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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Protesting within First Amendment Rights

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students research the First Amendment and what it says about the right to peaceably assemble as well as read in particular about those who were arrested or removed from an area for being disruptive during a protest on the War in Iraq....
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Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Minnesota v. White: Exploring a Judicial Candidate’s First Amendment Rights

For Teachers 10th - 11th Standards
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.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

First Things First: Using the Newspaper to Teach the Freedoms of the First Amendment

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners use the newspaper as a tool to make connections about what the five freedoms guarantee in the First Amendment. In this first amendment lesson plan, students analyze events in the newspaper to form conclusions about the freedoms...
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Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Public Christmas Displays and Lynch v. Donnelly

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

First Amendment Guarantee of Free Speech (Senior, Social Studies)

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students receive a list of banned books from which they choose one to read. They read their chosen book and write a paper that includes a discussion of the First Amendment and its guarantees and the reason(s) why they believe their book...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

First Amendment: Bill of Rights

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders explore the First Amendment and the rights that are protected by the First Amendment. They discuss how the First Amendment is important to their daily lives. Students research the amendment and complete a concept map.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Bill of Rights: Debating the Amendments

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Provide your class with an opportunity to investigate an important historical document. Without identifying the document, distribute copies of the original Bill of Rights, as transcribed by John Beckley, Clerk of the House of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The First & Fourteenth Amendments

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students analyze the historical implications of the First Amendment of 1791 and the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868, upon American Indians and African Americans. They consider the applicability of the 14th Amendment to African Americans in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freedom of Hate Speech?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students, using a New York Times article as a springboard for discussion, investigate and debate the complex issues of First Amendments Rights and censorship for Hate Groups using Websites for propaganda.
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Lesson Plan
Library of Virginia

Emancipation and the Thirteenth Amendment

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
iCivics

The “Supreme” in Supreme Court

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
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....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Study of the First Amendment Rights in the Bill of Rights

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students become aware of the basic liberties of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition through study of Supreme Court cases. Student groups analyae some cases heard by the Supreme Court to further their understanding of the First...
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Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Marsh v. Chambers and the Establishment Clause

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

You Can Say That Again!

For Teachers 10th
A discussion of the Supreme Court’s Opinion of Tinker v. Des Moines generates a discussion of the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment. Although the key elements of this activity are based on a video that is not included, the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Flag Wars

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students consider how zoning policy shapes the character of neigborhoods. They see how zoning and loan policies have been used historically in the U.S. to benefit some people and discriminate against others. They examine tensions between...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rights and Responsibility

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students identify the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation and explain how these shortcomings lead to the creation of the Constitution. They explain why the Bill of Rights was added to the constitution and identify six freedoms...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Approach To Teaching Religious Tolerance

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners identify First Amendment rights of Freedom of Religion. They identify the colonies which were settled by people escaping religious persecution. They study the beliefs of the five major religions in the US.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Free To Speak And Free To Post?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students research online and in books city statutes regarding posting signs on utility poles, interview appropriate officials about ordinances and how completely it is enforced, explore what has happened elsewhere when citizens decided...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Just Say It

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the initial Supreme Court decision to regulate commercial speech, and then analyze the legal precedents and principles underlying a recent case contesting this regulation.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Regents Review Worksheet #1: Principles of the U.S. Constitution

For Teachers 12th
Kids who take the Regents Exam really need to know a lot of information. This is a wonderful exam review tool that includes 26 pages of questions, charts, and suggested readings to help upper graders pass the test. It focuses on all...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

the Impact of the U.s. Supreme Court on High School Journalism.

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars study of the First Amendment, Tinker, Hazelwood and the Colorado Student Free Expression Law. They discuss the ramifications on the student press and recite their memorized First Amendment rights. They discover what...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 3: A Visitor From Outer Space

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students review provisions of Bill of Rights and First Amendment, choose five rights they would like to preserve, support their choices and ideas with reasoned arguments, and discuss consequences of keeping or losing particular rights.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newspapers in the Digital Age

For Teachers 7th - 12th
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...
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Lesson Plan
National First Ladies' Library

How a Bill Becomes a Law

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers engage in the democratic process and to learn how a bill become a law. Then they write a bill they would like as law in their classroom. Students also form committees that will review the list of bills to determine if they...