Lesson Plan
Curated OER

First Things First: Using the Newspaper to Teach the Freedoms of the First Amendment

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students 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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Are We Free Yet?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read excerpts from several Freedom Documents, evaluate amount of freedom guaranteed by each document, and rank documents on scale to determine which grant greatest and least amount of personal freedom.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

First Amendment Guarantee of Free Speech (Senior, Social Studies)

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fairy Tails Can Show Due:It can happen for you, If you play your part.,

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students view a Reader's Theater focusing on the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The story is used as a springboard into a videotaped mock trial of Gold E. Locks developed by the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Arrests and Investigatory Stops

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students define arrest and detainment, examine hypothetical situations to determine if warrantless arrest/detainment is reasonable based on information available to police, discuss differences between hunch, suspicion, reasonable...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bill Of Rights

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine Supreme Court cases. In this U.S. government lesson plan, students watch a video about the Bill of Rights and then research 4 Supreme Court cases using the noted web site. Students analyze the presented information and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Letters to the Government

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders examine how to be active participants in their local, state, or federal governments. They create a powerpoint presentation and write a letter to one of their governmental representatives about a problem and solution of...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Lesson 2: The Debate in Congress on the Sedition Act

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Pupils research and discuss the provisions in the Constitution that supported the arguments for and against the Sedition Act. They articulate objections to and arguments in favor of the Sedition Act.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Constitution for Alaska

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars read sections cited from the Governing Alaska unit. They discuss factors that made Alaskans push for statehood. They view video A Constitution for Alaska.
Lesson Plan
1
1
Facing History and Ourselves

The Importance of a Free Press

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;. . ." Why is this guarantee of free speech and a free press the First Amendment to the US Constitution? Why are these rights so essential to a...
Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Public Christmas Displays and Lynch v. Donnelly

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Does a Christmas display on government property violate the Constitution? Learners study the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and learn about the landmark Supreme Court case Lynch v. Donnelly through watching a...
Unit Plan
3
3
Curated OER

Voices from Little Rock: Understanding the Civil Rights Movement through Primary Sources

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement, class members examine documents associated with the Little Rock Nine, the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the 14th and 15th Amendments to the US Constitution, and chapters from Melba...
Lesson Plan
1
1
University of California

Equal Rights? The Women's Movement from Suffrage to Schlafly

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
If you've never heard of the Equal Rights Amendment, it's probably because there isn't one in the United States Constitution. Delve into the contentious history behind the ERA, its founders and supporters, and reasons for its political...
Interactive
Reporters Without Borders

2017 World Press Freedom Index

For Students 6th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Living News: Classroom Materials

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore controversial current events. In this Bill of Rights lesson, students research selected issues and examine the issues from different perspectives. Students script and record news stories that feature their findings.
Lesson Plan
iCivics

A Trip Around the World

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How do the rights of citizens in other countries, such as India, Germany, Brazil, and Iran, compare to those of Americans? Take a closer look at the provisions of various foreign constitutions, and compare and contrast the protections...
Lesson Plan
Minnesota Center for Community Legal Education

Minnesota v. Hershberger

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Freedom of religion has been a controversial, yet fundamental, tenet of the United States since even before the nation's birth. In a well-constructed lesson, the class compares the Minnesota Constitution to the US Constitution as a means...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Case Studies on the Sixth Amendment

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students trace the historical background of the sixth Amendment to the Constitution. They identify the legal issues and legal arguments in the cases studied, and evaluate the court's decisions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bill of Rights

For Teachers 8th - 10th
US history classes explore constitutional rights as they relate to court cases involving teens. Your class must already be familiar with the Bill of Rights before beginning this series of exercises. In preparation for a debate-style...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Role of the Executive Branch in the Lawmaking Process

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine Article I, Section 7, and Article II, Sections 2 and 3, of the U.S. Constitution, explain the president's role in the lawmaking process, and define the term veto.
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
Deliberating in a Democracy

Freedom of Expression

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
Worksheet
Curated OER

The Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan: Student Worksheet

For Students 10th - 12th
These guided reading questions accompany several websites on the development of the US Constitution. While some of the links have changed, they are still accessible. History or government classes benefit from reading primary source...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Alabama's Steps to Statehood

For Teachers 4th Standards
To demonstrate their understanding of the steps Alabama took to become a state, groups create a poster that identifies what the United States Constitution and the Northwest Ordinance required of a territory to become a state.

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