Center for Civic Education
The Power of Nonviolence: What Is Nonviolence? What Does It Cost?
Your young learners will delve into the language of primary source documents in order to identify the characteristics, benefits, and costs of nonviolence. The lesson plan includes a mix of activities, including an anticipatory activity,...
iCivics
Emphasize Minimize
Encourage your class members to consider what points they are really emphasizing when they are making an argument, whether in writing or in speech. Watch out though, as this lesson may just leave your learners eager to debate you!
iCivics
Yeah, But...
Impress upon your young learners the importance of formulating counter arguments based on facts and not opinions. This resource is meant to strengthen arguments designed in a previous lesson, but could also be used as a stand-alone...
iCivics
A Trip Around the World
How do the rights of citizens in other countries, such as India, Germany, Brazil, and Iran, compare to those of Americans? Take a closer look at the provisions of various foreign constitutions, and compare and contrast the protections...
iCivics
Government Spending
After discussing personal financing with your class, consider following up with this well-rounded introduction to government spending. The resource includes reading documents and worksheets, and covers topics as the federal deficit and...
iCivics
Congress
Through reading materials, worksheets, and a primary source activity, this resource provides an overview of the structure and powers of the legislative branch of government in the United States. Readings review how a bill becomes a law,...
iCivics
You've Got Rights!
If aliens invaders nearly destroy the world in the distant future and leaders must decide on a pamphlet of protections to preserve individual rights, what should they include? Introduce the Bill of Rights and the struggle between the...
Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
Propaganda Posters
Don't be put off by the fact that the World War I propaganda posters in this packet are Canadian and some of them are even in French. All the better, in fact, to see the techniques. The richly detailed plan has instructors model...
University of Arkansas
Promises Denied
"Promises Denied," the second instructional activity in a unit that asks learners to consider the responsibilities individuals have to uphold human rights, looks at documents that illustrate the difficulty the US has had trying to live...
Sharp School
Real Life Economics 101
Your learners will take key economic concepts, such as identifying needs versus wants and the four factors of production, and design a video to explain their topic choice to the class. Rather than have one person in charge of dispensing...
iCivics
The "Federal" in Federalism
How are states in the United States related to each other? Does the government bind them together? Do states have different governments? After reading about federal power as a whole group, your class members will participate in a...
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...
iCivics
Why Government?
Why do people create governments? Where did we get our ideas about government? This is a fantastic introductory lesson for your American government class that begins by reviewing the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke in...
Weebly
Holocaust Diary Project
Here is a good interdisciplinary project that combines creative and narrative writing with studies of the Holocaust. Your young historians will compose a diary of experiences from the perspective of an individual living during the time...
Weebly
Infographic Project
This multi-faceted, progressive project includes an array of activities for analyzing and evaluating a theme of American history. Learners begin by constructing a timeline of events in United States history using Google docs, create a...
Weebly
Nationalism Project
Don't just ask your class to define nationalism, but invite them to experience it with an engaging project. Learners are divided into groups to design four items—a flag, slogan, national anthem, and historical tale—for a fictional...
US National Archives
Documented Rights Educational Lesson Plan
How have groups struggled to have their unalienable rights recognized in the United States? Acting as a research team for the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, your young historians will break into groups to research how people...
Judicial Learning Center
American Equality Milestones
Has equality always existed as an unalienable right in the United States? Use this worksheet to chronicle the history and progression of equality in major documents and speeches throughout American history. The graphic organizer asks...
Loudoun County Public Schools
World War I Causes Project
After completing this detailed and well-designed project, your young historians will be well-versed in their explanations of the reasons that various countries joined World War I! Learners design a picture book covering seven primary...
iCivics
I Can’t Wear What?
Can schools ban t-shirts picturing musical groups or bands? Your young citizens will find out with this resource, which includes a summary of a United States Supreme Court case from the 1960s about a similar dispute over students wearing...
What So Proudly We Hail
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: A Lesson on the Declaration of Independence
What does it mean to say that a right is unalienable? How did the founding fathers convey this revolutionary concept in the Declaration of Independence? Engage in a close reading and analysis of the Declaration of Independence, and...
The New York Times
Reader Idea | Thinking Like a Historian About Current World Events
Check out this fantastic research project where learners work to see the modern world through the eyes of a historian and analyze a contemporary event of their choice. An in-depth reflection on the project is given by the project...
Mr. Codega
Graphic Organizer: The Declaration of Independence
Help your young historians to analyze and break down the Declaration of Independence with this detailed graphic organizer. After reading the primary source, learners review the document's purpose, ideas about individual rights, major...
Curated OER
Why Do Governments Exist? Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu, and Rousseau
Here is a great secondary source reading that includes the primary ideas and philosophies of the famed Enlightenment philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In additional to discussing...