Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Black Skin, White Justice: Race Matters in the Criminal Justice System

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the effects of race in the criminal justice system. As a class, they brainstorm a list of instances when the offender has been an African American and he is not treated fairly in court based on his race. They analyze...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bringing Justice Home ~First Steps toward Community Action

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore activities that might some day bring "justice for all" to their communities. They assess how justice is a day-to-day, life or death matter that faces their communities. Interviews are conducted to explain how justice is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Truth About Human Rights

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers explore the concept of human rights. In this human rights lesson plan, students watch 2 videos regarding human rights violations around the world since 2001. High schoolers explore several websites that feature human...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Martin Luther King and Writing as a Tool for Social Change

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore writing as an agent for social change. In this Social Studies lesson, students examine the power of writing using Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail.  Students will practice the technique of persuasive writing...
Lesson Plan
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Learning for Justice

The Color of Law: Creating Racially Segregated Communities

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
It is pointed, powerful, and painful! The first of three lessons about laws and practices that support inequality looks at how government policies created and reinforced segregated communities. Young social scientists read excerpts from...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Making a Change: Letter From Birmingham Jail

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" was written in response to "A Call for Unity," written by eight white ministers from Birmingham and published in the local newspaper. After reading both letters and following a list...
Lesson Plan
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Facing History and Ourselves

The Political Struggle, 1865-1866

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Healing versus justice. The central source of tension following the United States Civil War was between the demands for healing and the demands for justice, the battle between President Andrew Johnson and Congress. A video introduces the...
Study Guide
Penguin Books

A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
It's not the best of guides nor the worst of guides, but time spent examining the guide to Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities is certainly not wasted. The 17-page guide includes book-by-book synopses of the novel, before,...
Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A primary source set of photographs, videos, newspaper articles, and FBI reports provides insight into race relations during the 1960s, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and the murder of Emmitt Till. Designed to be used to...
Lesson Plan
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Learning for Justice

The Color of Law: Developing the White Middle Class

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The final lesson in the "Color of Law" series explores the government's discriminatory economic policies. Young scholars watch videos, read primary source materials, and examine images to gather information. They discuss how what they...
Study Guide
Penguin Books

Teacher's Guide: When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed Standards
Julie Otsuka's haunting novel, When the Emperor Was Devine, is the subject of a 14-page teacher's guide. The guide includes the text of an interview with Otsuka, background information about Japanese immigration to the United States, and...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech as a Work of Literature

For Teachers 6th - 12th
To appreciate the oratory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, scholars examine the rhetorical devices and influences that make the speech so famous. They examine background information, conduct a close reading of the...
Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

African American Activists

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, and Fannie Lour Hammer are three African American activists who stood up for change. Though living in different time periods, all three women sought justice and equality. Class members examine primary source...
Activity
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Black Laws" by Roger Reeves

For Teachers 6th - 12th
After investigating the Black Lives Matter movement, class members do a close read of Roger Reeves' "Black Laws." They write down words and phrases that rhyme, consider the kinds of rhymes used and their function in the poem. Scholars...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adult Criminal Justice System

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders examine the procedures and protections involved in processing an accused person through the criminal justice system. They view a Powerpoint presentation, conduct research, and write a paper describing a crime they have...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crime and Justice

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students investigate what happens when someone is arrested. They engage in a mock trial role play about a burglary. They engage in the process of the Criminal Justice System from arrest to sentencing.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Justice or Injustice?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers participate in a human rights discussion and define the concepts of justice and injustice. They research the concept justice in order to create a Wisdom Wall identifying human rights issues. Students also participate in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Justice Demands an End to Segregation, But it Does Not End

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students define human rights and describe how it applies to politics, economics and cultural rights. As a class, they watch a video how the Constitution was made and discuss its purpose. In groups, they present information to the class...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding Criminal Justice

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students realize that clear values are a resource of behavior in clarifying needs and wants. They clarify feelings and wants and verbalize ways in which they give up freedom and control in their lives by relinquishing decisions to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding Procedural Justice

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Young scholars analyze procedural justice by identifying unfair decisions by ruler in play, stating procedural guarantees that a Bill of Rights should include, and comparing their list of guarantees to those provided by the U.S....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Art as Social Commentary

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Young scholars view artworks that make a statement about social conditions. They discuss the artworks, write about them and present their ideas to the class. They create socially conscious art pieces of their own.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore what the United States would be like today if the Bill of Rights had never been written.  For this exploring the constitution lesson, students research Supreme Court cases that were heard in the early years of the...
Lesson Plan
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Facing History and Ourselves

Hands Up, Don't Shoot!

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Why is it so difficult to develop a clear understanding of the events surrounding the shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer? To answer this question class members listen to a NPR discussion of the findings of...
Activity
US Institute of Peace

Simulation on The Cambodia Peace Settlement

For Students 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Can there be peace in Cambodia? Immerse your class in a realistic negotiation setting during a riveting simulation. Learners assume the roles of key players in a group sparring with an opposing group to try to achieve peace in the midst...

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