Curated OER
Lesson 3: A Visitor From Outer Space
Learners review provisions of Bill of Rights and First Amendment, choose five rights they would like to preserve, support their choices and ideas with reasoned arguments, and discuss consequences of keeping or losing particular rights.
Curated OER
Reporter rights vs. legal access...
Students write an article to inform readers about confidentiality with reporters, attempting to find local lawyers and journalists to explain the issues as they relate to them. Students research past cases and the status of the current...
Curated OER
The Bill Of Rights And The News
Pupils investigate the concepts related to the Bill Of Rights. They conduct research using a variety of resources and focus upon the human rights provided in the legislation. Students read a news article and reflect the upon the...
Center for Civic Education
What Is Authority?
Young scholars examine the concepts of power and authority as they begin learning about government in this elementary social studies lesson. Through a series of readings, discussions, and problem solving activities, children...
Judicial Branch of California
Balancing Act: The Three Branches
What do hula hoops and the American system of government have in common? Using hands-on station activities, pupils consider the roles of the three branches of government. A script for teachers and writing prompts help round out a...
Newseum
Free Press Challenges Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources
The debate over the integrity of stories in media is not new. Young journalists analyze historical sources that reveal freedom of the press controversies and draw parallels to challenges freedom of the press faces today.
Carolina K-12
Preventing Voter Fraud or Encouraging Voter Suppression?
The issues of voter fraud and voter suppression are relevant in every election, local as well as national. Soon-to-be voters learn about a recent bill proposed in North Carolina, the Voter Information and Verification Act, and...
Teaching Tolerance
Parallels Between Mass Incarceration and Jim Crow
Is history repeating itself? A riveting lesson examines the parallels between mass incarceration in the U.S. and the Jim Crow Laws of the past. Academics review Jim Crow Laws and compare them to mass incarcerations of African Americans....
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Day for the Constitution
The "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day" law requires schools receiving any federal funding to provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution. The lesson plans, materials, videos, questions, and activities...
Curated OER
Wartime and the Bill of Rights: The Korematsu Case
Students examine the balance between civil liberties and protection. In this national security lesson, students explore the Korematsu case which references the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Students draw comparisons between...
Curated OER
Constitutional Resources
Students explore the REpublican Era and the writing of the constitution and Billof Rights through various links and activities included in this collection.
Curated OER
A Study of the First Amendment Rights in the Bill of Rights
Students become aware of the basic liberties of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition through study of Supreme Court cases. Student groups analyae some cases heard by the Supreme Court to further their understanding of the First...
Curated OER
Reorganizing the Bill of Rights
Eighth graders look critically at the 26 amendments to the United States Constitution.
Curated OER
Wartime and the Bill of Rights: The Korematsu Case
Twelfth graders work together in groups to examine the discrimation Japanese Americans felt after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Using primary source documents, they analyze and discuss the case of Fred Korematsu who was placed in an...
Curated OER
The First Amendment: Freedom of Expression
Young scholars explore First Amendment rights. In this U.S. Constitution lesson, students examine the freedom of expression as they view a PowerPoint presentation and listen to the lecture that accompanies it.
Curated OER
Civil Rights: An Investigation
Students take a closer look at the political side of the American Civil Rights Movement. In this 20th century American history lesson plan, students research the contributions of President Johnson, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and J....
Curated OER
Rights and Responsibilities
Students focus on the rights and responsibilities of being an American citizen as they develop a T-chart and discuss the topic.
Curated OER
My Secret War: Lesson 5
Fifth graders determine how freedom comes with rights and responsibilities through literature and poetry about World War II. In this World War II lesson, 5th graders use the letters in the word "infamy" to write an acrostic poem. They...
Curated OER
Bill O'Rights
Students discuss and identify the first ten amendments to the Constitution and apply their understanding of the material to how they currently affect their lives. They discover the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen, and...
Curated OER
U.s. Constitution Roll Call Test
Students act as newspaper reporters from 1787 and interview some of the signers of the Constitution. They study the contributions of these Founding Fathers: Washington, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton and discuss the purpose of the U.S....
Curated OER
We Are the Government
Students read primary documents to find the motivations of the founding fathers of the United States. In this primary documents lesson, students discuss the meaning of the Preamble to the Constitution, read parts of the Constitution...
Curated OER
How did Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson affect the Civil Rights Movement?
Learners research Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson then utilize their findings to determine what each of the three Presidents contributed to the Civil Rights Movement. In this U.S. History lesson, students work in small groups to...
Curated OER
Civil Rights
Students are introduced to the concept of Civil Rights. In groups, they use a timeline of the Navajo tribe to identify the ways the tribe has made advances in Civil Rights throughout the years. To end the lesson, they take notes and...
Judicial Branch of California
Separate But Equal - Is It Black or White?
The story of Ruby Bridges and the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education are fantastic tools for discussing the concept of separate but equal. Kids tackle some big questions about what is fair, what is civil, and what rights or laws...