Judicial Learning Center
Do You Know Your Bill of Rights?
The Bill of Rights is much more than an important piece of paper! The rights cover everything from freedom of speech to the right to remain silent if arrested. Scholars find out their own rights by answering the questions in the form of...
K20 LEARN
Oklahoma and Segregation
It was not just the states of the Deep South that practiced segregation. Young historians investigate the history of segregation and desegregation in Oklahoma. They begin by reading, annotating, and analyzing an article about the impacts...
National Woman's History Museum
Susan B. Anthony: She's Worth a Mint!
A instructional activity all about Susan B. Anthony showcases the Civil Rights leader's contributions towards equality. A Susan B. Anthony coin sparks engagement. Scholars take part in a discussion that sheds light on what being an agent...
National Park Service
Civil War to Civil Rights: From Pea Ridge to Central High
Explore how the Civil War impacted the Civil Rights Movement. Class members complete a series of projects for a unit that uses a layered curriculum approach to learning.
Southern Poverty Law Center
Teaching Hard History: A Framework for Teaching American Slavery
Pupils investigate American slavery from colonial times through the Civil War. They incorporate primary sources, video clips, and firsthand accounts to understand how the slavery issue gripped the nation. Essays, presentations, and...
K20 LEARN
Electoral College: Does My Vote Count?
How can a candidate get the most votes, yet still lose the race for the presidency? This is has happened more than once in American history, including in the elections of 2000 and 2016. Using an activity for creating group notes, young...
Judicial Learning Center
Types of Court Cases
How can one court acquit someone of a crime, while another convicts the person of the same one? It's all because of the differences between civil and criminal trials. An informative resource provides scholars in the field of criminology...
National Woman's History Museum
The National Woman’s Party
Two parties led the women's suffrage movement. The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was a moderate organization while the National Women's Party (NWP) was more militant. Young historians investigate why members of the...
Curated OER
For The Sake Of Security: U.S.A. Patriot Act & Bill of Rights
A substantive New York Times article about the U.S.A. Patriot Act, military tribunals, racial profiling, and the Bill of Rights forms the basis for a discussion of the complex interplay of fundamental American rights and the aftermath of...
Curated OER
First Amendment Rights
Learners consider the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. They do this by viewing a seven-slide PowerPoint presentation the First Ammendment and the Bill of Rights. Once you have shown the presentation, hold a class discussion...
Curated OER
The Ongoing Debate: Crime Control v. Due Process Protection
Students investigate the Exclusionary Rule and other ways of to enforce the protections found in the Bill of Rights. They study how effective criminal control and public safety is carried out while citizens Constitutional rights are...
Curated OER
The Role of State Government and the State Constitution
Learners examine sections of the Nebraska Constitution and the U.S. Constitution, and compare/contrast the two. They research policy issues, and decide whether they should be solved at the state or federal level.
Curated OER
Exploration of the Bill of Rights
Research the Bill of Rights and the necessity for each of the protections that it provides. They choose one of the rights and, pretending to be a framer of the Constitution, give a speech as to why that should be included in the...
Curated OER
Rights and Responsibilities, Is It Breaking the Law?
Young scholars investigate the life and trial of Rev. John Mahan who was involved with the illegal Underground Railroad. The issue of breaking the law to help slaves escape is examined in this lesson.
Curated OER
The Constitution and The Bill of Rights
Students explore the Constitution and The Bill of Rights including the process of the Convention throgh a variety of websites that examine the framers, venets leading up to and after the convention games and more.
Curated OER
The constitution and The Bill of Rights
Students explore an Internet site that introduces the Framers, court cases, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and even games and quizzes.
Curated OER
First Things First: Using the Newspaper to Teach the Freedoms of the First Amendment
Learners use the newspaper as a tool to make connections about what the five freedoms guarantee in the First Amendment. In this first amendment lesson plan, students analyze events in the newspaper to form conclusions about the freedoms...
Curated OER
First Amendment Guarantee of Free Speech (Senior, Social Studies)
Students receive a list of banned books from which they choose one to read. They read their chosen book and write a paper that includes a discussion of the First Amendment and its guarantees and the reason(s) why they believe their book...
Curated OER
How Women Got the Vote: The Story of Carrie Lane Chapman Catt
Students participate in a simulation and compare and contrast the arguments for and against womens' right to vote. In this civil rights lesson, students simulate disenfranchisement of women by allowing only half of the class to vote on a...
Curated OER
The Supremes
Students discuss steps cases go through to reach Supreme Court, examine Bill of Rights, and rank rights in order of importance to them. Students then research Supreme Court case dealing with one of first ten amendments, and write about...
Curated OER
The Rights of the Child
Students create a set of rights that promote safety and tolerance at the school site. In this Bill of Rights instructional activity, students read the U.N. Declaration on Rights of the Child. Student presenters lead a discussion of these...
Reporters Without Borders
2017 World Press Freedom Index
Freedom of the press was seen as a right so important that the Founding Fathers listed it as part of the first amendment to the United States Constitution. Americans pride themselves on this freedom, but just how free are American...
Curated OER
The Bill of Rights: Debating the Amendments
Students explore the Bill of Rights. In this U.S. Constitution lesson, students participate in classroom debate regarding the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. Students then vote for the amendments they would like to ratify.
Curated OER
A More Perfect Union: Barack Obama's Race Speech at the National Constitution Center
Eleventh graders explore the process of perfecting the Union through changes made to the Constitution, and through the powers delegated to each branch of government. In this American Government lesson, 11th graders research various...