Students are given the background and facts of the Brown v. Board of Education case along with precedents. Their task is to sort through the arguments of the case and classify each as an argument for Brown or for the Board of Education.

Students will gain an understanding of civil rights Supreme Court cases that helped to transform the move away from the oppression of minority groups and move towards equality for all. This project was developed as a part of the Creating Lessons Using Transformative Technology - Platteville Public Schools OER grant.

This First Amendment activity applies the landmark Supreme Court case Elonis v. U.S. to a teen conflict posted on Facebook.

In this activity and set or resources from the Newseum ED, students grapple with free speech-related conflicts and controversies using real-life scenarios. They deepen their understanding by taking a position and supporting their arguments with evidence from a gallery of print and visual sources.

The lesson requires a free registration for Nesweum ED resources.

: In this lesson, students will learn about how “freedom of speech” is applied in schools. Students will begin by brainstorming the meaning of “free speech” from prior lessons and then brainstorming about how they think speech might be limited in schools. Then students will learn about speech rights in school by completing a reading and watching a short video. For the activity, students will look at school-based scenarios and decide whether or not they think a school could limit student speech.’
This lesson is part of a Unit that includes the following lessons:
Grade 5 History Mystery 1: WHAT IS "FREE SPEECH" AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Grade 5 History Mystery 2: DOES "FREE SPEECH" MEAN I CAN SAY WHATEVER I WANT?
Grade 5 History Mystery 3:WHAT CAN I SAY IN SCHOOL?

Most socially significant issues from America's past were brought before the nation's courts. Subject introduces the themes and events of American law since 1787, focusing on three recurring themes in American public life: liberty, equality, and property. Readings consist mostly of original court cases, especially from the US Supreme Court. Subject also focuses on the historical connections between cases and broader social, political, and cultural trends.

This is a guided packet used with my Yearbook Publication class.  It was designed to specifically meet standard RI.11-12.8, which is asking for students to read, understand, and evaluate legal reasoning used in US Supreme Court cases.  The cases students are required to look at in this packet are cases specifically related to student journalism and student press rights ( and ).  It is used as a guided Internet search to supplement the information presented in the journalism textbook.

Video and discussion questions about US v. New York Times and freedom of the press.

Think that the Supreme Court doesn't apply to your day-to-day life? Think again!The decisions the Court makes today, as well as its decisions in the past, have a real and lasting impact on the way Americans live their lives.This activity describes 10 situations encountered in the daily life of an American teen. Take a look at each scenario, and then choose the related Supreme Court decision that directly impacts our rights and freedoms as citizens of the United States.