Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Liberty Rhetoric

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What is liberty rhetoric? Examine how people have used it in four different time periods and situations. High schoolers investigate original source documents and compare them with the Declaration of Independence to decide how liberty...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Picture Books and the Bill of Rights

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd
Students identify the basic freedoms of citizens in the United States.  In this Bill of Rights lesson, students act out scenarios about the Bill of Rights.  Students create a picture book describing the rights they've acted out.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Embodied Presidency

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders compare and contrast the immigration reform policies of Presidents Reagan and Bush. In this immigration lesson, 10th graders examine primary documents related to each president's policy for immigration reform. Students...
Lesson Plan
Center for Civic Education

Orb and Effy Learn About Authority

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
Simplify the teaching of the US Constitution with this primary grade social studies lesson. While reading a fun story about an imaginary place called Bubble Land, children learn about the concept of authority and the importance of...
Lesson Plan
Center for Civic Education

What Is Authority?

For Teachers 1st - 5th Standards
Young scholars examine the concepts of power and authority as they begin learning about government in this elementary social studies lesson. Through a series of readings, discussions, and problem solving activities, children...
Lesson Plan
Center for Civic Education

What Basic Ideas About Government Are Included in the Preamble to the Constitution?

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is the Federal System Created by the Constitution?

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Explore the unique structure of the federal system of government in the United States. Class members will learn about how most nations were organized before the establishment of the Constitution, how power is currently divided...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Alabama's 1901 Constitution

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"We, the People of the State of Alabama. . ." Did you know that the Alabama State Constitution has 357,157 words while the US Constitution has only 4,400? And that it has 798 amendments while the US Constitution has...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Birmingham, 1963: Spring Jubilation Part 2

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
The release of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Birmingham jail, the Children's March, and the bombings of the Gaston Motel and the home of Reverend A.D. King's home. As part of a study of the civil rights movement, class members...
Lesson Plan
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

For Teachers 7th - 12th
This exercise on the Constitution requires small groups to design a visual metaphor that expresses the concept behind one of seven principles: popular sovereignty, federalism, republicanism, separation of powers, checks and balances,...
Lesson Plan
Global Oneness Project

Deconstructing Consumerism

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
To increase awareness and launch a discussion of consumerism, class members view What Would It Look Like, a 25 minute film of images that capture the global effects of the consumption of goods. Viewers make a list of the images that...
Lesson Plan
Advocates for Human Rights

Migrants in the Media

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Class members examine two documents—The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and The Rights of Migrants in the United States—and then use reports in the media to assess how well the US is doing in ensuring these rights.
Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Choice, Conflict, and Compromise at the County level

For Teachers 8th - 12th
With all the hubbub surrounding national elections, it's easy to forget the importance of local government. After learning about county governance and voter turnout for local elections, young citizens demonstrate how local...
Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Educating About Immigration The DREAM Act

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Group members role play state legislators, supporters of and opponents to the The DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors). After listening to the arguments put forth for and against the immigration...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Lessons in Leadership, Roosevelt Style

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
It's easy to criticize those in power until you're sitting at their desk, faced with the same decisions. A history activity prompts secondary learners to research the Roosevelt presidencies through the lens of leadership and...
Lesson Plan
Oklahoma Bar Association

Into Which Caste Have You Been Cast?: India's Caste System

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
What was it like to fit into a certain class with no choice in the matter? Learners experience the caste system in a role-play activity, work individually on handouts to enhance their learning, and participate in an evaluation activity...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is Meant by Returning to Fundamental Principles?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars apply the principles and ideas suggested by the Constitution to a contemporary issue or problem, and work through the issue to reach their own conclusions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does Government Secure Natural Rights?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explain why a government with a constitution is not necessarily a constitutional government, and identify alternative models of government that the Founders had to choose from.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Observing Elections Around the World

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine elections in countries around the world. In this elections lesson, students watch a video segment regarding election observations and then access selected websites to research specified elections. Students prepare...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

If These Walls Could Talk

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore Enlightenment and Neoclassical art.  In this visual arts lesson, students compare and contrast images of architecture from both styles. Students create visual art designs that feature the ideals of the Enlightenment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

US Government: The Constitution

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore the branches of government. In this U. S. Constitution lesson, students examine the system of checks and balances in the U.S. plan of government as they read the document and define vocabulary words.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Language, Communication, and Successful Conflict Resolution

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students consider how communication skills may diffuse conflict. For this conflict resolution lesson, students play a word game and discuss how vocabulary may contribute to creating conflict of diffusing it.
Lesson Plan
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation

A Deliberate, Palpable and Dangerous Exercise of Other Powers: James Madison & Homeland Security

For Teachers 6th - 12th
This resource uses primary source documents to explore the First Amendment. After reviewing key events of the 1790s, government or US history classes explore Madison's letter to Jefferson regarding the Alien and Sedition Acts. They then...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freedom and Dignity Project

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore slavery and the civil war. In groups, 11th graders discuss and slavery and identify reasons for its beginning. In groups, they role-play a character for a talk show. Students determine what slavery was like in...

Other popular searches