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School Bill of Rights
Students study the Bill of Rights. As a class, they create a "School Bill of Rights," with amendments. Students discuss the difference between rights and responsibilities and examine Supreme Court decisions dealing with the first ten...
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Government Lesson Plan: Lesson Plan 8
Students analyze the Fourteenth Amendment. They discuss Reconstruction, read the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, define the provisions, and in small groups analyze a Supreme Court case that was impacted by the due process clause.
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Legally Wed
Students explore the controversial topic of same-sex marriages in a fishbowl discussion. They write balanced news articles based on interviews exploring people's opinions on laws that define marriage.
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Civil Rights Lesson Plans
Civil rights lesson plans can help students delve into history, music, law, and literature. There are a multitude of options.
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Who Decides Who Dies?
Students explore various state laws concerning capital punishment and conduct a mock meeting of the United States Congress to set standards for the death penalty.
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Revisiting Roe v. Wade
Students explore the American anti-abortion movement's "incremental" approach to legislation; they then evaluate key decisions, regulations, and legislation from the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, to the present.
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Fruit or Vegetable?
Watermelon is a vegetable? A tomato is a fruit? Believe it or not, this debate is decades old. Groups examine rulings by the US Supreme Court, the USDA, and state statutes before developing their own criteria to use when labeling...
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Does Free Speech Exist in School?
Students examine their own First Amendment rights as students. They read and discuss a news article, discuss the Supreme Court case Frederick v. Morse, take an online quiz and conduct Internet research, and create a brochure outlining...
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Search & Seizure Opinion Poll
Students examine federal and state constitutional law relating to search and seizure. They analyze various scenarios, participate in an opinion poll, and discuss difficulties in balancing individual privacy rights with the need to fight...
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Big Four Baseball
Students identify the justices known as the "Big Four" in the Michigan Supreme Court. They explore their similarities and differences. They examine the cases that were decided by them that have had an impact on the laws in Michigan.
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Judicial Review
Pupils are introduced to the concept of judicial review. They read an article about this topic and the Bill of Rights. They answer discussion questions and review as a class.
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Judicial Review
Students review the concepts they were introduced to in a telecast on judicial review. After reading an article, they answer discussion questions and repeat the same procedure for another article. They participate in a debriefing session...
Street Law
Mock Trial - Brooks v. Lawrence and the Metro City Police Department
An incident with a Swiss Army knife leads to a suit against the police department for battery, false arrest, and intentional infliction of emotional distress in the Brooks v. Lawrence & the Metro City Police Department mock...
Teaching for Change
A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act
How did the Voting Rights Act affect the daily lives of American citizens? A document-based lesson developed by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating committee (SNCC) presents a case study of the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on...
PBS
From Selma to Montgomery: An Introduction to the 1965 Marches
The 1965 Civil Rights marches from Selma to Montgomery and the resulting Voting Rights Act of 1965 are the focus of a social studies lesson. The resource uses film clips to inform viewers not only about the discrimination that gave rise...
Carolina K-12
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission & the First Amendment
Should Congress limit how much a corporation spends to support a political candidate? Here is a fantastic lesson plan and activities to help young citizens approach this question.
Digital Public Library of America
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Despite the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the struggle to ensure fair voter registration and election procedures continues. Young historians...
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dsfa
Students work in groups examining the school's policy of no weapons on school property.
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The Bill Of Rights And The News
Pupils investigate the concepts related to the Bill Of Rights. They conduct research using a variety of resources and focus upon the human rights provided in the legislation. Students read a news article and reflect the upon the...
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First Things First: Using the Newspaper to Teach the Freedoms of the First Amendment
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...
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Interpreting the Law on Safe Employment
Students watch a video and examine the United States government and the process of appeals.
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Medical Marijuana - Legitimate Use Or Legalized Abuse?
Students, in groups, discuss opinions about medical marijuana use. They form their own opinion about the U.S Supreme Court case involving this issue.
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Presidents and the Constitution: George W. Bush and the Case of Bush v. Gore (2000)
Students examine the impact of court decisions. In this Supreme Court lesson, students read the Bush v. Gore case study regarding the presidential election of 2000. Students take notes on the case and respond to discussion questions...
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The Bill of Rights
Students examine the intent Bill of Rights. In this American government lesson, students watch segments of the Discovery video "The Bill of Rights." Students discuss and debate the 4 Supreme Court cases featured in the video.