The United States is built on the presumption of equality—yet we have not passed the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. Using video clips featuring historians, a museum tour, and an interview with Ruth Bader Ginsberg, learners...

As part of a study of the women's suffrage movement and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, young historians examine documents that detail when voting rights were granted to women in various countries and when US states...

Introduce class members to Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, activist, writer, and lecturer Gloria Steinem with a PBS resource that not only investigates Steinem's ancestry but also encourages learners to trace their own.

Determine how African-Americans have broken barriers in this history lesson. Middle schoolers discuss the 15th Amendment and the American civil rights movement prior to analyzing Barack Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union," taking care...

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...

Almost every American is familiar with the Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education. Far fewer understand the constitutional reasoning or the wide-ranging consequences of the ruling in the field of criminology. The interesting...

Today, many young people find it hard to understand why it took over 150 years for women in the United  States to get the right to vote—why there was even a need for the suffrage movement. As they read a series of primary source...

Learners examine the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Supreme Court cases in order to broaden their understanding of the US Judicial System. They research a variety of textual and Internet resources to create a tri-fold brochure,...

How has the American Bill of Rights influenced the rest of the world? An interactive web activity helps individuals see the similarities between countries' bills of rights. A text-to-text tool compares the American Bill of Rights to...

Class members continue their investigation of the factors that influence migration with a lesson on human rights. As they examine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and selected US Constitutional Amendments, learners compare the...

Eleventh graders take a closer look at the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). In this women's rights lesson, 11th graders read the Equal Rights Amendment as well as the "Feminine Mystique" and selections by Gloria Steinam and Phyllis...

Has equality always existed as an unalienable right in the United States? Use this worksheet to chronicle the history and progression of equality in major documents and speeches throughout American history. The graphic organizer asks...

The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention was a historic milestone in the quest for women's rights. After researching one of the participants of the Seneca Falls Convention, young historians craft and share a short presentation about their subject.

High schoolers research the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, as well as other primary source documents, to determine Reconstruction's impact on the North and South. The 34-page inquiry-based lesson includes a staging question and...

Did the Declaration of Independence really intend to grant liberty for all? Get your class thinking about historical perspective with documents relaying the experiences of women, white men, and African-Americans during the Revolutionary...

Students explore Latinos and the Fourteenth Amendment. In this government and law lesson, students analyze the ruling in Hernandez v. Texas. Students predict how the United States would be different if the court had made an alternated...

Students explore women's rights. In this women's history lesson plan, students examine primary and secondary sources regarding the women's suffrage movement in the United States. Students compare and contrast the states' methods for...

High schoolers research the passage of the 19th Amendment as an illustration of the mutual influence between political ideas and cultural attitudes. They also read the Seneca Falls Declaration and explore the cultural shifts it both...

Think about the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence with your budding historians. They analyze the importance of historical documents by examining several famous documents, and then they complete activities that check...

Students study the court cases related to Brown v. Board of Education and the "separate but equal" standard established by Plessy v. Ferguson. They create an informational display that can be used to teach others the particulars of the...

High schoolers examine the basic rights in their state's constitution. They vote on a class issue, analyze how an amendment is passed, develop a flow chart to demonstrate the steps, and write and illustrate a booklet about their basic...

The women working for equal rights in the early 20th century weren't a part of one large group; rather, they were members of dozens of small groups focused on social reform. Explore the ways groups in the Progressive Era like National...

Students create PowerPoint presentations about women's suffrage. In this women's rights instructional activity, students use primary documents to study the women's suffrage movement. In pairs, students create a PowerPoint presentation...

Students read facts about women'ts suffrage and research topics related to women's rights. Optional films for viewing and books to read.