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Supreme Court: Background
Students explain the role of the Supremem Court under the Constitution. They explore current evetns related to the Constitution and read about the roles of the Senate and President in selecting the next justice. They create a chart about...
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Who Has Power?
Fourth graders discuss abuse of power in government and examine the Constitution for specific powers in each branch. They create a crossword puzzle utilizing terms and information regarding division of government powers and federalism
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What is Meant by Returning to Fundamental Principles?
Students 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.
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Examine Your State Government's Demographics
How is your state government organized? How many elected officials are women? What is the mean age of your state representatives? Young scholars answer these questions in a research project before creating a chart to reflect their...
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Boston Spies' Report on the Redcoats
Students collect information about British actions in Boston and send it by secret message to leaders in Philadelphia.
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Pre-reading for Julius Caesar
Students examine friendship and leadership by creating "friendship committees" to develop a class friendship constitution. Committees list qualities/traits of a friend, as well as friendship infractions. These committees join together...
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A Burning Desire: A Focus Group Turns Its Attention To Old Glory
Students explore the issue of a Constitutional amendment to ban flag burning. They simulate the role of a Senator's aide, conduct Internet research, write and prepare an oral and a written response based on research,
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Political Parties, Platforms, and Planks
Ninth graders examine the origins and functions of political parties. In this American Government lesson, 9th graders create a party platform to address political issues that are likely to arise during a national election. ...
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Checks and Balances Chart
In this checks and balances chart worksheet, students use their textbooks and a copy of the U.S. Constitution to complete 10 items in the chart identifying the branches of government.
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The Alien and Sedition Acts: Defining American Freedom
Eleventh graders explore the purpose of the Alien and Sedition Acts. In this US History lesson, 11th graders analyze primary source documents. Students write an essay using writing prompts.
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The Information Revolution: A Hypothetical Case
Students consider the implications of the information revolution. In this information age lesson, students discuss informatics and the misuse of information. Students form a fictional bureau of information control and hold a simulated...
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Role Playing Free Speech
Students conduct research into looking at a free-speech issue. They role play the events surrounding a court case. The lesson includes guiding questions to help create context and determine areas of further study. The presentation...
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Writing a Newspaper Article
The perfect resource for a beginning journalism teacher or someone designing a journalism unit, this activity prompts students to write a newspaper article. It covers all aspects of the writing process, such as a guided warm-up...
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World can't wait, students say
Pupils create a lesson to present to the rest of the class about current laws, including expressing killing the president as a joke. Students research past events and current laws. Pupils present to the class using mult-media, oral...
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Protesting within First Amendment Rights
Students research the First Amendment and what it says about the right to peaceably assemble as well as read in particular about those who were arrested or removed from an area for being disruptive during a protest on the War in Iraq....
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Building Empathy Creating Community
Learners thrive in a classroom where they are part of a strong community. Foster a collaborative atmosphere in your classroom with a series of activities focused on conflict resolution, communication, empathy, and defense against bullying.
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Constitution
Fifth graders explore the importance of the Constitution. They read and discuss the meaning of each section. In groups, 5th graders create posters explaining an assigned part of the constitution. Using the internet, students research and...
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The Formation and Function of the Supreme Court
Learners analyze the role of the U.S. Supreme Court. They read a handout and Article III, section 1 of the Constitution, analyze and rate by relevance noteworthy Supreme Court cases, and write how they decided each rating.
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The First Amendment
Students participate in a mock trial. Given the scenario, students prepare a cases concerning the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the right to assemble. In groups, students prepare an opening and closing statement, as well...
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Debate On Ratification
Students simulate a delegate that was responsible for the Constitution. They research their arguments, and stage a debate in front of the state's legislature (the class). The class then vote whether or not to ratify the new Constitution.
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A Ststistical Study on the Letters of the Alphabet
In this Statistics and Probability learning exercise, students create a line plot for the first 100 letters in the Preamble to the constitution and compare their frequency distributions to the actual frequency distribution. The one...
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The Anti-Slavery Movement
Eleventh graders as a class create and write a constitution for an anti-slavery society. They investigate demographics of slavery, treatment of slaves, the colonization movement, and women in the abolition movement, and present their...
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Creating a Classroom Belief Statement
Fourth graders cooperatively develop a classroom belief statement that serves as their classroom constitution. Each student is involved in the creation of the statement. Each group presents their belief statement to the class.
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Our Compromise, Our Constitution
Sixth graders explore, analyze and study our constitutional government and become aware of the purpose of our government. They assess the basic rights that are protected by the United States Constitution through graphic organizers and...