Curated OER
Do Factions Control Political Parties Today?
Students establish how the first political parties were formed. In this U.S. History lesson plan, students work in groups to share their personal viewpoint on various topics provided by the teacher, then they are assigned to bring...
Curated OER
American Focus on World Constitutions
Upper graders read several passages to gain an understanding of the nations that have adopted a constitution similar to the United States Constitution. This is a scripted lesson plan that is intended to build content-specific vocabulary...
Curated OER
Paradise Lost: Problem Situation
Let your class voice their opinions with a group debate activity. Before reading John Milton's Paradise Lost, they work in small groups in assigned roles to form a position about authority and rebellion, comparing a...
Curated OER
Election of 1864
An interesting lesson plan uses a hands-on-activity and group discussion to explore the 1864 presidential election and Lincoln's plans for ending the Civil War. Designed for high school, the resource also requires historians to...
Curated OER
Uglies: Problematic Situation
As part of a unit centered around a reading of Uglies, a 2005 young adult dystopian fiction novel by Scott Westerfield, Steven Cummings, and Devin K. Grayson, class members engage in an activity that asks groups to come to a...
Curated OER
Government: The Power of Persuasion
Students are able to define and identify a type of interest group. They are able to describe some strategies used by interest group. Students are able to identify the postive and negative aspects of interest groups.
Curated OER
Political crisis in Indonesia
Students research Indonesian government and politics, then compare and contrast Indonesian demonstrations to recent upheavals in the Philippines and Ivory Coast. They formulate opinions about the relationship of a nation's stability...
Curated OER
Interest Groups in South Carolina
Twelfth graders explain the work of interest groups and give examples of South Carolina interest groups. They identify positive & negative influences of interest groups in U.S. & S.C. politics. They take and defend a position on...
C-SPAN
The Impact of Citizens United v. FEC
What began as an effort to show a movie by an interest group has impacted financing of federal elections. Did the Citizens United case lead to more "dark money" in politics, or did it shine a light with more speech? Using video clips...
Curated OER
Religion and Politics: The Battle Over the Judiciary
Students analyze the relationship between religion an politics. In this Supreme Court lesson, students examine the results of the 2004 presidential election and explore how the results impacted George W. Bush and his Supreme Court...
Street Law
The Challenge of Selecting an Ideal Supreme Court Nominee
Nearly every president has had the opportunity to name a nominee to the United States Supreme Court. But what makes someone an ideal candidate to become a Supreme Court justice? High schoolers test their prior knowledge about the...
Curated OER
Economics: Actions of Government
Students examine the susceptibility of legislators to agricultural lobbyists to support subsidy programs. In small groups, they role-play as members of interest groups that might be affected by inflation.
Curated OER
Presidential Election 2008:Making Decisions about Political Candidates
Students think critically about political candidates. In this election lesson plan, students research candidates and use information sources to explore their stands on issues.
Federal Reserve Bank
The Story of the Federal Reserve: High School Lesson Plan
Is there a bank for the banks? Pupils analyze the complexities of the Federal Reserve system by breaking it down into easy-to-understand sections. Step-by-step investigation using flow charts and graphs of how the monetary system works...
National First Ladies' Library
Capital Monuments: Exploring Washington, DC Frances Cleveland: Law, Politics and Government
Students, working in small groups, research seven of the most famous monuments found in Washington, DC. They design brochures based on the information they gather from Internet and print resources. Upon completion, they share the...
Curated OER
How We Vote
Students fill in a graphic organizer and discuss the struggles in groups about the history of voting in Louisiana. Students also explore a voting timeline to see who could and could not vote before and after 1850.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 4: Political Advertising
Students observe a political advertisement and evaluate the views promoted in the ad. After exploring governmental policies, students create their own 30-second ad to promote a specified cause and publicize their views. Students share...
School Improvement in Maryland
Regulatory Agency
Five governmental regulatory agencies are tasked to respond to market failure. Groups investigate the roles of each of these agencies as well as the social, economic, and political impact of their actions.
EduGAINs
Introduction to the Great Depression—Canadian and World Studies
Ah, the classic business cycle model: recession, depression, recovery, prosperity. And then there was the Great Depression. Groups investigate the economic conditions that led to and social movements of the 1920s that great out of the...
Time Warp Trio
My Big Fat Greek Olympics
The Olympic Games are indeed a significant and far-reaching cultural component in our international community today, but from where do they originate? Where do our traditions stem from, and how do we choose the sports that constitute...
Novelinks
The Hobbit: Problematic Situation
As part of a unit study of The Hobbit, class members engage in an activity that asks group to practice the skills needed to reach consensus in a discussion.
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
A Mini lesson on Semicolons
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-lesson on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how this...
Teaching Tolerance
The War on Drugs—Mechanisms and Effects
The war on drugs doesn't have definite results. An interesting lesson examines the social, political, and economic effect of the war on drugs. Academics learn how the war on drugs has led to mass incarcerations and negatively affected...
Community Colleges of Los Angeles
Seeking Refuge: Understanding Refugees in Canada
What if you had no choice but to leave everything behind and seek asylum elsewhere? Do countries have an obligation to accept refugees? To gain an understanding of the complexity of the issues of refugee rights, class members first...