Students examine the law and the Miranda rights. They role play members of law enforcement and ones being arrested.

Students study the trial of Dred Scott. They investigate the New York Times reporter and simulate writing about the trial for a newspaper. They identify the 5Ws from the play using a graphic organizer and present their findings to the...

Students study the Reconstruction Era after the US Civil War. In this Reconstruction lesson set, students examine the problems that were encountered by the South after the Civil War, look at different plans for Reconstruction, and...

Fifth graders learn about two influential women.  In this historical figures lesson, 5th graders work in groups to read articles about Rosa Parks and Sarah Fleming and share their findings with the class.  Students use a Venn...

Students discuss two computerized options to change the current U.S. government. In this Constitutional Convention lesson, students write a statement advocating for one of the choices and participate in a mock modern Constitutional...

Students explore human rights issues. In this social justice lesson, students examine human rights as they read segments of the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights," discuss photographs with human rights implications, and play a human...

Students explore human rights issues. In this human rights lesson plan, students use the Carter Center Human Rights Defenders website to complete a scavenger hunt that allows them to investigate the work of those fighting for human...

Eleventh graders examine four different kinds of human rights.  In this American Government lesson, 11th graders research the assigned human right in their groups.  Students create a presentation about this human right to their...

Twelfth graders review how the government and Bill of Rights came into effect. Using primary source documents, they discuss if Japanese rights were violated when they were placed in internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. ...

Students reserach the case of Ex Parte Milligan. They explore the influence of the Supreme Court and the court decisions on the rights and responsibilities of citizens. They read Milligan's letter to Stanton and generate questions...

Students discuss the right and wrong actions of a young Navajo boy. Using that information, they compare and contrast his culture to their own. In groups, they create a newspaper or poster showing the cultural contributions of the...

Text and full descriptive summary of the 5th Amendment to the Constitution. Reference accompanied by links to related material including, video, timeline, and news sources.

Short, simple summary with the full text of the 5th amendment of the Bill of Rights detailing the need for 'due process of the law' before punishing a person and the right to a trial by jury as detailed in the Constitution.

Two activities and lesson plan apply landmark Supreme Court cases on the Fifth Amendment and the right to due process or fair trial for adults and juveniles accused of a crime.

This article, written by Howard Fast in 1954, attacks the government and Senator Joseph McCarthy for leading away from the rights protected by the amendment.

This encyclopedia article explains what it means to plead the Fifth, and provides an excerpt from the Fifth Amendment.

This mini-lesson covers the basics of the Supreme Court's decision that prohibited a suspect's statements from being used as evidence unless the suspect has been advised of his or her rights to remain silent. Students learn about the 5th...

Students analyze real-life cases interpreting the 8th and 5th amendments to see whether they interpret the Bill of Rights the same way the Supreme Court did and discover how tricky interpreting the Constitution really is.

This resource provides both the text of the amendment and annotations as explanation of various words and phrases.

A great, active lesson about the Bill of Rights. Students compare rights they think they should have with the rights in the actual amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The language of the amendments is broken down into simpler English so...

That's Your Right is a card where you use the Bill of Rights to defend your freedom.

Check out this interactive timeline of the right against self-incrimination in the United States.

Check out this interactive timeline of the protection against double jeopardy in the United States.

Check out this interactive timeline of the right to due process in the United States.