Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Create a New Amendment

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Pupils review and discuss the important points of the amendments to the Constitution. They discuss the guidelines for adding a new amendment to the Constitution. Students brainstorm ideas for the new amendment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Democracy…Not Yet!

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students analyze the concept of democracy. In this democratic values lesson, students analyze the lyrics of selected popular music that address issues that challenge the role of United States as a world leader. Students create exhibits...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Congress and the Creation of the Bill of Rights

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learners participate in inquiry activities to explore powers outlined in the Bill of Rights. For this Bill of Rights lesson, students creation of a class Bill of Rights, evaluate  and propose amendments, and analyze primary source...
Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

How a Bill Becomes a Law

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers engage in the democratic process and to learn how a bill become a law. Then they write a bill they would like as law in their classroom. Students also form committees that will review the list of bills to determine if they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Federalist Papers

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students identify the Articles of Confederation and explain why it failed. They explain the argument over the need for a bill of rights in the Constitution and James Madison's role in securing its adoption by first Congress. Finally,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Free Speech or Hate Speech?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students see the difference between protected and prohibited speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment. They explain why free speech is essential to a democracy and consider how best to deal with speech they find offensive.
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

It's Your Right: A Civil Rights Brochure

For Teachers 12th
Learners examine the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Supreme Court cases in order to broaden their understanding of the US Judicial System. They research a variety of textual and Internet resources to create a tri-fold brochure,...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Scholastic

Women's Suffrage for Grades 6–8

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Learners study the decisions and solutions involved in winning the right to vote. After reading background information on the fight for women's suffrage, including one woman's story, and its eventual success in the United States and...
Unit Plan
American Bar Association

News Literacy Model Curriculum in Social Studies

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars investigate news literacy in the twenty-first century. They use technology, legal decisions, writings, and digital privacy to analyze the topic. Using what they learned, a group assignment looks into both the challenges and...
Lesson Plan
2
2
National Endowment for the Humanities

Using Historic Digital Newspapers for National History Day

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Your learners will take a trip through history as they peruse through historic digitalized newspapers, reading real articles from such historical periods in the United States as the Temperance movement...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Religion in Public Schools

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the presence of religion in public institutions. In this ethics lesson, students focus on one aspect of the presence of religion in public institutions, and the controversy surrounding religion in the public schools....
Activity
Administrative Office of the US Courts

Snyder v. Phelps

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Does the Westboro Baptist Church have the protection of the Constitution when protesting military funerals? High schoolers examine the 2011 Supreme Court case of Snyder v. Phelps before comparing the situation to a fictional...
Interactive
National Constitution Center

Writing Rights: The Bill of Rights

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
Where did the cherished ideals enshrined in the Bill of Rights originate? While history gives the Founding Fathers much of the credit, laws in colonial America influenced the Bill of Rights. An interactive web-based activity allows...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Oklahoma and Segregation

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
It was not just the states of the Deep South that practiced segregation. Young historians investigate the history of segregation and desegregation in Oklahoma. They begin by reading, annotating, and analyzing an article about the impacts...
Interactive
DocsTeach

To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution? (Part 1)

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Some scholars consider the Civil War and Reconstruction a second American Revolution. Class members weigh in after examining primary sources, including a Congressional resolution calling for the Fifteenth Amendment and the credentials of...
Lesson Plan
1
1
PBS

Constitution Day

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Travel back to 1787 as young scholars investigate the creation of the US Constitution. After first working in small groups to create sets of classroom rules, young scholars go on to read a summary of the Constitution and watch a short...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freedom of Expression in Special Places

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers identify at least three places presenting First Amendment problems. They analyze how the First Amendment applies to school newspapers. Students argue for and against limiting First Amendment rights in school. They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bill of Rights in the News: Election Issues 2008

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students consider First Amendment rights. In this Bill of Rights lesson plan, students complete an activity guide regarding constitutional rights issues raised in the 2008 presidential election. Students respond to discussion questions...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

Franklin’s Fair Hand American Journalism

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Scholars know him for his role in the American Revolution, but Ben Franklin was also a journalist and printer. Learners investigate his standards for what was fit to print using primary sources—including writings where Franklin explains...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Students Press Law and Ethics

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Learners research the rights and the responsibilities of journalists in dealing with First Amendment issues. In this First Amendment lesson plan, students research the Alien and Sedition Acts and study the five elements of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is the Internet Igniting Violence?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explain how various issues regarding restrictions on the Internet are impacted by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, particularly in light of the recent school shooting and bombing in Littleton, Colorado.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Norman Rockwell, Freedom of Speech: Know It When You See It

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the U.S. Constitution. In this First Amendment lesson, students examine Norman Rockwell's "Freedom of Speech" and analyze the five freedoms listed in the amendment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Church and State Separation: The Challenge and the Debate

For Teachers All
Students describe the basic elements of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment as it relates to the separation of church and state and freedom of religion.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Recommended Reading?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine and defend various positions in the argument over a book ban in the Miami-Dade school system and then write a letter to the Miami-Dade school board expressing their opinion about the issues raised in the debate.

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