National First Ladies' Library
Government: Defending the Bill of Rights
Pupils examine the proposition of a country without the Bill of Rights. In a role-playing activity, teams of students gather information to build a case for retaining the Bill of Rights and present it before their congressperson.
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Understanding Treaties: Students Explore the Lives of Yakama People Before and After Treaties
Students analyze treaties made between the US government and Native American tribes. For this government lesson, students evaluate bias emotionally connect with what was gained and lost during the late 1700's. This is a 3 part lesson...
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Scavenger Hunt
Students participate in a scavenger hunt to gather information on their governmental officials. Using the internet, they identify and discuss the various political boundaries to determine who their representative is. They complete a...
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Mount Rushmore
How did those faces get on that mountain, and why did they choose those particular presidents? Learn about Mount Rushmore's construction and the history behind the men represented on the mountainside with a short reading passage and set...
Constitution Facts
U.S. Constitution Crossword Puzzles: Basic #2
Fifty prompts make up a crossword puzzle that challenges scholars to show what they know about the U.S. Constitution.
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How Laws Are Made
Students create a graphic organizer to illustrate the steps elected representatives must take to make a new law. Included: Student work sheet and role-play ideas. Students use their graphic organizers to write a paragraph briefly...
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Addressing Student's Questions in the Aftermath of the Terrorist Attacks
Students discuss peacemaking. In this political policy and emotions lesson, students explore ideas for expressing feelings in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Students reflect on punitive and restorative justice.
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Citizen's Role
Learners discuss the role of citizens in the United States. In groups, they evaluate how the role of citizens is important when selecting Supreme Court Justices. They read articles about internest groups and complete worksheets to end...
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Campaign 2004: Classroom Electorate
Young scholars role play as political analysts first forecasting the electoral college vote in a presidential election and then, following the results of the actual count. They study the role of swing states, and why political...
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Graphically Speaking
Students discover the links between population and Congressional representation. In this government lesson, students research population statistics and create spreadsheets that compare population to the number of Congress members per state.
National First Ladies' Library
Secretary of Commerce
Middle schoolers gain understanding of economic history of United States in twentieth century by examining role of Department of Commerce. Student groups each analyze one quarter of twentieth century by researching role of Department of...
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America and the Sino-Japanese Conflict, 1933-1939
Students examine the U.S. stance regarding the Sino-Japanese conflict. In this diplomacy lesson, students analyze the sanctions employed by United States on Japan when they took over Manchuria. Students determine how actions by the...
Curated OER
Health - Lesson Plan on Prescription Drug Prices
Students examine the issue of prescription drug prices in the United States. They discover how globalization impacts the available remedies to lower the costs to American consumers. They participate in a mock U.S. Senate Commerce Committee
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Jackie Steals Home
Students read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan to...
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Portraits Of Power: American Presidents
Students discover the responsibilities of the presidency. In this U.S. government lesson, students watch "Portraits Of Power: American Presidents," and then compose essays regarding the citizens' relationship to the presidency.
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Civic Virtue in Democracy
Students identify and describe characteristics of civic virtue. Following a class discussion, they create their own definitions of civic virtue. They write essays based on their own definitions and formulate conclusions on the state of...
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Signature History
Students review the meaning and application of primary and secondary sources in research. They determine how researchers locate primary source documents before looking at signatures as a validating factor on many primary sources....
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Law, Values and Lobbying
Students begin to examine the lawmaking process. Using their text, they describe the role of the three branches of government. In groups, they identify the four basic values protected by law and define the concept of lobbying and...
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Freedom of Religion
Students use this lesson to focus on the freedom of religion. In groups, they discuss how the separation of church and state applies to the public schools across the country. They compare and contrast the establishment and free exercise...
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Life before Congress
Students name some interesting backgrounds of Members of Congress, identify their current representatives in the legislative branch of the national government, and describe the background of one local representative or senator.
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Perseverance
Young scholars examine how the failure of Reconstruction led to the systematic passage of Jim Crow laws in states across the South and the negative impact these laws had on the growth and development of the US.
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Arthur Meets the President
Young scholars discuss the role of the President. In this government lesson, students read Arthur Meets the President and complete a story map. Young scholars develop new vocabulary related to the story.
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Creating the Constitution
Useful as a review assignment or as a quiz, these ten questions on the U.S. Constitution address its creation. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin are the main topics of the questions, as well as The Three-Fifths Compromise.
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Homemade Political Parties
Use this 5-day lesson to clarify the platforms of the two major parties, comparing and contrasting against students' beliefs. Begin by looking at unlabeled summaries of both party platforms, having learners identify most with one. Groups...