to the Constitution through researching evidence. Freedom of expression becomes the focal point of the...

Complete with maps, photographs, and historical documents, this presentation would be a great resource throughout a unit about mid-19th century America. Manifest Destiny, Texas Independence, the Oregon Trail, and the Mexican War are...

The Nashua River serves as the focal point of an investigation of the treatment of and care for natural resources. A reading of A River Rand Wild: An Environmental History by Lynne Cherry, launches the study and class members consider...

Analyze the constitutions of five different countries and see how they relate to each country's culture and traditions. Pupils read the preambles to the constitutions of India, Ireland, Russia, Suriname, and the United States. After...

The sovereignty of U.S. Native American nations is the focus of a resource that asks class members to compare the Right to Self-Determination in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with a fact sheet that...

Young historians investigate how voting patterns have changed by comparing the outcome of the 1960 election to the outcome of the recent election. A creative final assessment has participants making a news show wherein they provide...

The Bill of Rights is a foundational document of American democracy, much like the Nuremberg Laws were a foundational document of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany. But that's where their similarities end. Engage high schoolers in a...

Students examine how to survive the teenage years and beyond. They research and collect data pertaining to career choices, health issues and legal concerns. Students develop a brochure about how to survive the teenage years.

Ninth graders analyze political cartoons and posters relating to the United States and Japan in the period following World War II. They discuss the positive and negative consequences of the United States occupation of Japan.

Students study the U.S. Constitutional System and how it compares with forms of democracy that developed in ancient Greece and Rome. They list and explain the requirements it takes to form a society to be considered a nation.

Students explore how the structure of the state and federal judicial systems affect them. They select an appropriate media and create a presentation on the structure of the judicial system, the criminal judicial system and a guide to the...

Students discover daily life on George Washington's plantation, Mount Vernon.  In this compare and contrast lesson, students examine the life styles at four distinct sites at Mount Vernon to become familiar with the people,...

Students compare and contrast travel in the 18th century with current methods of travel by participating in a simulated trip to Mount Vernon. In this US history lesson, students write a letter to George Washington for permission to visit...

Students discuss the Civil Rights Movement and the key events that ended segregation in the United States.

Students investigate about the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., watching video clips from unitedstreaming. They identify ways that they can help make Martin Luther's dream of peace a reality. Pupils identify contributions that...

Eleventh graders examine how current race relations in their town compare to those of the 1960's.

Learners conduct oral history interviews and research historical and contemporary media articles about multiculturalism and diversity.

Students are introduced to the geography of the Columbia River basin and its history. Using the internet, they research the relationships between the Native Americans and the Hudson Bay Company. They also discuss the effects on the...

Fifth graders examine what it means to be a citizen. Using the Constitution, they discover the functions and purpose of government. They compare and contrast the difference between a democracy and a monarchy. As a class, they discuss...

Students conduct Internet research on the different safaris available. They locate and label safari sites on the continent of Africa. They create a PowerPoint presentation for the class to persuade the class why they should vote for...

Young scholars write and present a speech. In this service lesson, students read an anecdote adapted from The Star Thrower and discuss their feelings about their ability to make a difference in the world. Young scholars make a short...