Curated OER
How the Supreme Court Affects the Lives of Teens
Students describe the structure and function of the United States Supreme Court. They examine and analyze decisions made by the Court. They participate in a debate about recent issues.
Curated OER
Checks and Balances in Supreme Court Nominations
Learners discover the system of Checks and Balances related to recent events prompting action by one or more of the three branches of government. They study the process for selecting and confirming a Supreme Court justice. They examine...
Curated OER
The Supreme Court and the Fourteenth Amendment
Students examine the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. In this Reconstruction Era lesson, students read and analyze 4 Supreme Court decisions regarding the Fourteenth Amendment and determine how the decisions impacted citizen...
Cornell College
Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court Decision
Dred Scott was a harbinger of the Civil War. An enslaved man claimed freedom because his owner had taken him into free territory. Not only did the Supreme Court rule that Dred Scott and his wife were to remain enslaved, but it also ruled...
Curated OER
Supreme Court Shake-Up
Students examine the role of the Supreme Court through an interactive program. They analyze the history of the Court and its members. They finally explore how the Supreme Court works.
Curated OER
Justice Is Blind, Colorblind That Is
It's so interesting to see kids respond to articles about education. To start the day, prompt learners to discuss the words colorblindness and diversity. Then, split your class in two and have one side read an article from 2007 and the...
Curated OER
Stories of Freedom and Justice: Learning Resources
Students are introduce to the topic of nonviolence and civil rights by watching a video. In this stories of freedom lesson, students examine the Supreme Court's role in interpreting the U.S. Constitution. Students analyze how conflict...
Curated OER
Selecting a Chief Justice For The United States Supreme Court: The Senate Confirmation Hearings of Judge John Roberts, Jr.
Students review the procedures for selecting a new Supreme Court Justice. In groups, they determine which questions the nominee should be asked and practice asking the questions with a classmate. They watch the confirmation hearings...
Curated OER
Sandra Day O'Connor
No unit on important women in history would be complete without a instructional activity on Sandra Day O'Connor. After reading background information about the first female Supreme Court justice, middle schoolers engage in several...
Curated OER
The Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court
Students explore what the United States would be like today if the Bill of Rights had never been written. In this exploring the constitution instructional activity, students research Supreme Court cases that were heard in the early...
Curated OER
With Liberty and Justice for All
Students examine the role of Supreme Court justices. In this judicial branch lesson, students consider the civil rights and civil liberties as they investigate Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) and West Virginia State Board...
Judicial Learning Center
The Appeal Process
Why doesn't the Supreme Court hear testimony from witnesses? How do they complete an entire proceeding in less than two hours? A helpful lesson guides scholars of criminology through these and other questions by explaining how appeals...
C-SPAN
Voting Discrimination and the Effects of Shelby County v. Holder
Show young scholars that every vote counts as they debate the federal government 's role in protecting voting rights in historically racially discriminated areas. In the Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder, the high court found...
C-SPAN
Conducting a Moot Court
Review the conduct of different roles within the Supreme Court. A moot court activity educates learners about the roles of each member of the court and the process of a case with video clips, research activities, a graphic organizer,...
Curated OER
Justices for All
Learners examine role of Supreme Court justices in the American political process, research the qualities of the current Supreme Court justices, and write opinion papers evaluating the current justices and recommending future nominations.
Curated OER
The Legacy of the Warren Court
Students examine the major decisions by the Supreme Court when Warren was the Chief Justice. In groups, they research the life and other works of Earl Warren and discuss how ones background can influence decisions. They also examine...
PBS
Analyzing McCulloch v. Maryland
What happened in the Supreme Court case of McCulloch v. Maryland? The resource teaches the specifics of the case with a video and provided discussion questions covering issues such as precedent and the Supreme Court as an equal branch of...
State Bar of Texas
Miranda v. Arizona
You have the right to remain silent—but why? Scholars analyze the nature of what has become known as the Miranda Rights. A short video along with paired group work and discussion opens the issue of the rights of the accused upon arrest....
Curated OER
Words That Hold Court
Students research legal terminology used in the Supreme Court. In this legal terminology lesson, students study a quote from President Obama about the Supreme Court. Students make a list of facts about the Supreme Court and the justices...
Curated OER
Words That Hold Court
Students recognize the importance of the Supreme Court. In this legal terminology lesson, students define a list of words to understand the Supreme Court and the language used in cases. Students revise a case summary.
Curated OER
Justice For All?
Students study about President Bush's nomination of federal appeals court judge John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court. They compare coverage of the nomination in different sections and articles in The New York Times.
Curated OER
FDR Tries to Pack the Supreme Court
Young scholars analyze the Court Reform Bill of 1937. In this Supreme Court instructional activity, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding the details Frankin Roosevelt and his attempt to pack the Supreme Court....
PBS
Explicit and Implicit Language – Interpreting the Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment
How do Supreme Court justices interpret amendments to the Constitution? The resource helps answer that question by discussing how people use explicit and implicit language to interpret the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. Learners...
DocsTeach
Analyzing a Letter from Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Before her career as a Supreme Court Justice, the Notorious RBG was a legal activist for women's rights. Using a letter from then-Professor Ginsburg, young historians carefully examine a letter from Ginsburg to a member of Congress...