Fourth graders study women's involvement in Texas politics. In this US history lesson, 4th graders discuss woman suffrage, examine three Texas female pioneer legislators by reading biographies, and explore women's issues by generating a...

Which right does the Constitution weigh more heavily: the sanctity of the American flag as a symbol of national unity, or the right to burn the flag in protest? The 1989 Supreme Court case of Texas v. Johnson explores a...

If you saw a person burning an American flag, how would you feel? Scholars analyze the concept of freedom of expression and speech with the Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson. A short video clip creates open discussion in pairs on the...

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...

The third in a series of lessons introduced by “A Fence Away From Freedom,” uses the Smithsonian website, “A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution” and focuses on the section of the presentation devoted to the...

Students examine the intent  Bill of Rights. In this American government lesson plan, students watch segments of the Discovery video "The Bill of Rights."  Students discuss and debate the 4 Supreme Court cases featured in the...

This exercise on the Constitution requires small groups to design a visual metaphor that expresses the concept behind one of seven principles: popular sovereignty, federalism, republicanism, separation of powers, checks and balances,...

Eighth graders explore the effect of the Fourteenth Amendment.  In this US History lesson, 8th graders read and analyze primary source documents.  Students write a three minute paper demonstrating their understanding of the...

Sensitive material is discussed in this lesson. Please review to ensure that the content is suitable for your class. The topic is the Eighth Amendment and how the U.S. Supreme Court makes determinations about what constitutes cruel and...

Students examine the role of choice in a democracy, the choice to participate and not to participate. They take a position on the role of recycling and whether in a democracy people can be forced to recycle. They break into for and...

Students analyze Article 1 of the Constitution. They respond to the Public Criticism E-Learning module.

students compare The rule of law with the rule of men and consider life under each of these types of governments.In this government lesson, students read a primary source to examine the importance of the rule of law.They will also answer...

Students research the events surrounding the Alamo in 1863, and explore the differences between primary and secondary sources of information. They brainstorm lists of items used to research a subject and categorize them as primary or...