Curated OER
Navigating The Legal System
Learners identify personal rights allowed under the law in the United States. An exploration of the legal process leads students to describe how the American legal system works. This lesson is intended for learners acquiring English.
Curated OER
What's the Difference Between Procedural and Substantive Due Process?
Students discuss the difference between substantive and procedural due process. They research the uses of due process on the internet and books. They also discuss cases involving students and due process.
Curated OER
Bill of Rights: Shapers of Meaning
Students review the Bill of Rights as a class. In groups, they use the internet to research the contributions made by historical figures in forming these rights. They create a poster showing the information they collected and present...
Curated OER
The Bill of Rights Today
Learners examine the Bill of Rights, They read the Bill of Rights and clarify the meaning of the material using different reading strategies. In groups, students brainstorm to compare and evaluate their conclusions with those of others.
Curated OER
Introduction to Law I
Students identify four basic values (economic, social, moral, and political) protected by law, examine different definitions of values, and correlate laws to values they aim to protect.
Deliberating in a Democracy
Voting
Young scholars read about voting rights and compulsory voting in democracies. For this voting rights lesson plan, young scholars analyze the reasons for supporting and opposing compulsory voting and discuss whether compulsory voting is...
Curated OER
Lesson 4: The Judiciary: A Brief Introduction to the Courts System
Focusing on the judicial branch of government, the fourth instructional activity in this series explores the structure of the US courts system. Beginning with an engaging activity based on the short story The Lady or the Tiger,...
National Constitution Center
Born in the U.S.A: Music as Political Protest
Though often used in shows of patriotism, Bruce Springsteen's 1985 song "Born in the U.S.A." is critical of America's role in the Vietnam war and its treatment of American veterans. High schoolers analyze the song's lyrics in an activity...
Curated OER
Slave Life on George Washington’s Mount Vernon Plantation
Eleventh graders investigate slave life on the Mount Vernon Plantation. In this slavery instructional activity, 11th graders examine photographs of and documents about George Washington's home as they participate in classroom station...
Curated OER
Learning About the Kumeyaay Indians
Third graders research the Native American nation of Kumeyaay. Scholars use the internet to research past history. Through email, 3rd graders communicate with a Kumeyaay child to discover life on a present day reservation. They create a...
Curated OER
Separation of Powers
Students examine the roles of each of the branches of U.S. government. In this checks and balances lesson, students watch Discovery video segments and discuss the concept of federalism as they create a school-wide policy for government...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln on the American Union: " A Word Fitly Spoken"
Students consider Lincoln's perspective. In this presidential perspectives instructional activity, students explore the political thoughts of Lincoln through a series of lessons that make use of primary source analysis. They hypothesize...
Curated OER
Growing Voters and Election 2004: Get Out the Vote
Learners examine the voting process, the reasons citizens should vote, and participate in a community drive to sign up new voters. After looking at websites, students create a poster that outlines the reasons to vote, participate in a...
Judicial Branch of California
Separate But Equal - Is It Black or White?
The story of Ruby Bridges and the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education are fantastic tools for discussing the concept of separate but equal. Kids tackle some big questions about what is fair, what is civil, and what rights or laws...
Annenberg Foundation
Service Learning in the Social Studies
Active Citizenship Today (ACT) is a "unique social studies service learning program" that requires students to learn about the public policy associated with community issues they identify in their local community. This web site...
Curated OER
Dr. Fix-It Subjects: Health, Government
Help your learners undertand the critical problems around healthcare. By focusing on the political and private process of healthcare, students will watch a video, analyze issues, and write an essay on their findings. Additionally, they...
Curated OER
Unit 2: Post-Revolution: The Critical Period 1781-1878
The post-Revolutionary Period of 1781-1787, also known as the Critical Period, is the focus of a series of lessons that prompt class members to examine primary source documents that reveal the instability of the period of the...
Curated OER
A Presidential Portrait: Andrew Jackson
Eighth graders examine the role of intended meaning in Ralph Earl's portrait of Andrew Jackson. They, in groups, research periods in Jackson's life and use gathered information to create their own portraits of Jackson.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Creating a Psychology News Wiki
If you're searching for a way to keep your class informed of current psychology news, this ongoing assignment is both educational and engaging. Class members locate and read a psychology article of interest, write a psychological...
Oregon Department of Education
Building and Expanding Patterns
The generation of a number, or shape pattern, is the focus of this math lesson. Pupils are presented with a variety of patterns shapes, and number patterns, then use worksheets embedded in the plan to gain further practice. The...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Lyndon B. Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr., Excerpt of Telephone Conversation
Imagine listening in on a conversation between President Lyndon B. Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as Johnson outlines the support he needs from King to pass the legislation required for programs essential for "The Great...
Curated OER
A Lesson To Accompany "The First Bank of the United States: A Chapter in the History of Central Banking"
Here is an interesting topic. Learners examine the economics that led to the founding of the First Bank of America. They participate in a reader's theater experience depicting the debate between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson...
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
Prescient Grading
Do homework grades really determine test scores? Learn whether lines of best fit, correlation coefficients, and residuals can be used to determine test scores when given homework grades. (It would certainly save teachers time in grading...