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Activity
Constitutional Rights Foundation

What Should the US Do About North Korea's Nuclear Weapons?

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
North Korea, a shadowy nation distrustful of America, is working on a nuclear weapons program. What should the United States do? The question has plagued American presidents for years, but now young scholars get to make their...
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

United Nations Lesson Plans

For Teachers 5th - 8th
United Nations lesson plans can help students learn about an organization whose mission is to promote peace and security.
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Lesson Plan
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Advocates for Human Rights

Refugees and Asylum Seekers

For Students 8th - Higher Ed Standards
To gain a deeper understanding of the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, class members read stories written from the point of view of an emigrant, map the individual's journey, and note the human rights affected by each stage of the...
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Lesson Plan
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Advocates for Human Rights

U.S. Immigration Policy

For Students 8th - Higher Ed Standards
The United States Immigration Policy is incredibly complex. To gain a deeper understanding of the criteria, quotas, preferences, and categories of immigrants admitted to the US, class members engage in a role playing activity that...
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Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Educating About Immigration The DREAM Act

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Group members role play state legislators, supporters of and opponents to the The DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors). After listening to the arguments put forth for and against the immigration legislation,...
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Lesson Plan
City University of New York

The 15th and 19th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Who gets to vote? Learn more about struggles for suffrage throughout United States history with a lesson plan based on primary source documents. Middle schoolers debate the importance of women's suffrage and African American suffrage...
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Activity
Smithsonian Institution

Young People Shake Up Elections (History Proves It) Educator Guide

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Vote, it's your civic duty! The resource provides several videos about voting in the United States. Scholars watch a series of topics ranging from youth participation to civic action. The educator's guide provides teachers with...
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

James Madison: Raising an Army—Balancing the States and the Federal Government

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
To war! To war! Every nation in the history of the world has had to deal with warfare on some level. Scholars go through a series of activities and discussions surrounding the development of the Constitution to help them better...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Has the Constitution Shaped the Economic System in the United States?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the characteristics of market economies. In this United States economics instructional activity, students analyze the Constitution to understand how it contributes to the market economy established in the United States....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The National Motto

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders examine the meaning of the national motto, "In God We Trust." In this national motto lesson, 2nd graders explain some of the reasons why people selected the motto for the nation after viewing and discussing a coins and a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Indian Heroes And Role Models

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders investigate the concept of heroes and role models within the Native American community. They use primary and secondary resources to answer specific questions intended to bring the students to a definition of Native...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What are the Qualifications to be President of the United States?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers research the qualifications necessary to be the president of the United States. They create a want-ad for this position using what they have learned about the qualifications.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Nation Building

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Ninth graders examine the role of the United States in nation building.  In this World History activity, 9th graders evaluate the role of the United States in building nations in other parts of the world. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Upper graders explore pop culture and pop music as a forum for female role models. They explore women who have currently contributed to our pop world and why they could be considered role models. They each interview a woman in their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japan and Disputed Land

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars engage in a variety of activities to research the land disputes that Japan has had in the 20th century with its neighbors. They role play an interesting meeting with the United Nations and conduct research to answer...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Can You Be a Revolutionary?

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders identify priorities in human rights for children. They discuss the role the United Nations has in bringing nations together to work for peace and development. They create a list of imperatives that would address oversights...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Roots of Prohibition: Examining the Effort to Prohibit Alcohol in America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary class...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oil Crisis: What Would You Do?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The dynamics between the economies and politics of the United States and the Middle East are here to study. Upper graders read and discuss scenarios relating to OPEC and the current oil crisis, then in small groups role-play members of...
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Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

U.S. Immigration Policy and Hitler’s Holocaust

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Though the Statue of Liberty welcomes political refugees to her shores, the welcoming sentiment has not always been reflected in the American citizenry. High schoolers read about the regrettable period in United States history when the...
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Lesson Plan
City University of New York

The Split Over Suffrage

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Compare and contrast Frederick Douglass's and the National Women's Suffrage Association's stances on equal rights and suffrage with a series of documents and worksheets. Learners work together or independently to complete the packet, and...
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Website
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Smithsonian Institution

New American Roles

For Students 5th - 12th Standards
America has dealt with its fair share of hardships in contemporary history. The resource discusses the events of the Gulf War, September 11th, the Afghanistan War, and The Iraq War. Scholars click on artifacts to learn more information,...
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

How to Win a World War

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High schoolers are have begun to learn  the art of diplomacy with each other, but do they understand how diplomacy works at a global level?  The second in a series of four lessons, guides scholars in evaluating primary sources. The why...
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

Empire Intelligence Briefings

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
To trade or not to trade. Young diplomats put their country's best foot forward in a series of briefings for other countries about their nations. The goal is to persuade others to engage in diplomacy and trade. Using a previous lesson...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

National Expansion

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the Manifest Denstiny. They explore how the idea was evident in 19th century American maps. Students brainstorm the relationships between maps and national expansion. They review a map from 1816 that called for...