Curated OER
Lesson 1: The Importance of Rules in Our Country and in Our Classroom
Explore the importance of rules in a community with the engaging first lesson of this series on the US government. To begin, children play a paper clip game that requires them to make up their own rules as they go, after which the...
Curated OER
The Golden Rule of Reciprocity: A Silk Road Encounters Project
Students are introduced to the Golden Rule of Reciprocity. Using the four major world religions, they compare and contrast quotes about the Golden Rule. In groups, they create their own version of the Rule and share it with the class.
Curated OER
The Rule of Law
Learners continue their exploration of the concept of rule of law. As a class, they discuss how Civil Rights leaders followed the rule of law in their protests. After reading various articles, they participate in a discussion and...
Center for Civic Education
Orb and Effy Learn About Authority
Simplify the teaching of the US Constitution with this primary grade social studies lesson. While reading a fun story about an imaginary place called Bubble Land, children learn about the concept of authority and the importance of rules...
Curated OER
Creating a Classroom Constitution
Youngsters identify and interpret the importance of having rules in order to maintain order at home, at school, in their community, and in the United States. They create a working Classroom Constitution that governs the classroom and...
Center for Civic Education
The Power of Nonviolence: Rosa Parks: A Quest for Equal Protection Under the Law
Teach young historians about the historical legacy of Rosa Parks with a multi-faceted lesson plan. Pupils follow stations and use journals to explore prominent events, analyze primary resource documents, and engage in interesting...
Visa
Road Rules: Researching and Buying a Car
How do the loan principal, interest rate, and term all factor into a monthly car payment? Introduce your class to some of the key steps and considerations of obtaining a loan and purchasing a car.
Curated OER
Reviewing the Rules
Learners participate in a group discussion to evaluate rules that the class created together. In this early childhood social studies lesson plan, students condense rules into categories and reword rules to be stated in the positive.
Curated OER
Classroom Rules
Students participate in selection of language needed to form rules for the classroom. They explore the categories of: things you have to do, things you can't do and things you can do if you like. Then they break into groups and create...
YMCA
Turning Courtrooms into Classrooms
Turn the class into the next episode of Law & Order! Scholars work together to create a mock trial over the course of several weeks before going before a judge for the case performance. They take on different roles, go through...
Center for Civic Education
Constitution Day Rap
Engage your class while learning about the US Constitution with this fun primary grade social studies lesson. After viewing a picture of the US Constitution, young learners piece together a US flag using stars and stripes with facts...
Stanford University
Voices of the Struggle: The Continual Struggle for Equality
As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement from 1868 to the present, class members examine first person narratives, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, and other significant events in civil rights history. They then...
iCivics
Campaign Cash: Money Talks!
Money talks! And it can reveal a lot about political candidates. An 11-slide presentation examines how candidates raise and spend money on an election. The slides, using data from the 2016 Presidential election, reveal how much it costs...
Beverly Hills High School
The Age of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte may have only held onto French leadership for a short period of time, but his legacy looms large throughout European history. An informative slideshow teaches history students about the age of Napoleon, the unification...
Curated OER
Representation: Majority rule
Students explore various forms of decision making including majority rule, executive, consensus and autocracy (as well as exploring the power of veto), when they debate a bill in a class parliament.
Curated OER
Rules and Laws
Students investigate the difference between rules and laws. In this justice system lesson, students discuss the presence of rules of their lives and compare them the "Code of the West."
Curated OER
Teaching Tolerance and Acceptance
If you teach students about tolerance and acceptance at the beginning of the year, you can create a positive classroom environment.
Curated OER
Taking Age into Account
Have your class consider the issue of minors' accountability for their crimes. They discuss specific cases and the general issue of juvenile crime in round table discussions. Use this activity to emphasize the rules and individual roles...
Curated OER
Topical Discussions
Engaging in topical discussions can be a great way to teach kids how to build strong arguments and support their opinions with concrete evidence. High schoolers choose a controversial topic, build an argument for or against that topic,...
Curated OER
Voices from Little Rock: Understanding the Civil Rights Movement through Primary Sources
As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement, class members examine documents associated with the Little Rock Nine, the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the 14th and 15th Amendments to the US Constitution, and chapters from Melba...
Heritage Foundation
The Office of the Executive
An executive is not just a leader of a company; you can also use the term to describe the president of the United States. The ninth part of a 20-part unit teaches high schoolers about the importance of the executive branch and the...
Council for Economic Education
Satisfaction Please! (Part 3)
Understanding the US government's role proves very important in the American economy, especially for consumers. Scholars learn about how varying government agencies help them when facing an issue. The third and final resource in the...
PBS
Constitution Day
Travel back to 1787 as young scholars investigate the creation of the US Constitution. After first working in small groups to create sets of classroom rules, students go on to read a summary of the Constitution and watch a short video...
Curated OER
Polite Listeners and Traffic Rules
Students consider the necessity of rules. In this citizenship lesson, students consider the reasons for rules and they complete traffic light activities.