How does the Bill of Rights, created over 200 years ago, still apply to the lives of American citizens to this day? Here is a fantastic resource that includes several resources on approaching the Bill of Rights with your class. After...

What does "freedom of speech" mean to your class, especially in the context of Internet communications? In round-table discussion format, middle and high schoolers address the issues discussed in "State Legislatures Across U.S. Plan to...

Here is a great online interactive activity that will not only spur discussion on free speech and student expression, but will also involve a great deal of practice in identifying claims and supporting them with evidence.

What is the key to effectively arguing any position? Evidence! But how can we know whether a piece of information is useful to proving our point? Check out this activity whereby your class members will review a fictitious scenario...

Can schools ban t-shirts picturing musical groups or bands? Your young citizens will find out with this resource, which includes a summary of a United States Supreme Court case from the 1960s about a similar dispute over young scholars...

What is the right to privacy? Does censorship violate the First Amendment? Should a school reflect the religious values of a community? These are just some of the great research topics regarding civil liberties that are suggested in this...

Make a study of the First Amendment and its relationship to freedom. Pupils rewrite the amendment and discuss the central idea before focusing on a specific phrase. After discussing, class members write a journal entry about the included...

A discussion of the Supreme Court’s Opinion of Tinker v. Des Moines generates a discussion of the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment. Although the key elements of this lesson are based on a video that is not included, the activities...

In this current events worksheet, students analyze a political cartoon about the freedom of speech and respond to three short answer questions

A reading of I've Seen the Promised Land begins an exploration of the importance of freedom of speech and assembly. Groups discuss how these freedoms helped gain civil rights for African-Americans and then class members create an...

Students explore the limits of the Bill of Rights. The student and teacher roll play a situation where speech is limited.

The perfect resource for a beginning journalism teacher or someone designing a journalism unit, this activity prompts students to write a newspaper article. It covers all aspects of the writing process, such as a guided warm-up...

Students create a lesson to present to the rest of the class about current laws, including expressing killing the president as a joke. Students research past events and current laws. Students present to the class using mult-media, oral...

Ninth graders consider the right of freedom of speech as it is outlined in the U.S. Constitution. They receive background information for the US Supreme Court, the Bill of Rights, and free speech. They discuss a series of actual cases...

High schoolers examine the nature and limits of the Constitutional right to freedom of speech. They read and analyze the First Amendment, discuss various case studies, and research and record their own opinion on discussion questions.

Learners research online and in books city statutes regarding posting signs on utility poles, interview appropriate officials about ordinances and how completely it is enforced, explore what has happened elsewhere when citizens decided...

The contributions of African-Americans to the American Revolution are the focus of this Social Studies and language arts lesson. After reading and discussing Linda Crotta Brennan’s The Black Regiment of the American Revolution, class...

Students examine the freedom of speech. In this Supreme Court activity, students analyze primary documents from Texas v. Johnson and discuss the implications of the decision regarding flag burning.

Students analyze the First Amendment. In this Bill of Rights lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding the facets of the First Amendment. Students examine cases which pertain to the freedoms that the...

Students assume identities of lawmakers, judges, writers, and protestors during times in American history when freedoms of speech and press were limited because country was on the brink of war or fighting one. Students use primary source...

High schoolers see that freedom of speech is not absolute and that society and the legal system recognize limits on the freedom of speech. They explore issues in which freedom of speech conflicts with other values.

Students observe firsthand how today's Court exercises this responsibility at a time when technology has extended the freedom to speak in ways our nation's founders could not have imagined. They trace the judicial review process within...

Learners examine some of the nuances, vagaries, and ambiguities inherent in the rhetorical use of "freedom." The objective is to encourage students to glimpse the broad range of hopes and aspirations that are expressed in the call of-and...

Students present oral arguments to a mock Supreme Court and discuss the burning of the U.S. flag and freedom of speech.