Youngsters examine selected amendments to the Constitution to determine how voting requirements in the US have changed from the colonial days to the present.

Beginning with an exercise of favoritism to engage learners, progressing through image and primary source analysis of the Nineteenth Amendment and the Seneca Falls Declaration, and culminating in a look at a political cartoon called...

Why didn't the Emancipation Proclamation free all slaves? Young historians study primary source documents including Lincoln's proclamation and the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Groups also investigate the three...

After watching a documentary on the Supreme Court case Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, class members research how the First Amendment and free speech issues influence judicial elections and then conduct a mock judicial election.

Does a Christmas display on government property violate the Constitution? Learners study the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and learn about the landmark Supreme Court case Lynch v. Donnelly through watching a...

Do you have a search warrant? Scholars investigate the concept of illegal search and seizure through the eyes of the Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio. A short video clip along with paired group work opens discussion on the concept of how...

Does a public school have the right to restrict what t-shirts students wear? Discover what happened when this question was brought to the Supreme Court, and review other major cases in United States history involving judicial review....

How did Ku Klux Klan develop and flourish in the US? How did the government respond to acts of terrorism conducted by the KKK following the Civil War? How does the government respond to acts of terrorism today? This resource...

1983 Supreme Court case Marsh v. Chambers, which centers on whether opening a legislative session with a prayer violates the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment to the US Constitution, is the focus of a series of discussions and...

A university decides not to allow a qualified scholar to enter its institution based on skin and gender—but this case is about a white female? The 2003 Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger lays the foundation for open discussion and...

As part of the study of women's history, young scholars examine Chester Comix's strips about the Seneca Falls Convention and four 19th century leaders in the struggle for equal rights. After researching other elements of the Suffrage...

The class analyzes a series of documents intended to show the events that lead to women gaining the right to vote. They play a Tic-Tac-Toe style game, make a time line with sequencing cards, and review the 4 steps of social change....

Use the dystopian novel After by Francine Prose to spark discussion about individual and student rights. Learners read the novel, evaluating how far a school can go to control its attendees. As they read, scholars...

Where have all the activists gone? Class members compare 21st-century activism with the suffrage movement and the work of Susan B. Anthony. They begin by examining Anthony's biography and speeches to find evidence that her words and...

Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...

"We, the People of the State of Alabama. . ." Did you know that the Alabama State Constitution has 357,157 words while the US Constitution has only 4,400? And that it has 798 amendments while the US Constitution has...

Is journalism more or less reliable with the influx of Internet sources? Learners investigate the issues of freedom of speech, journalistic ethics, and social responsibility in the age of Twitter and Facebook. After examining the...

Ever wish your class could travel back in time and witness the making of the Constitution firsthand? This plan makes the classroom come pretty close. Eighth graders simulate the process of creating a constitution and design their own...

How does a trial begin without a lawyer for the defendant? The 1963 Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright serves as the backdrop for the study of the rights of the accused. Scholars use a short video along with paired discussion and...

Help your 11th and 12th graders gain a deeper understanding of Supreme Court decisions and law. The activities include role-play, research, and script writing that all focus on search and seizure laws pertaining to one particular case...

How much power is too much power for the federal government? Scholars use primary documents and constitutional research in groups to analyze the creation of the Second National Bank under James Madison. This is the second lesson of a...

Research, role-playing, and reflection are the three “R’s” that form the basis of an examination of Cyberbullying. Although based on the Criminal Code of Canada, the included scenarios and case studies provide valuable resources for a...

Sit back, relax, and transport to 1787! This lesson on the Constitution begins with guided imagery of the Constitutional Convention. The class reads A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution in an...

Travel back to 1787 as young scholars investigate the creation of the US Constitution. After first working in small groups to create sets of classroom rules, students go on to read a summary of the Constitution and watch a short video...