Center for History Education
The Founding Fathers and the Constitutional Struggle Over Centralized Power
Believe it or not, the Constitution was America's second attempt at a democratic government. Academics travel back to the past to explore the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation that would eventually lead to the Constitutional...
Pardee Home Museum
Geography of Alaska
A unit on the 49th state covers a variety of topics from the geography of Alaska to Native American myths. Academics work to analyze information found in primary source materials including old newspaper articles and artifacts....
Curated OER
UN-derstanding the United Nations
Use these interesting facts as a springboard for a culturally and globally diverse classroom discussion on the United Nations.
National Constitution Center
Interactive Constitution
Did you know there are seven Articles and 27 Amendments to the US Constitution? Explore each and every one of them, including the Bill of Rights and other rights around the world, in a super neat US Constitution interactive.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Civic Holiday Work Sheets
Everyone loves a day off, be it a national or statutory holiday or a civic holiday. The final resource in a 10-part civics series features 14 worksheets of the type given to young visitors at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum....
Read Works
The What and Who of Elections
As citizens living in the United States, it is our civil duty to vote. But how does the voting process work? After reading a five-paragraph passage on the basics of elections and voting, young constituents respond to 10 questions...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Federal Policy and Immigration
How is federal policy established? To gain insight into this complex and often messy process, class members read an article that uses information on attempts to establish public policy in immigration to illustrate the role proposed...
Curated OER
How to Celebrate Kwanzaa on Your Campus
An article details everything you need to know about celebrating Kwanzaa at your school. An opening-day ceremony starts the seven-day holiday celebration followed a daily routine that includes a greeting, candle lighting, reciting an...
Curated OER
Race and Crime in the United States: Are We Victims of Discrimination or Antiheroes?
Using methods adopted by Public Policy Analysts (PPA) class groups define a social problem, gather evidence to document the existence of the problem, identify causes, evaluate existing policies designed to deal with the problem, develop...
Curated OER
Social Activism in the United States
Seventh graders explore the goals of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In this US History lesson plan, 7th graders read a newspaper article that reported a significant event during this era. Students write a...
Curated OER
Reporting from the Front Lines
Students examine the battle of Gettysburg as they write news articles. In this Battle of Gettysburg instructional activity, students become familiar with the job of the news reporter as they report on the events of the Battle of...
Heritage Foundation
The Amendment Process and the Bill of Rights
Did you know that lawmakers have proposed more than 5,000 bills to amend the US Constitution in Congress? Your class learns intriguing facts about the process of choosing amendments. A variety of activities including before and after...
Curated OER
Dictating the Future
Read the article "Bush Lays Out Goals for Iraq: Self-Rule and Stability" and examine the keys points from President Bush's speech. Whether presented in written text or as an audio bite students will work in groups to research world...
Curated OER
Pay to Play?
Lead your class in a discussion about how they believe money influences politics. After reading "Go Ahead, Try to Stop K Street" from the New York Times, they evaluate the claims in the article about the current lobbyist scandal in...
Curated OER
Remembrance of Things Past
Engage critical and social thinking by exploring the value of language and word choice. The class considers the article "The Silence of the Historic Present" and analyzes several presidential speeches. They engage in class...
The New York Times
Evaluating Sources in a ‘Post-Truth’ World: Ideas for Teaching and Learning about Fake News
The framers of the United States Constitution felt a free press was so essential to a democracy that they granted the press the protection it needed to hold the powerful to account in the First Amendment. Today, digital natives need to...
Curated OER
Extra! Extra! United States Enters World War II
High schoolers investigate the origins of World War II while conducting research using a variety of resources. The information is used to create a newspaper with formatted articles about the involvement of the United States in the war.
Curated OER
Confederation Comparison
Students compare/contrast through primary sources the Articles of Confederation in the United States to the Confederation Period in Canada. They summarize the successes and failures of each. In essence, they analyze the impact of...
Curated OER
The Uniter, Divided
Students write about and discuss Presidential duties. They study the two competing foreign policy camps in the Bush administration by reading and discussing the article "Bush Team's Counsel Is Divided on Foreign Policy."
In groups,...
Curated OER
Empire State-Building
Students explore how empires around the globe have impacted the world in which they have existed. They analyze whether or not the United States is an imperialist nation and create their own empires based on their understanding of empires...
Curated OER
The 'Question of Palestine'
New York Times covers hot topics and current events, now you may use those articles to help young people become more aware. Kids read an article regarding the Israeli-Palestinian agreement and the prospect of Palestine joining the UN....
Curated OER
The U.S. War in Iraq Officially Ends
Examine issues and events surrounding US withdrawal of troops from the Iraq War. After reading this New York Times article learners respond to each of the nine who, what, when, where, and why questions.
Curated OER
New Rules for Sunscreens
What are UVB and UVB rays, and why isn't my sunscreen good enough? Kids find out all the newest information regarding sunscreen and skin cancer as they read this New York Times article. They read the article then answer eight related...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama's Steps to Statehood
To demonstrate their understanding of the steps Alabama took to become a state, groups create a poster that identifies what the United States Constitution and the Northwest Ordinance required of a territory to become a state.