Facing History and Ourselves
The World the War Made
The United States Civil War forced Northern and Southern societies, as well as the people who made up those societies, to reconstruct their vision of themselves and their identities. A series of video-based web lessons look at the great...
C-SPAN
What Are Ways for Youth to Engage in Politics?
Help young people become excited to participate in politics. High school historians participate in an engaging lesson focused on ways for youth to become involved in government. Scholars review articles, videos, and essential vocabulary...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
What Is Constitutional Democracy?
Rediscover the values at the heart of American democracy and what makes it unique with your pupils. Use a reading and discussion questions—in addition to an analytical activity—on the preamble to the Constitution. An additional activity...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
The Troubled Elections of 1796 and 1800
Congress does more than create new laws. Political scientists delve into the elections of 1796 and 1800 to understand how political parties, the Electoral College, and personal agendas affected the election process. The resource also...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Putin's Illiberal Democracy
Is Russia really a democracy? High school scholars explore Russian democracy under the leadership of President Putin. The resource provides opportunity for group discussion, writing, and research to understand Russia's political history,...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Elections, Money, and the First Amendment
Those who spend the most, win. Academics read informational text, participate in group discussion, and defend campaign reforms to understand the correlation between money, the First Amendment, and election results. The resource explains...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Winner-Take-All: The Two-Party System
Two's company, three's a crowd. High school historians learn about the Electoral College, a two-party, winner-take-all voting system in the United States. The lesson explains the pros and cons of the two-party system, roadblocks for...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Why Don’t More People in the U.S. Vote?
To vote or not to vote, that is the question. Secondary scholars explore voter turnout in the United States. The resource uses informational text, group discussion, and a worksheet to help academics understand hindrances to voting and...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Suppressing the Vote
Voting rights have expanded over time, but some voters are still being suppressed. A thought-provoking resource explores the history of voter suppression in the US and efforts to remove roadblocks to voting. Young historians learn about...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Purged From the Voter Rolls: Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute
Once a registered voter isn't always a registered voter. Academics explore the topic of voter registration and hindrances to remaining registered. The resource focuses on data analysis, federal voter registration law, and Supreme Court...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Slavery and the Electoral College
How did slavery mold the creation of the US Constitution? The final lesson in the series focuses on how slavery impacted the creation of the Electoral College. Academics learn how the Electoral College was created because Southern states...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
270 Votes to Win: The Electoral College in the United States
What exactly is the Electoral College and how does it work? The lesson is part of a larger series on government that explains what the Electoral College is and how it helps determine an election winner. Academics participate in...
Teaching Tolerance
Voting in Your Town
A socially important resource focuses on voter turnout and roadblocks to voting. Scholars review resources on voting stats, watch a documentary, and participate in group discussion regarding voting in their local communities. Academics...
Facing History and Ourselves
Unit Assessment: From Identity to Action
Four projects enable class members to show what they have learned about ways they can stand up for democracy. to begin, individuals review their identity charts and craft a mask that represents themselves. Next, groups create a short,...
Facing History and Ourselves
Speaking Up and Speaking Out
The final lesson in the Standing Up for Democracy unit offers class members a way they can stand up and speak out by crafting spoken word poetry, or Slam poetry. After analyzing several examples, individuals reflect on one positive...
Facing History and Ourselves
Protesting Discrimination in Bristol
Using the Bristol Bus Boycott as a case study, class members examine the strategies and levels of power protesters used to effect change. The two-day lesson concludes with individuals reflecting on the actions they might take in face of...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Is Democracy in Decline?
Has democracy outlived its usefulness? Pundits debate the topic, and now pupils weigh in, too. A reading on how democracy may be on the decline around the world, along with a structured conversation guideline, help guide scholars through...
Facing History and Ourselves
Public Art as a Form of Participation
David Binnington's mural commemorating the 1936 Battle of Cable Street is the focus of a lesson that looks at public art as a form of civic participation. After reading background material about the mural, individuals analyze a segment...
Facing History and Ourselves
Making Rights Universal
Class members continue their discussion of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). After examining an infographic the summarizes the document, groups examine four of the rights to decide if they are or are not universal, and if...
Facing History and Ourselves
Defining Human Rights
Eleanor Roosevelt leads the drive to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To begin a study of universal rights, class members create a definition of a right and compare it to the 1947 version. They then investigate Eleanor's...
Facing History and Ourselves
Defining Our Obligations to Others
Introduce young learners to the concept of a Universe of Obligation, a term coined by sociologist Helen Fein, with a lesson that asks learners to consider the extent to which they feel a responsibility for others. Class members read and...
Facing History and Ourselves
Blending In and Standing Out
An excerpt from Sarfraz Manzoor's memoir about how his experiences as a Pakistani growing up in England shaped the way he though about his identify provides a stimulus for a discussion of how experiences can shape our concept of identity...
Facing History and Ourselves
Responding to Difference
James Berry's poem, "What Do We Do With a Difference?" launches a lesson plan that asks class members to consider the ways people respond when they encounter someone different from themselves. After analyzing the poem and discussing how...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Costs and Benefits of Belonging
Peer pressure and the desire for acceptance are powerful things. A thought-provoking lesson looks at the positive and negative effects of wanting to belong to a group. Class members examine the roles of the perpetrator, the victim, the...