This is a self-service online workshop for teachers who use primary documents to help students see the impact and ongoing relevance of the Constitution. It requires little advance preparation and provides everything needed, including a vocabulary list, document analysis worksheets, and historical documents -- John Marshall's Supreme Court nomination (1801), proclamation to New Orleans (1803), Lincoln's telegram to Grant (1864), Johnson oath photo (1963), and more.

In this lesson, students will explore the fundamental reasons for the confrontation clause of the Sixth Amendment. Students will engage in a simulation, identify the history and evolution of the confrontation clause from the Annenberg Classroom video The Confrontation Clause: Crawford v. Washington, and then apply this knowledge to the simulation.

Throughout most of American history, the idea of gender equality simply did not exist. Laws and social traditions held that women were not equal to men. This began to change in 1920, when American women won the constitutional right to vote. While the 19th Amendment granted women the rights of citizenship, it did not result in full equality for women, and since then, from the halls of government to the schoolroom to the boardroom and even in their homes, women have continued to advocate for changes in attitudes, customs and laws that inhibit equality.

This guide for K-12 educators provides four types of activity suggestions and related resources for your upper elementary, middle or high school students: class starters; in-depth classroom activities; projects/performances for assessment; and culmination activities.

This guide is designed to be flexible, with the intention that you pick and choose, mix and match based on your classroom needs. Each activity is labeled with recommended grade level and estimated time allotment, includes objectives and corresponding content knowledge standards, and provides ideas for adaptations – variations and extensions. The activities are designed to engage students and allow them to interact with the material and with one another, and the range of choices provides options for students of different learning styles.

This lesson presents facsimiles of 8 printed and hand-written documents surrounding the case of Thomas Cooper, a lawyer and newspaper editor in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, who was indicted, prosecuted, and convicted of violating the Sedition Act after he published a broadside in 1799 that sharply criticized President John Adams. The case is famous in the annals of the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment. This lesson correlates to the National History Standards and the National Standards for Civics and Social Sciences.

The original Constitution did not specifically protect the right to vote—leaving the issue largely to the states. For much of American history, this right has often been granted to some, but denied to others; however, through a series of amendments to the Constitution, the right to vote has expanded over time. These amendments have protected the voting rights of new groups, including by banning discrimination at the ballot box based on race (15th Amendment) and sex (19th Amendment). They also granted Congress new power to enforce these constitutional guarantees, which Congress has used to pass landmark statutes like the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While state governments continue to play a central role in elections today, these new amendments carved out a new—and important—role for the national government in this important area.

Students will examine public policy and an editorial to build evidence and reasoning to bring to the 'town hall' meeting about lowering the voting age to 16.

In this episode, children are introduced to Congress. To connect with primary grade students’ existing knowledge, they discover how a member of Congress is part of two communities- their home community that they serve, and the community of Congress.

Students analyze primary sources to explore how Congresswoman Patsy Mink began in her home community and traveled to a join a new community in Washington, DC where she worked in Congress.

Children observe the details of a photograph of Congresswoman Mink in Hawaii (See). Working with in-game character Ella, students generate and test hypotheses based on evidence, figuring out how Congresswoman Mink traveled from Hawaii to the Capitol (Think). Children explore the structure of the Capitol building and conclude the episode by reflecting on how other members of Congress represent different communities around the country (Wonder).

This lesson explains the steps taken by the First Congress to name a president and vice president, to provide funding for the new government, to draft a bill of rights, and to organize the executive and judicial branches. When you complete this lesson, you should be able to explain how the Constitution provides an outline of the federal government’s organization and that details are added by the government itself. You should also be able to explain how the First Congress used the Constitution to name a president and vice president and raise revenue to fund the new government. You should be able to describe how Congress has organized the executive branch and how it has expanded. In addition, you should be able to describe how the Judiciary Act established the federal court system.

This lesson describes some conflicting points of view of leading Framers about the Constitution. Most of the delegates argued for the adoption of the Constitution, although many had reservations about all or parts of it. The reservations of three were so serious that they refused to sign the document. The position of one of these Framers, George Mason, is explored in detail. You also will examine Benjamin Franklin's statement in defense of the Constitution.

When you have completed this lesson, you should be able to explain the positions of Franklin and Mason, and give arguments in support of and in opposition to these positions.

This Webquest has students learn what a county is and explore the function, purpose, and services offered from their county's government.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students in iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

This lesson is taken from the Justice section of Foundations of Democracy: Authority, Privacy, Responsibility, and Justice.

Purpose of Lesson
This lesson introduces you to some intellectual tools which are useful in resolving issues of corrective justice. When you have completed this lesson, you should be able to explain and use these intellectual tools. Other intellectual tools which you can use to evaluate, take, and defend positions on issues of corrective justice will be introduced in the next lesson.

From Foundations of Democracy

In this lesson you will learn about authority. You will learn where it comes from and who uses it. The lesson activities will help you understand why we need authority, how it helps to solve problems and how we choose people to be leaders. We give our leaders a position of authority. There are things that a person in a position of authority may do. There are some things that they may not do. We must decide what the person in the position may do and what they may not do. Our Constitution tells our leaders in the government what they must do and what they may not do.

We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution
In this lesson you will discuss some important questions about the responsibilities of citizens. You must develop your own answers to these questions. We hope this lesson will help you develop good answers.

This webquest has students find out who represents them in federal , state and local levels of government and how they can contact them as an active, informed citizen.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students in iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

This series of classroom activities were written to support educators who use the 2022 video series "Elections 101" from the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC).
"Who is Voting in My Community " helps students answer the question "What are the requirements to register to vote in Wisconsin?". Teachers will use the video "Elections Overview" from the WEC to research how to register to vote, view a mock ballot online, and find their voting place in their community.

This lesson introduces students to the concepts of natural rights and the social contract as they act like Enlightenment thinkers discussing the origins and necessity of governments.

We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution

This lesson introduces you to some of the basic ideas which were of great importance to the Founders. They used these ideas when they developed our government. You will learn why they thought we need a government in the first place. You will also learn how they believed governments should be created and what they ought to do.

Terms: Natural rights, Philosopher, Government, absolute power, state of nature, consent, social compact or social contract

Website Explanation:
Students take a look at two political thinkers that spent a lot of time trying to answer the question, "Why Government?" - Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. This lesson combines our Influence Library entries on Hobbes and Locke and adds activities that ask students to compare and contrast Hobbes and Locke and to think about how these philosophers influenced those that followed in their footsteps.

This lesson will allow students to use primary sources, the Bill of Rights, and Supreme Court
cases in conjunction with the game “That’s Your Right” and the Annenberg Guide to the
Constitution. Students will be able to understand the meaning and importance of the Bill of
Rights as well as how it safeguards freedoms and protects citizens from government intrusion in
everyday life. Students will focus on primary sources, the Bill of Rights and real-life scenarios to
prepare them to play the game “That’s Your Right.” Afterward, students can extend learning by
exploring real Supreme Court cases that affect students in schools.

This Doc provides a link that explains what is a political party and then a link for the Wisconsin Democratic, Republican, Green and Libertarian Party platforms.