What would your class do if a police officer arrested a student in class? This is exactly the anticipatory set that gets students engaged in a unit on the legal system. The plan is to get the officer to simulate an arrest, and then guest...

Students analyze the importance of being a socially healthy citizen. For this character education lesson, students brainstorm personal traits that they think make the world a better place. Students compile their ideas as a class to...

Welcome your class back to school! They will participate in a character education lesson plan in order to build community at the school. First they identify needs of new students by putting themselves in their shoes and create welcome...

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...

Learners put themselves in the shoes of students who integrated Little Rock High School in 1957-58. Note: The primary resources in this activity provide powerful and poignant descriptions of what those students faced.

Students create voter education campaigns to raise awareness of and interest in the government for future voters.

Students discover the vocabulary of the Six Pillars of Character and their relation to the school environment. In this character education lesson, students discuss the character pillars and brainstorm about their use in the classroom....

Students experience profiling first-hand through creation of a Class ID, and daily persecution of a selected group of students. They examine the tension between the concern for national security and for the preservation of civil liberties

Learners explore the Civil Rights movement. They investigate the changes in legislative, social, and civil arenas concerning the matters of race, sex, and political pacifism. In groups, students gather information concerning the...

Students complete activities to learn about International Women's Day. In this women's importance lesson, students discuss the roles women play in students' lives. Students create a collage of special women in their lives and give a...

Students discover racism and slavery by completing a role playing activity. In this U.S. history lesson, students analyze documents from the Civil War era and describe the Fugitive Slave Law. Students view a video on YouTube about the...

Students create campaign materials to encourage the passage of legislation supporting higher education for immigrant minors. They produce flyers, brochures, pins and a voter presentation for a school fair. To prepare the materials they...

Young scholars discover how race and gender relate to their sense of civic obligation. As a class, they create a 3-D toolbox for making a difference in their community or the world. They write an essay to accompany it explaining the...

As a way to understand Memorial Day, build citizenship, practice vocabulary, and discuss current international conflicts, learners create their own Memorial Day. They design their own memorial after learning about the various types of...

Young scholars use the internet to research people who have contributed to the cause of freedom. They identify examples of freedom which are important to them and categorize them. In groups, they create a timeline of the Freedom Fighters...

Students work in groups to draw a map of their town or neighborhood. They include their homes, major public buildings and places. Students analyze their maps from a human rights perspective.

Twelfth graders create a museum of Patriotism and Foreign Policy. They participate in discussions and work in committee's to determine which objects shall be displayed in the museum. They present visual and performing arts along with...

Ask your learners to name "caring acts" for their parents and make coupons for their parents to use. They will think of caring acts their parents would appreciate and create original coupons of those acts to present their parents on a...

Students discuss being a responsible student by helping to protect the rainforest. In this citizenship instructional activity, students brainstorm ideas to help global warming, warfare, human-rights abuses and acid rain. Students write...

Students participate in a recycling campaign. In this recycling lesson, students create an Earth Day display for a local store. Students design a mural as a reminder to people of ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Students investigate safety issues at school. In this citizenship lesson, students discuss things they are fearful of at school. Students then conduct a school survey asking what others are fearful of.

Students explore using descriptive words to describe physical appearance. In this appearance lesson, students look at pumpkins and discuss how there is not a perfect pumpkin. Students also hypothesize about what the perfect pumpkin's...

Students work together in groups and pretend they are stranded on a desert island. In this desert island lesson plan, students write messages in a bottle, work together to give compliments, and talk about their feelings.

Eighth graders examine the three branches of government and the system of checks and balances.