Judicial Learning Center
Your 1st Amendment Rights
Why should classes care about the First Amendment? An engaging lesson serves as a powerful tool for answering just that. As all four cases in the lesson relate directly to freedom of expression in schools, young scholars explore the...
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
RETHINK: Bullying Prevention Curriculum
Adopt a school-wide approach to bullying prevention guided by a program packet that is designed to engage the full school, families, and the entire community. Participants are asked to consider the roles power, control, and privilege...
Curated OER
Religion Through Language Arts & History
Students explore the principal religions which are alive today: Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and the Philosophies of the Chinese. They determine that there are scientific explanations for many of the subjects that...
Curated OER
Religion, Culture, and Diversity
Students study different religions and share their own religious traditions. In this religion lesson, students investigate different religions and how ideas about religion can create conflict, growth, and change. They interview family...
Smithsonian Institution
Arts of the Islamic World
Learn more about the history and five pillars of Islam with an extensive resource that focuses on the religion's connection to art. Focusing on calligraphy, textiles, and architecture, the packet illustrates the beauty of the artistic...
University of Chicago
What IS the Difference Between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims?
The distinction between Shiite and Sunni Muslims is an often misunderstood concept, yet very important for its implications in global affairs and for a more comprehensive understanding of the religion of Islam.
Curated OER
Who Invented Religion?
Pupils explore religious controversies with the release of the film "The Passion of the Christ." In this current events instructional activity, students discuss religious beliefs and the place for violence in religious and historical...
Curated OER
Identity and Religion
Students view and discuss the public television program, Wide Angle: Young, Muslim, and French. They research and write a position in favor of or against the headscarf ban in France, and examine the influence of media in shaping...
Curated OER
Globalization 101
Students reflect on how religion has played a major role in globalization. In this lesson, students visit multiple internet sites, then participate in a class discussion on the various ideas on globalization that they learned in their...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Metamorphoses and Genesis: A Comparison of Creation-Flood Stories
Creation and destruction. Scholars use a Venn diagram to compare the creation story in Ovid's The Metamorphoses with that in the book of Genesis. Pupils then note differences between the two texts and offer suggestions for why the texts...
Curated OER
First Amendment Rights
Learners consider the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. They do this by viewing a seven-slide PowerPoint presentation the First Ammendment and the Bill of Rights. Once you have shown the presentation, hold a class discussion...
Curated OER
America's Civil Rights Movement
Eleventh graders explore, analyze and study the background to America's Civil Rights Movement through the court system, mass protest, public opinion, political cartoons and legislation. They research Rosa Parks, Brown vs. Board of...
Curated OER
Will the Supreme Court Vouch for Vouchers?
Students investigate past Supreme Court decisions that have centered on education issues and assess the ways in which those decisions have impacted American education. They consider the controversies surrounding the issue of school...
Curated OER
The Debate Over Teaching Intelligent Design
Students explain the current nationwide debate regarding the teaching of intelligent design alongside evolution in public schools. They examine the content of the debate and then analyze and critique the merits and flaws of both sides of...
Curated OER
Teaching Reading Comprehension through Social Studies Readings
Examine how immigrants have changed the environment of the United States. Individually, middle schoolers will take a pre- and post-test to assess their reading comprehension. In groups, they compare and contrast the religions of...
Curated OER
Culture - Unit on Religion and Globalization
Students examine the impact of religious beliefs on perspectives about globalization. They watch and discuss a video, identify the role of the International Monetary Fund, read and discuss articles, and write an essay.
Curated OER
Religious Revival: The American Response to the Cold War
Students examine the impact of religion on the Cold War. In this Cold War lesson, students analyze speeches delivered by Lenin, Truman, and Graham regarding the role of religion in society. As a culminating activity, students are tested...
Curated OER
Japan: Yesterday and Today
Students study the geography and culture of Japan and discover important historical events. They look at the religions of Japan. They determine similarities and differences in the lives of teenagers in Japan and the US. They read and...
Curated OER
Towards Separation of Church and State in Gloucester
Explore New England government in the 1700's with your class. They will identify historical documents as primary or secondary sources, then read and discuss the significance of these documents as they relate to the "freedom of religion"...
Curated OER
The Easter Story
After hearing the Passion, Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection, through an account of the gospel writer St. Mark students will comprehend the saving story of our Christian faith. They comprehend their language skills by writing and...
Curated OER
Evolution vs. Intelligent Design
Ninth graders explore the arguments surrounding evolution versus intelligent design have affected relationships among people of different religious backgrounds. For this ethics lesson, 9th graders determine whether relationships among...
Curated OER
Mueller v. Allen
Students investigate a First Amendment legal case involving religion, education, and reimbursement of tuition payments. They research the background of the cases and its precedents.
Virginia Department of Education
World History and Geography to 1500 A.D.
Here's a great resource for your curriculum library. The 240-page packet, organized into units by topics, includes sample lesson plans, links to primary and secondary source documents, worksheets, activities, and sample assessments.
Bill of Rights Institute
Preserving the Bill of Rights
Consider how America's founding fathers and their experiences contributed to the rights we all enjoy today. A collection of reading, writing, and collaborative exercises prompt high schoolers to think about the ways their current lives...