DC Vote
One Kid, One Vote
Learn about why the citizens of Washington, D.C. feel unrepresented in Congress with an article about D.C voting rights. Individuals read about the movement toward congressional representation in Washington, D.C., before answering...
Curated OER
US Constitution
Think about the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence with your budding historians. They analyze the importance of historical documents by examining several famous documents, and then they complete activities that check...
Curated OER
Keep Your Eye On the Prize
High schoolers learn about citizens who were actively involved in the civil rights movement, and the strategies they used to overcome the Jim Crow laws that were so prevalent in the 1960s. They investigate the voting amendments of the US...
Curated OER
Civil Rights through Photographs
Students examine why racial tensions continued after laws were put into place to try and create equal treatment. In this two part Civil Rights lesson, students explored the causes of the movement through photography and a PowerPoint...
Curated OER
The Role of Affirmative Action in the Civil Rights Movement
Students debate Affirmative Action. In this Civil Rights lesson students examine the development of affirmative action. Students discuss whether affirmative action is advancing equality and civil rights or not.
Curated OER
Civil Rights
Twelfth graders survey how controversial court cases have changed the viewpoints of civil rights. For this U.S. Government lesson, 12th graders work in small groups to prepare summaries of specific court cases, then present their...
Judicial Branch of California
Separate But Equal - Is It Black or White?
The story of Ruby Bridges and the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education are fantastic tools for discussing the concept of separate but equal. Kids tackle some big questions about what is fair, what is civil, and what rights or laws...
Curated OER
Does Rick Warren Represent Diversity?
The topic of this lesson focuses on whether or not Obama was able to convincingly defend his choice of choosing Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. This is considered a controversial or hot topic because it...
Curated OER
Landmark Supreme Court Cases And The Constitution
Have an engaging class discussion on the Bill of Rights, U.S. Constitution, and the Supreme Court. Learners examine multiple aspects of the Marbury v. Madison case and the impact that case had on the judicial system in the U.S. Web...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Women's Suffrage: 140 Years of Struggle
Young scholars create PowerPoint presentations about women's suffrage. In this women's rights instructional activity, students use primary documents to study the women's suffrage movement. In pairs, young scholars create a PowerPoint...
Curated OER
Why Do Governments Exist? Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu, and Rousseau
Here is a great secondary source reading that includes the primary ideas and philosophies of the famed Enlightenment philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In additional to discussing...
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
Those "Other Rights:" The Constitution and Slavery
Did the United States Constitution uphold the institution of slavery, or did it help to destroy it? Young historians study Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution and evaluate the rights of slaveowners as they compared to or...
Curated OER
Bill of Rights
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...
Center for History and New Media
A Look at Virginians During Reconstruction, 1865-1877
The transition between rebellion to reunification was not smooth after the Civil War. Young historians compare primary and secondary source documents in a study of the Reconstruction era in Virginia, noting the rights that were not...
Curated OER
Race and Voting in the Segregated South
Students examine the history of African American voting rights. In this voting rights activity, students listen to a lecture on African American voting rights between the years 1890 and 1965. Students respond to discussion questions...
Curated OER
Twelve Angry Men: Trial by Jury as a Right and as a Political Institution
Students explore the constitutional guarantee of the right to trial by jury. In this U. S. Constitution lesson, students read or view Twelve Angry Men and respond to discussion questions regarding the jury. Students examine the...
Curated OER
Reaching to the Clouds for Equality
Students explore the concept of equality. In this Martin Luther King, Jr. lesson, students read Martin's Big Words, discuss fairness, and create a cloud with their dream recorded on it.
Curated OER
Women: Stride Toward Freedom
Students read facts about women'ts suffrage and research topics related to women's rights. Optional films for viewing and books to read.
Curated OER
Government
High schoolers evaluate how the United States government has maintained a balance between protecting rights and maintaining order. They analyze the impact of Supreme Court decisions on governmental powers and the rights and...
Curated OER
Education as a Civil Right
Students explore the implications of segregation. In this Civil Rights instructional activity, students investigate what equal education is as they discover the state of Boston schools in 1960. Students define civil rights and...
Curated OER
An Introduction To NGO's Gender Equality Program
Eleventh graders are introduced to the hardships women are facing to the projects of a variety of organizations. They assess Canada's participation in world affairs with reference to human rights and modern conflicts. Pupils compare...
Curated OER
Laws of Civil Rights
Students investigate the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In this segregation lesson, students explore the rights that were guaranteed by the legislation as well as attempts by southerners to stop African Americans from voting. Students...
Curated OER
American Indian Civil Rights
Learners examine social justice issues regarding American Indians. In this civil rights lesson, students investigate the Red Power Movement of the 1960's and 1970's. Learners then roleplay interviewing Native American protesters.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Birmingham 1963: Spring Jubilation Part 1
As part of a study of the 1963 quest for civil rights in Birmingham, Alabama, class members view a PowerPoint that details the struggle and analyze Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."