Curated OER
Fairy Tails Can Show Due:It can happen for you, If you play your part.,
Students view a Reader's Theater focusing on the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The story is used as a springboard into a videotaped mock trial of Gold E. Locks developed by the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). They...
Curated OER
Can I Have a Jury Trial?
Students examine the difference between a jury trial and a bench trial. They discuss any protections that the Indiana and United States Constitution offers its citizens. They use the internet to research any current press of jury trials.
Curated OER
The Supremes
Students discuss steps cases go through to reach Supreme Court, examine Bill of Rights, and rank rights in order of importance to them. Students then research Supreme Court case dealing with one of first ten amendments, and write about...
Curated OER
Are We Free Yet?
Learners read excerpts from several Freedom Documents, evaluate amount of freedom guaranteed by each document, and rank documents on scale to determine which grant greatest and least amount of personal freedom.
Curated OER
First Amendment Guarantee of Free Speech (Senior, Social Studies)
Students receive a list of banned books from which they choose one to read. They read their chosen book and write a paper that includes a discussion of the First Amendment and its guarantees and the reason(s) why they believe their book...
Curated OER
Arrests and Investigatory Stops
Students define arrest and detainment, examine hypothetical situations to determine if warrantless arrest/detainment is reasonable based on information available to police, discuss differences between hunch, suspicion, reasonable...
Curated OER
Presidents
Students identify the qualities needed to become President of the United States. Using the internet, they discover the differences in character of past presidents and draw conclusions about their time in office. They relate a piece of...
Curated OER
How Congress Works
Students describe role of the U.S. Congress in American government as set forth in the Constitution, and explain why the Framers created a Congress with a House and a Senate and gave them different roles.
Curated OER
Ask Me What's Great About America
Students pretend to be citizens of a new space colony and have been elected to the Intergalactic Senate to consider adding a Bill of Rights to the Constitution. They break into groups and discuss what seems unfair and fair about the...
Center for History Education
Helping to Move On? An Analysis of the Reconstruction Amendments
Reconstruction amendments: a helping hand or another form of slavery? An inquisitive lesson compares the Reconstruction legislation that ended slavery, granted citizenship, and protected voting right for African American men. Scholars...
K12 Reader
Responsibilities of Citizenship
Your pupils are all citizens of your classroom. Provide some more instruction on how people can be citizens with the reading passage included here. After reading, learners answer the five related questions.
College Board
Balance of Power Between Congress and the President
Three branches of government help create a system of checks and balances. A helpful resource provides a series of articles regarding the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches of government. Historians answer...
DocsTeach
Extending Suffrage to Women
Votes for women! The activity highlights the push for the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. High school scholars learn how the Fifteenth Amendment giving African American men the right to vote helped to spark the...
Deliberating in a Democracy
Marriage and the State
What defines marriage in society? Scholars investigate the moral and legal arguments of what defines marriage. They analyze different marriage traditions and social customs around the world along with Supreme Court decisions. Individuals...
Deliberating in a Democracy
Crime and Punishment
Should the United States ban the death penalty? Scholars use real-life examples of criminal activity to come to their own conclusions on the death penalty. Primary source documents, as well as video clips, open the issue of capital...
Minnesota Center for Community Legal Education
Minnesota v. Hershberger
Freedom of religion has been a controversial, yet fundamental, tenet of the United States since even before the nation's birth. In a well-constructed lesson, the class compares the Minnesota Constitution to the US Constitution as a means...
Curated OER
Civics Test for Citizenship: History and Government, 100 Questions
Use this thorough presentation to help your English Learners prepare for their citizenship. Covering questions 1-51 from a History and Government practice test, these slides could be a great resource for those who are working to become...
DocsTeach
Analyzing a Petition about Slavery
Practice analyzing primary sources in a thought-provoking lesson on the impact of slavery. Young historians read a petition regarding the Fugitive Slave Law and answer a series of questions to understand the importance of the document....
Curated OER
An Empire in the Balance
Eleventh graders investigate the role of New York state during the American Revolution. In small groups, they research a particular region within colonial America, analyze primary source documents, complete Document Analysis Sheets, and...
CommonCoreSheets.com
The Civil Rights Movement Timeline
Using this simple worksheet, your learners will have the opportunity to practice reading timelines while learning about key events during the civil rights movement in the United States.
PBS
Lessons in Leadership, Roosevelt Style
It's easy to criticize those in power until you're sitting at their desk, faced with the same decisions. A history lesson prompts secondary learners to research the Roosevelt presidencies through the lens of leadership and...
Curated OER
The First Jews in America
Students investigate how Jews established roots in America. Students determine the difference between religious tolerance and separation of church and state. Students participate in a role-play activity using primary and secondary...
Kauai's Hindu Monastery
The History of Hindu India
What obstacles did India face during their post-colonial formation after gaining independence? Topics discussed in the lesson include Pakistan's conflict over Kashmir, the Indian Constitution, economic development, and the...
Carolina K-12
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment and the Power of Youth
Empower teenagers to take political matters into their own hands! After completing an engaging warm-up activity, class members discuss both sides of the youth voting issue, learn about the connection between military history and the...