PBS
Pbs News Hour: Constitutional Amendments and Gay Marriage
In this lesson, learners examine and debate the issue of same sex marriage by studying background information, news articles, legal arguments and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They then draft an amendment of their own to...
Incredible Art Department
The Incredible Art Department: Constitution Day
Discusses the origin of Constitution Day and the history of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Lists descriptions of the seven articles and twenty-seven amendments in the Constitution. Presents lesson suggestions from teachers and...
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: A Nation Conceived in Liberty [Pdf]
In this instructional activity, 11th graders examine the events and political philosophy that laid the foundations of the American government, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. They also look at what role religion played in...
Texas State Historical Association
Texas State Historical Association: The Constitution of Texas [Pdf]
An activity guide where students refer to the Texas Almanac, which is free to download, for information needed to complete assigned tasks. In this lesson plan, they examine the Texas Constitution and the Texas Bill of Rights and record...
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: The Rule of Law
In this lesson, students examine primary source materials including the Book of Laws, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Magna Carta in order to understand their meaning and to compare them. They then prepare an argument on...
Other
Landmark Cases: Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Lesson plans, activities, and information all about this key Supreme Court decision that protected the rights of the accused. These became known as the "Miranda Warnings." Included is a background summary, excerpts and the complete text...
Library of Congress
Loc: The u.s. Constitution: Governing of the u.s.
This unit includes four lessons using primary sources to examine continuity and change in the governing of the United States. Lessons one and two are focused on a study of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and provide access to primary...
The Dirksen Congressional Center
Congress Link: Lesson Plans
The Dirksen Congressional Center provides abundant lesson plans on all aspects of the US Congress and the US Constitution. All lessons contain time frames, objectives, and links to material, and are built around Bloom's taxonomy.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Welfare to Work: The States Take Charge
Lesson on public policy, history and public debate over welfare and the Welfare Reform Act. Includes informative text with background and historical information, questions for writing and discussion, and guidelines for class debate.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: John Stuart Mill and Individual Liberty
Lesson for high school students on the philosophy of John Stuart Mill. Through reading, writing, and small group activity, students explore Mill's ideas on democracy, women's rights, and what constitutes a just government, then apply...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Aids in Africa
Activity-based resource on the AIDS epidemic and Africa. Students answer a set of questions for discussion and participate in an activity in which they analyze the literature and make recommendations as if from the U.S. State Department....
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Economics and Democracy
Lesson in economics and democracy in which students analyze the decision to outsource jobs and determine if globalization is a threat to American workers. Small group, independent and whole class work. Links to related material.
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: Religious Liberty
Use these lesson extensions to help your students understand the historical context of American religious liberty.
Center For Civic Education
Center for Civic Education: James Madison and Executive Power
James Madison has been called the "Father of the Constitution". His ideas have shaped the role of our government, the role of political parties, the Bill of Rights and more. This lesson offers extensive background, critical thinking...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: The Alien and Sedition Acts: Defining American Freedom
Lesson with activity in which students study and analyze the challenges surrounding constitutional rights and national security by focussing on the Alien and Sedition Act, 1798 and definitions of American freedom. Links to primary...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Conflict of Cultures: President Polk and the Taking of the West
Lesson and activity on conflict of cultures in which students study U.S. overtaking lands of Mexico and California and form policy on property rights and citizenship of conquered cultures. Activity guidelines, questions for discussion...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Slavery, Civil War, and Democracy: What Did Lincoln Believe?
Activity in which students examine the concept of democracy and the idea of a "just society" through the eyes of Abraham Lincoln. Lesson includes questions for discussion and activity in which students prepare a speech on the what they...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Centralized vs Decentralized Rule: The Legacy of Alexander the Great
Resource for teachers and students. A study of government and society through a look at the legacy of Alexander the Great. Includes questions for discussion followed by activity surrounding four Hellenistic philosophies of the "good...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Dust Bowl Exodus: How Drought and the Depression Took Their Toll
Activity-based resource on the social and economic conditions of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. Students select from a list of comprehensive reference material to research the times and then choose a 1930s artist on which to report....
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Indian Removal: The Cherokees, Jackson, and the "Trail of Tears"
Collaborative and consensus building activity on U.S. policy and treatment of Native Americans. Lesson provides an in-depth look at government Indian removal and provides a list from which students choose and defend a Native American...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Developments in Democracy: How Women Won the Right to Vote
Thoughtful and in-depth activity-based lesson on the history of women's suffrage. Students analyze the history and evaluate the strategy used to gain the right to vote, then in small groups, write a petition to President Wilson in which...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Free Markets and Antitrust Law
Lesson in economics and democracy in which young scholars study and analyze Adam Smith's concept of free market mercantilism and determine how it would apply to government interventions today. Includes text, questions for study,...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: The United States and the Barbary Pirates
Lesson and activity in which students analyze foreign policy challenges on paying ransom. Students study U.S. response to the Barbary pirates and apply their knowledge to modern day terrorism and foreign policy examples.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Executive Branch: A Hero Betrayed: The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant
Lesson with activity on the Executive Branch, distribution of power, scandal and the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. Includes questions for discussion and class activity. Links to supplemental material.