When, if ever, is the government justified in restricting individual rights? When, if ever, should the "greater good" trump individual rights? To prepare to discuss this hot-button topic, class members examine primary source documents,...

If aliens invaders nearly destroy the world in the distant future and leaders must decide on a pamphlet of protections to preserve individual rights, what should they include? Introduce the Bill of Rights and the struggle between the...

Use the dystopian novel After by Francine Prose to spark discussion about individual and student rights. Learners read the novel, evaluating how far a school can go to control its attendees. As they read, scholars...

Here is a fantastic resource on the civil rights movement! It includes reading materials and worksheets, and particularly highlights major legislation and the role of the judicial branch in the federal government in addressing the...

Don't be fooled by the size of the resource: these few pages provide the blueprint for a substantial, thoughtful unit on children's rights and the different philosophies and approaches that the United States and other countries have...

What basic rights are guaranteed to all Americans? Do citizens, legal aliens, illegal aliens, and minors all have the same rights? Should individuals all over the world enjoy the same rights? Class members read the Declaration of...

The sovereignty of U.S. Native American nations is the focus of a resource that asks class members to compare the Right to Self-Determination in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with a fact sheet that...

Class members continue their discussion of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). After examining an infographic the summarizes the document, groups examine four of the rights to decide if they are or are not universal, and if...

Eleanor Roosevelt leads the drive to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To begin a study of universal rights, class members create a definition of a right and compare it to the 1947 version. They then investigate Eleanor's...

Did you know that there are 15.2 million refugees in the world? High schoolers will read "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights" and learn how they can get involved to lower this surprising number. To really encourage involvement,...

How have groups struggled to have their unalienable rights recognized in the United States? Acting as a research team for the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, your young historians will break into groups to research...

The focus of this, the third in a five-activity unit study of human rights, is on individuals who made a difference. Billy Bowlegs, Dr. Sun Yat Sen, Fannie Lou Hamer, Michi Weglyn, and Yuri Koshiyama are some of the people class members...

Include moments of heroism in a social studies module that includes three units. Focusing on the murder of Emmett Till, the movement of nonviolent resistance, and segregating schools in Boston, the units explore key events of the...

The first ten Amendments of the U.S. Constitution are vital for young people to understand. Provide the foundation of the laws that govern our country with this junior high school lesson. Groups use the newspaper to identify rights...

A unit focuses on Civil Rights leaders. Scholars read or listen to an informational text about Susuan B. Anthony, Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and other...

Explore the Bill of Rights in-depth with this resource packet that includes the complete text of the document, scenarios and discussion questions for each amendment, role-playing activities, exercises, questions for a Socratic seminar, a...

While World War II changed the international order, it also led to a fundamental shift in the concept of civil rights within the United States. Using a video and discussion questions, class members consider the effects the war had to the...

The murder of Emmett Till, the Selma to Montgomery march, and the desegregation of Boston schools are the focus of three units that ask class members to investigate why these events were so key in the struggle for civil rights....

A human rights defender is someone who promotes and protects human rights for all. Scholars explore the subject with the fourth and final lesson from the Introduction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights series. Pupils share...

Investigate milestones along the path that lead to the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. After researching key people, events, court cases, and legislative orders, teams present their findings as a magazine, newspaper, or...

Right triangles are so special! Use special right triangles to discover the trigonometric ratios. Pairs construct special right triangles and find the values of the ratios of the sides. In the process, they discover the ratios stay the...

The fourth in a five-lesson unit examining human rights and personal responsibility asks class groups to investigate a current rights issue, and using the provided graphic organizer, summarize the issue, consider which rights are being...

As part of the social, economic, and legal/political civil rights study, class members brainstorm a list of current civil rights issues that affect their community. Individuals or pairs select one issue to research further. The class...

Many people don't realize that all people on the planet are entitled to certain inalienable rights. Scholars discuss the subject with the first of four lessons in the Introduction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights series....