While COVID-19 has changed almost everything about daily life, it's also had a tremendous impact on the 2020 presidential contest. Using video clips featuring political advisors from both sides of the aisle, learners brainstorm what they...

Polls are ubiquitous in American politics, but just how reliable and equal are they? A video-driven resource helps learners discuss the question by examining what pollsters and pundits say. Extension activities involve evaluating the...

The work of building and maintaining a democracy is, in the words of Justice William Hastie, "never finished." To better understand what Hastie sees as an ongoing building process, class members listen to a seven-minute podcast about two...

Just because slavery was illegal doesn't mean it went away ... Jim Crow Laws took its place. An eye-opening lesson focuses on how Jim Crow Laws were used as a form of racial social control against African Americans in the United States....

While the American system is based on the idea of almost-universal suffrage for adults, great thinkers have had concerns about this system of governance. Using classic writings from Alexis de Tocqueville and videos highlighting thinkers...

The 2020 election is not the only unpredictable one in history. The Election of 1800 highlighted an unforeseen event in a presidential election. The activity reviews documents from the elections and what happened when the electoral...

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Four video clips reveal the events of that time, including the shift in the focus of the Civil Rights Movement, the aftermath of the assassination, and...

The reading of a contextual essay launches a study of Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 through 1887. Young historians identify the African Americans who served during this period, investigate the ways they won national...

Good primary resources, offering different perspectives on important issues and events, are hard to find. A packet of 12 primary source images, videos, audio recordings, records, and newspaper articles related to the 1960s civil rights...

The National Women's History Museum offers a 20-slide presentation that details the history of the Women's Suffrage Movement from its creation in the 1830s through the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

A 13-page packet introduces high schoolers to a lady of amazing firsts. Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress, the first Black woman to run for President of the United States, and a leader of the Women's Rights...

Students study early civilizations and the contributions they made to the foundations of human culture. They discuss why citizenship is valuable and the Constitutional Amendments that are associated with it.

Students appreciate the sacrifices that people from across the country made to ensure that all citizens could exercise their constitutional right to vote. They access excellent websites and documents imbedded in this plan to guide their...

Students brainstorm and list qualities that they would look for in a president; students rank qualities in order of importance.

Learners write a letter to Gogo, explaining the importance of voting, and why the Apartheid rule was not good. Five students are to rule over the other learners and exercise their new power over their classmates.

Students explore the controversy over the recent FCC vote to loosen restrictions on media ownership. After researching the background and position of local radio stations, students evaluate and make recommendations about free speech.

Learners consider which aspects of world around them have roots in 1960s, research and compare 1960s to today with regards to Civil and Women's Rights, Vietnam, counterculture, music, voting, and economic rights, and explore legacy of...

Learners perform a series of experiments which show that plants require nutrients in certain quantities. They also cooperatively read materials on the nutrient requirements of plants, fertilizers, composting, and soil management, and...

Students debate the motion, "the USA is right to have capital punishment." Students begin by researching and writing their arguments to support or oppose the motion. After the debate, students vote according to their beliefs.

Young scholars listen as the teacher tells about the life of Keith Haring. Using drawing paper and pencils, they sketch figures and shapes in the style of K. Haring. They discuss the mural with students, and they vote on colors to use....

In this history worksheet, students participate in a voter registration simulation where their trying to get Black Americans registered to vote in Mississippi in 1961. Students create a "memory trunk" that documents their experiences.

Learners create an advertising campaign in which a candidate from Animal Farm will run for an upcoming election. In this follow-up activity to George Orwell's Animal Farm lesson, students explore propaganda, rhetoric, and satire as they...

Class members complete activities related to the story "Oklahoma Stone Soup." First, pupils read, discuss, and answer questions about the story. Next, to incorporate math into the lesson, learners make stone soup using a variety of...

Students create their own classroom constitution. In this leadership skills lesson, students work together to solve problems. Students discuss why rules are important and brainstorm ways to solve classroom problems. Students vote on the...