Curated OER
VS.6b
Sixth graders explore, analyze and identify the ideas of George Mason and Thomas Jefferson as expressed in the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom. They list and declare the responses stated in...
Curated OER
Citizen Me
Fifth graders examine what it means to be a citizen. Using the Constitution, they discover the functions and purpose of government. They compare and contrast the difference between a democracy and a monarchy. As a class, they discuss...
National First Ladies' Library
Executive Order 9066: Japanese-American Internment
Students analyze conditions under which sections of United States Constitution are superceded, research history of Native Americans, African Americans, and Japanese Americans, and debate policy of reparations for various minority groups...
Curated OER
Checks on Presidential Power
Students examine presidential powers. In this checks and balances lesson, students identify the constitutional and informal restraints of the president and consider the reasons for the limitations.
Curated OER
The Preamble to the U. S. Constitution
Fifth graders explain the purpose of the government by examining the Preamble to the Constitution. They identify ways in which the government is preserving those rights today. They discover one of the fundamental principles of...
Curated OER
Canine Companions
Learners interpret canine verbal and non-verbal communication. In this dog communication instructional activity, students discuss dog communication through bark and body language. Learners study the 'reading canine body postures'...
Curated OER
Push/Pull factors in Immigration
Young scholars explore the push/pull factors experienced by immigrant families. They interview a parent and an American about their family's immigration history. Students write a summary of the interview and compare the push/pull factors...
Curated OER
A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION: A SIMULATION
Students discuss two computerized options to change the current U.S. government. In this Constitutional Convention instructional activity, students write a statement advocating for one of the choices and participate in a mock modern...
Curated OER
Flip Flop Diplomacy
Ninth graders examine the dress of diplomats. In this American Government lesson plan, 9th graders read an article and answer guided questions. Students participate in a quiz on the reading.
Curated OER
Lessons from History
Students review key vocabulary in history and review a specific website. They write a paragraph summarizing an event they read about on this website. They analyze the importance of studying and learning from history.
Curated OER
Money Talks
Students move from fact finding to interpretation as they examine paper money from the time of the American Revolution. In the final exercise, they use the issue dates of the bills to construct a chronology of political changes during...
Curated OER
Pictures Telling Stories
Students see the importance of primary sources in the study of history, but also the limitations of relying only on primary sources of taking the money, as it were, at face value.
Curated OER
Looking After Pets
Students work in groups to compose their own "Duty of Care" for pets and make their own individual list from this discussion and illustrate it with drawing or images taken from magazines, websites or newspapers.
Curated OER
Striding into the Scientific Future: Illuminating Clinical Trials
Young scholars participate in a simulation of a Senate hearing before the committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. They bring together all the concepts they've explored in science, language arts and government classes over...
Curated OER
The U.S. Trade Embargo on Cuba
Students examine perspectives for and against the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, develop a position on the embargo and articulate viewpoints in a public forum.
Curated OER
Jazz in America
Students explore different instruments and what role they play in Jazz. They also each person's role in a democratic society.
Curated OER
The Road to Democracy
Eleventh graders examine the road to the American Revolution. In this American Revolution instructional activity, 11th graders read Thomas Paine's works and identify the issues that the colonists had with the British government.
Curated OER
It Bears Repeating!!!
Students research bears and their characteristics with a specific study on North American bears and polar bears. In this bear study lesson, students read books about polar bears and wild bears. Students complete activities to further...
Curated OER
Vietnam Trade Pact
High schoolers explore world trade issues. In this economics instructional activity, students read "Opening Doors to Vietnam," and discuss the trade negotiations between Vietnam and the Untied States. High schoolers conduct further...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: James Madison Debates the Bill of Rights
Lesson from the National Humanities Center explores the doubts, concerns, and misgivings surrounding the development of the Bill of Rights. Primary or secondary sources, text analysis and Close reading strategies, background notes, and...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Human Rights (Lesson Plan)
A lesson for exploring and reporting on world human rights issues in which learners analyze the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and compare it to the U.S. bill of rights.