Judicial Branch of California
The Constitution: What It Says and What It Means
Learners get the chance to act as representatives to the Constitution Convention, and must decide whether or not to recommend your state ratify the new framework. After examining the Constitution line-by-line, they consider their...
Facing History and Ourselves
Taking a Stand: Models of Civic Participation
How does an individual take a stand for a principle or belief? what skills are required to do so? What are the challenges and risks in doing so? Class members study examples of individuals engaging in such activities and then identify...
DocsTeach
WWI Propaganda and Art
Uncle Sam wants you! During World War II, the US government and military created a propaganda campaign to gain public support. The activity uses primary documents such as photos to explain how and why the propaganda campaign was...
Curated OER
Honoring Property Rights
Students examine the issue of cheating. In this property rights lesson plan, students define honor and discuss intellectual property rights as they explore a case study.
Heritage Foundation
Procedural Rights: Amendments VI, VII, and VIII
Even in court, your class members have procedural rights provided by the amendments. Teach high schoolers this important lesson by using the 18th installment of a 20-part unit exploring the US Constitution. The resource provides several...
Curated OER
What is the Role of Civil Disobedience Today?
Students examine the meaning and use of civil disobedience. They decide whether civil disobedience is a viable form of protest in contemporary times after studying the acts of Rosa Parks.
Curated OER
Evaluating Nonviolence as a Method of Social Change
During a lesson on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, the Civil Rights Movement, and/or nonviolent resistance, students can gather their thoughts in this activity. The questions cover Dr. King's philosophy of nonviolence, and two opinion...
Curated OER
What Responsibilities Accompany Our Rights?
Students explain the importance of citizens in protecting everyone's rights by fulfilling their responsibilities. They describe specific responsibilities associated with the five essential rights of citizens.
Curated OER
The Fight for Human Rights
Students explore the concept of human rights by developing and defending their own 'Bills of Human Rights' and by writing a reflective essay that compares their notions of human rights and the protection of them.
Curated OER
Population Diversity And Human Rights
Students explore the concept of economic sanctions. In this population diversity and human rights lesson, students examine how the United States uses economic sanctions to support or prohibit international activities. Students present...
Curated OER
Children's March Teacher's Guide, Activity 6
Students see the role that different genders played in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. They explain how popular culture influences them.
Curated OER
Lesson #3: Internet Map Activity
Young scholars label assembly centers and relocation camps on a given map of the United States in order to create a better understanding of the relocation experience of Japanese-American citizens and the distance that families had to...
Curated OER
MLK Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis
Designed as a PowerPoint presentation for AP English class, this resource provides a detailed analysis of the content, format, and purpose of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail.” Because much of the...
Curated OER
World at Peace
Students explore world peace by creating a PowerPoint presentation. In this human rights lesson, students discuss the current conditions of human rights around the planet and view an on-line exhibit hosted by UNICEF. Students discuss...
University of California
The Civil War: Secession of the South
Was the Southern states' decision to secede from the Union protected by the United States Constitution? Eighth graders discuss the constitutionality of the South's justification for secession, particularly the secession of South...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Beyond Birmingham, Summer 1963
The assassination of Medgar Evers. The integration of the University of Alabama. The March on Washington. The "I Have a Dream" speech. Created by the Alabama History Education Initiative, this resource examines how the events...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Two Different African-American Visions: W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington
The strategies civil rights activists Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois proposed for blacks to achieve racial progress is the focus of an activity in which class groups identify the strategies as well as the benefits and drawbacks...
DocsTeach
Analyzing a Letter from Jackie Robinson: "Fair Play and Justice"
Jackie Robinson was more than a baseball legend; he was an activist, too. An interesting resource explores Robinson's time in the military using primary sources. Scholars examine the racially inspired event that led to a court martial...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
New York Times Co. v Sullivan: The Alabama Case that Changed Libel Law
Malice aforethought? Can the New York Times be held libel for false claims appearing in its ads? The Supreme Court case New York Times v Sullivan changed the interpretation of the First Amendment. Class members examine these changes and...
DocsTeach
School Desegregation Court Cases: Mendez v. Westminster and Brown v. Board
Separate is not equal! Young historians analyze the petition from the U.S. Supreme Court case Mendez v. Westminster filed in 1945 and examine background material about the case. They then compare it to the more famous Brown v. Board of...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Suppressing the Vote
Voting rights have expanded over time, but some voters are still being suppressed. A thought-provoking resource explores the history of voter suppression in the US and efforts to remove roadblocks to voting. Young historians learn about...
Curated OER
Significance of Individuals to Defending Human Rights
Eleventh graders examine four different kinds of human rights. In this American Government lesson plan, 11th graders research the assigned human right in their groups. Students create a presentation about this human right to...
Curated OER
Human Rights Defenders Scavenger Hunt: A Computer Lab Activity
Students explore human rights issues. In this human rights lesson, 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 rights...
Curated OER
Activists for Human Rights
Learners research prominent human rights activists from U.S. history. They report the biographical facts of their subject along with information on the causes he or she represented. Students also examine local human rights issues and...