Center for Civic Education
What Basic Ideas About Government Are Included in the Preamble to the Constitution?
Young historians explore the meaning of the Preamble to the US Constitution in this upper-elementary social studies lesson. Working with partners or in small groups, children discuss the purpose of government before reading and analyzing...
Center for Civic Education
What Basic Ideas Are in the Preamble to the Constitution?
Introduce young historians to the US Constitution with this upper-elementary social studies lesson plan. Beginning with a general discussion about the role of government in society, students go on to work in small groups identifying and...
Curated OER
How was the Constitution Used to Organize the New Government?
How did the United States Congress determine how the new president and vice president would be named when the nation was first established? Who would provide money for the government, and how would the executive branch be organized?
Center for Civic Education
Constitution Day Rap
Engage your class while learning about the US Constitution with this fun primary grade social studies lesson. After viewing a picture of the US Constitution, young learners piece together a US flag using stars and stripes with facts...
Curated OER
Lesson 4: The Judiciary: A Brief Introduction to the Courts System
Focusing on the judicial branch of government, the fourth lesson in this series explores the structure of the US courts system. Beginning with an engaging activity based on the short story The Lady or the Tiger, students go on to examine...
Film Foundation
Film Language and Elements of Style
How do you read a frame? How do you read a shot? Here's a resource that shows viewers how to read films. As part of the study, class members examine the camera angles, lighting, movement, and cinematic point of view in Mr. Smith Goes to...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Military Advisers in Vietnam: 1963
How did the beginning of the Vietnam War factor into the Cold War with the Soviet Union? As part of a study of American involvement in Vietnam, class members read a letter address to President Kennedy and his response in which he...
Advocates for Human Rights
Civic Engagement and U.S. Immigration Policy
To conclude their study of immigration and human rights, class members create a civic engagement project centered on an issue of immigration and designed to influence US immigration policy. They examine examples of attempts to influence...
School Improvement in Maryland
United States Foreign Policy
Policies of United States government which promote or fail to promote relationships with other countries—national defense, arms control, security of other nations, trade, human rights, economic sanctions, foreign aid, etc.—come under...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama's 1901 Constitution: What Was at Stake?
Who should be able to vote? As part of a study of the 1901 Alabama Constitution, class members examine primary source document that reveal the reasons the authors gave to support their positions on this question and their assumptions in...
University of California
Roots of the Cold War
When and how did the Cold War begin? To answer this question, you will not find a better-organized, in-depth, activity- and inquiry-based resource than this! Executing best teaching practices throughout, each portion of this inquiry...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Recipe for an Inaugural Address
An inaugural address represents the first moments of a new beginning. Using John F. Kennedy's speech as a model for guided practice, groups examine the ingredients of an inaugural address. Individuals then repeat the analysis process...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 1: The United States Confronts Great Britain, 1793–1796
After the Revolutionary War, the success of the United States was far from guaranteed. Foreign powers coveted the new land, and Great Britain challenged American sovereignty. Learners consider the challenges facing the new nation using...
PBS
What Are the Primaries and Caucuses?
What are the essential differences between primaries and caucuses? As part of a study of the process by which Americans select their candidates for US president, class members examine the nominating process, the changes that have...
Curated OER
The Great Depression and New Deal
Elementary pupils are introduced to the Great Depression as a critical period of hardship in United States history. They engage in collaborative assignments researching the Dust Bowl, the New Deal, US presidents, and presidential libraries.
Center for Civic Education
Citizenship Schools and Civic Education During the Civil Rights Movement and in the Present
Your young historians will discover the importance that citizenship education has played in the social progress of the United States as they learn about early efforts to discourage African Americans from voting in the 1960s.
State Bar of Texas
White v. Regester
One vote doesn't really matter, right? Class members investigate the concept of voter rights and restrictions using the 1973 Supreme Court case White v. Regester. They view a short video and work in pairs to analyze how people create...
Bill of Rights Institute
The Declaration of Independence
Take classes on an in-depth tour of the Declaration of Independence. An informative resource effectively scaffolds learning by providing warm-up and wrap-up activities. It also includes a variety of handouts for individuals to complete,...