Heritage Foundation
Crime and Punishment
You wouldn't give someone a 10-day timeout for eating a piece of candy. The US government, too, does not believe in unreasonable punishment. A variety of exercises exploring the clauses of the US Constitution prompts class members to...
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
Making a Case
Start the day by sharing opinions about human rights. Then, read "A Defiant Hussein Pleads Not Guilty to Mass Execution" with your middle and high school class. Your pupils research the specific charges in the case against Saddam...
Curated OER
Argument in an Athenian Jail: Socrates and the Law
Students read and discuss Socrates's "Crito" and examine the arguments he made supporting his own death penalty. They consider the still-relevant debate between the rights of the individual and the rule of law.
Curated OER
Hit the Trail
Students read about the history of cattle trails and complete language arts, math, social studies, and more activities about barbed wire. In this barbed wire lesson plan, students read poetry, research changes over time, draw cattle...
Curated OER
Rosa Louis Parks
Students describe Rosa Parks' contributions and how they affect us today, and identify important events occurring at this time in history.
Curated OER
Internment Camps for Japanese-Americans
Students examine both sides of Japanese-Americans being sent into internment camps. They participate in a mock trial (civil trial) that includes the defense, plaintiff, and jury. They compose a statement in support or against this topic
Curated OER
Levi Coffin on Trial
Students are introduced to Quaker beliefs about slavery and actual statements of conviction about slavery by Levi Coffin. They explore the federal laws about returning escaped slaves, specifically the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Judicial Learning Center
The Judge and the Jury
Unless you are a lawyer, you might not understand just how unrealistic Law and Order and other legal dramas actually are. Here's a great resource to help scholars of criminology gain a more realistic perspective. The lesson outlines the...
iCivics
We The Jury
A jury must decide: are the names of two businesses so similar that one is hurt by customer confusion? Learners play the role of a juror who must decide—and convince others—whether Trio Taco and Trio Pizza are too similar. Using...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Audacity of a Vote: Susan B. Anthony’s Arrest
Susan B. Anthony's speech "Is It a Crime for Women to Vote?" takes center stage in a instructional activity that asks class members to consider how they might respond to what they consider an unjust law. Groups work through the speech...
Judicial Learning Center
Why Study Landmark Cases?
Why study landmark Supreme court cases? A helpful lesson offers a brief but valuable argument for the importance of these cases in the field of criminology. It introduces scholars to some key terms necessary for studying court cases and...
Curated OER
Fairy Tails Can Show Due:It can happen for you, If you play your part.,
Students view a Reader's Theater focusing on the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The story is used as a springboard into a videotaped mock trial of Gold E. Locks developed by the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). They...
Curated OER
Do We Need a Permanenet International Criminal Court?: War Crimes, Violence, International Law and Politics, Nuremberg
In this lesson, students explore the history, relevance and current application of international tribunals for war crimes. Students look at cases from the Nuremberg trials, Tokyo trials and the Bosnian War.
Curated OER
Shooting Civilians
Students examine world conflict issues. In this global conflict lesson, students listen to a story that puts them in the shoes of an army soldier ordered to shoot civilians. Students discuss the plight of the soldier and discuss the...
Curated OER
Whose God?
Students investigate religious freedom in the U.S. They watch and discuss a Bill Moyers NOW video, take a Freedom of Religion quiz, write an essay, and participate in a mock trial and debate.
Curated OER
Individual Rights And Responsibilities
Students investigate a trial in the netherlands in order to comprehend the concept of human rights and how they need protection. They conduct the research done by reading in small groups and have a mock trial using the details of the...
Curated OER
Safeguarding the Rights of the Study Participant
Learners write a paper that follow all the conventions of proper English. They create a paper that incorporates the required sections of an informed consent document such as would be used in a real clinical trial. Students synthesize...
Facing History and Ourselves
Laws and the National Community
When it comes to the law, is justice always served? Teach scholars about how law sometimes enables prejudice of entire groups of people with a unit on World War II that includes a warm-up activity, analysis of primary sources,...
Curated OER
Tort Law -- Negligence
Students review the differences between criminal and civil law. In groups, they examine high-profile cases and identify any act of negligence. They create a list of the elements of negligence and answer discussion questions as they watch...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln: Preserving the Union (2 Parts)
Students examine the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. They explore the trials and tribulations of the Civil War, and the problem of slavery that destroyed the Union. They also explore the man behind the image of the 16th president.
National First Ladies' Library
The Education of Freedmen...and Women and Children
Pupils examine political debate surrounding Freedmen's Bureau, use primary sources to explore trials and successes of effort to educate newly-freed slaves of all ages, research reasons for creation of Freedmen's Bureau, discuss President...
Curated OER
Torts: Intentional Torts
High schoolers are introduced to the concept of intentional torts. In groups, they compare and contrast civil and criminal wrongs committed by people. They are given case studies and use the elements of torts to apply to them. They share...
Curated OER
Danger on the Underground Railroad
Student examines the role of the Underground railroad. In this Post-Civil War lesson, 7th graders read and analyze primary sources. Students create a timeline that details the events of the stories.