Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Classroom Constitutional Convention
Learners investigate the eight phrases that comprise the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution to determine its principles and purpose. Their own Constitutional Convention is convened to craft a preamble for their school's governance.
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Documents and Symbols and American Freedom
Students complete a unit of lessons on the documents, symbols, and famous people involved in the founding of the U.S. government. They create a personal bill of rights, write a found poem, design a flag, conduct research, and role-play...
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Bob Dylan: No Direction Home
Students hold panel discussions on selected topics about the 1960s and their impact on modern-day events. As visual reinforcement, they watch the film about Bob Dylan and research the music of the period as well as his musical...
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Mock Trial
Learners rewrite a traditional fairy tale to represent the viewpoint of the villain. They participate in a mock trial of that villain in which all regular court participants (judge, jury, defendant, witnesses, plaintiff, etc) play roles.
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Lesson 2: The Tired King
Students are introduced to the three functions of government (legislative, judicial, and executive). They read and discuss a story about an overworked king who must handle all the tasks of government. Students give a description of the...
National First Ladies' Library
Missionaries, Expansionism, and The Philippines
Students examine the quality of sources in research in the process of gaining an understanding of the Spanish American War, American expansionism, and the role of missionaries in history. They meet in groups to provide an audio/visual...
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The Declaration of Independence
Students empathize with the colonists. In this lesson on the Declaration of Independence, students collaborate to problem solve a school dilemma that enables them to understand the issues and difficulties that occurred in the creation of...
Internal Revenue Service
Fairness in Taxes: How Taxes Affect Us
Students are able to compare the effects of the following, using income as a measure of ability to pay: a progressive tax, a regressive tas, and a proportional tax. They explain how a mixture of regressive and progressive taxes could...
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Sudan -- Efforts to Avert Genocide in the Making
Students examine current events in Sudan and their efforts to prevent another genocide. They identify the roles of different humanitarian organizations in the area. They research the efforts to bring those accused of genocide to justice.
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"All Men Are Created Equal"
Students identify the premise of the United States' Democracy. They list the major elements of the document. Students reflect on the inequalities of the late 1700's premise of other units. They complete a KWL chart about the Declaration...
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We the People: Promise and Practice in our Constitution
Students examine the concept that the constitutional government guarantees that our government is not all-powerful and analyze the purposes of our government that are listed in the Preamble. They assess that equality under the law and...
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Establishing the Presidency
Students consider how George Washington influenced the presidency. In this presidential history worksheet, students discuss the precedents Washington set and analyze a letter that Washington sent to James Madison.
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Part-Time Protectors
Students research the roles of the reserve armed forces in a variety of United States military conflicts, then create a documentary that illustrates the contributions of part-time soldiers.
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Fur Right or Wrong
Students explore the uses for animals in different societies. Then, through research and reflection, students prepare for a mock convention for animal rights. They write a letter to a governmental animal regulatory body.
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All Fired Up
Students brainstorm images and themes associated with the American Fourth of July holiday. They create illustrated posters to explain the processes or history behind these themes.
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Follow the Marx
Students explore communism from historical and theoretical perspectives to present to fellow classmates at a teach-in. Each team of students be responsible for researching and presenting on one of the suggested topics in the lesson plan.
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Power to the People
Students explore the pros and cons of government structures, then decide whether or not African countries accept the new African Union based on a variety of categories.
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The Row Behind Death Row
Students investigate several controversial issues in the criminal justice system relating to death row and give oral reports explaining how their issues safeguard or contaminate the issue of fairness in capital punishment. They offer...
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Executive Decisions
Students examine the reasons behind key presidential decisions throughout American history and, by debating the pros and cons of these decisions in retrospect, students consider how these decisions affect us still today.
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Crime Time
Students examine fundamentals of American criminal justice by analyzing each step of the criminal process. They follow the process of a well-known or publicized criminal case in The New York Times, and keep a journal of its newspaper...
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The Polls
High schoolers obtain how polls are conducted. They differentiate between scientific and non-scientific poll. They analyze the role that polls play in an election.
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We The People
Students consider the main concepts of the Preamble of the United States Constitution They research different issues explored in the Constitution which have both historic and modern connections.
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Civil War
Students explore rules of conduct in a political body, first drafting rules that apply to their classroom, then adapting them to political actions in Congress.
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The Final Countdown
Students examine the United States electoral college system as it applies to the 2004 presidential election. They investigate the impact of the twelve battleground states in the 2004 election and develop informative pamphlets on the...