iCivics
Wanted: A Just Right Government
What type of government did American colonists gain and seek after gaining their independence after the Revolutionary War? Here is lesson that will guide your young learners through the new nation's progression from the Articles of...
NYC Department of Records
Citizenship and Elections: The Importance of a Ballot
Approximately 58 prcent of those eligible voted in the 2016 US Presidential election. In an attempt to impress upon learners the importance of voting and voting rights, class members examine primary source documents related to the...
Curated OER
Get to Know Your Bill of Rights
Sixth graders research and examine the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America. They sequence events significant to this time period, read and discuss text, and in small groups prepare and present the...
Curated OER
Foundations of the U.S. Constitution
Eighth graders use information found in their textbooks to create flip charts containing information about Articles of Confederation, U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, English Bill of Rights, House of Burgesses, Magna Carta, and...
School Improvement in Maryland
Dividing the Powers of Government
Who does what? To develop an understanding of the balance of power between the US federal and state governments, class members research responsibilities in terms of legal systems, security issues, economic activities, lawmaking, and...
City University of New York
Presidential Elections and the Electoral College
To understand the controversy surrounding the US 2000 presidential election, class members investigate the rationale behind the Electoral Collage, the intimidation involved in the election of 1876, and the 2004 American League...
Curated OER
Cultural Lit. 30: The Constitution & Native Americans
Students identify and consider United States Constitutional origins in American Indian culture.
Curated OER
Paving the Road to the Constitution
Eighth graders assess the strengths and weaknessess of the Articles of Confederation as related to the United States and North Carolina. They demonstrate an argument for or against ratification of the United States Constitution.
Curated OER
What Makes Us Free?: Maine's Declaration of Rights
Students analyze Maine's Declaration of Rights. They review state constitutions and declaration of rights and their importance. They analyze a section of Maine's Declaration of Rights and crete their own declarations of rights. They...
Curated OER
Launching the New U.S. Navy
Students analyze the U.S. Constitution for references to the creation and management of the U.S. Navy. They discuss their research and complete a worksheet and then research how the current Navy is organized.
Curated OER
Creating Historians: Giving Scholars the Answers
How allowing index cards on tests can empower critical thinking; part one of a series on approaching social studies as a group of historians.
Curated OER
We Are the Government
Students read primary documents to find the motivations of the founding fathers of the United States. In this primary documents lesson, students discuss the meaning of the Preamble to the Constitution, read parts of the Constitution...
Curated OER
Understanding The Preamble
Students explore the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution. In this government instructional activity, students write a preamble to encourage cooperation in their classroom as they study the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution.
Curated OER
A Lesson on Reconstruction Legislation and Amendments
Students study the legislation and Amendments of Reconstruction period in America. In this Reconstruction lesson plan, students work in groups to dissect the Black Codes, an article in the US Constitution, as well as the 13th, 14th, and...
Curated OER
The U.S. and Iroquois Constitutions
Students receive and interpret copies of US Constitution and Iroquois Constitution. Then they reference (look up) the articles mentioned by Daly in the Iroquois Constitution text, and analyze for parallel meaning in the US Constitution....
Curated OER
Everyone Wants to Be President
How can you help your class understand the breadth of duties and the challenges of being the leader of the United States?
Curated OER
Presidential Power and Influence
Middle schoolers analyze the powers and duties that Article II of the US Constitution grants the President. They determine the influence the President has on the nation and how philanthropy changes in a nation.
Curated OER
The Jury System
Learners analyze Article III and the Seventh Amendment. In this US Justice lesson, students research the US jury system and complete a Student Jury questionnaire. Learners will discuss the impact the implementation of the Jury System had...
Curated OER
Limits of Power
Young scholars examine the importance of limiting power in governments. In this government lesson, students investigate the importance of placing limits on government by looking at the US Constitution. They look at ways that being an...
Minnesota Courts
Inside Straight: the Third Branch
Learners use the worksheet as they view the film Inside Straight: the Third Branch. Multiple case studies and the history of the judicial branch of the US government are included via hyperlink and act as the topics of discussion...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Conservation, Preservation, and the National Parks
Going green? Scholars investigate the creation of the US National Park program. Through diary entries as well as expert testimony, they synthesize information and analyze the need for conservation and preservation. Finally, they display...
ProCon
Voting Age
Should age matter when it comes to voting? Scholars read an article discussing the pros and cons of lowering the voting age to 16. They then consider both the advantages and disadvantages of having younger voters. After thinking about...
Curated OER
Analyzing a Writer's Stance
Should college admissions decisions be based on whether whose family members attended? Secondary students read and respond to a New York Times article on the issue of 'legacy preferences' in college admissions. Following class...
Anti-Defamation League
Women's Suffrage, Racism, and Intersectionality
The Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote—as long as they were white. High schoolers read articles and essays about racism in the suffrage movement and consider how intersectionality played a role in the movement. Scholars...