By investigating primary sources displaying the American flag, we will explore the various ways people use the flag to show characteristics such as pride, loyalty, and unity for the nation. In this episode, students will engage in careful observation to identify flags and note details of the variety of places in which American flags are used (See).
Material Type: Activity/Lab
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).
Material Type: Activity/Lab
This website provides brief informational articles about the US government for young citizens around the ages of 4-8. Articles include information about the following topics: 1. Branches of Government 2. How Laws are Made 3. Symbols, Songs, and Structures 4. The Election Process 5. Historical Documents 6. Federal vs. State Government 7. Federally Recognized Tribes
Material Type: Activity/Lab
This website provides brief informational articles about the US government for young citizens between the ages of 9-13. Articles include information about the following topics: 1. Branches of Government 2. How Laws are Made 3. Symbols, Songs, and Structures 4. The Election Process 5. Historical Documents 6. Federal vs. State Government 7. Federally Recognized Tribes
Material Type: Activity/Lab
In this lesson, students will understand some of the struggles and prejudices Native Americans faced in 19th-century Wisconsin. They will also be able to articulate the various concerns expressed in 19th-century petitions as they relate to the Native American relationship with white Colonizers. Note: Primary source materials such as petitions, letters, and diaries capture history as it happened, and many customs, terms, social mores, and attitudes that are considered offensive now were commonplace at the time. Please read through the primary source material before assigning it to your class.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
This lesson on the Bill of Rights is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core-based units. These units were written to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts of historical significance. Students will demonstrate this knowledge by writing summaries of selections from the original document and, by the end of the unit, demonstrating their understanding through visual and oral presentations. Through this step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze any primary or secondary source material. Lesson #1 Students will understand the rights and restrictions that are defined by the first five amendments of the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution. They will demonstrate that understanding by restating those ideals in their own words. Lesson #2 Students will understand the rights and restrictions that are defined by amendments 6–10 of the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution. They will demonstrate that understanding by restating those ideals in their own words. Lesson #3 Students will demonstrate their understanding of the Bill of Rights by drawing an illustration depicting one of the amendments and citing a direct quote from the amendment as a caption. This caption will serve as direct evidence for the accurate interpretation of the text. The students will then present their drawing in the form of a short oral presentation to the class. The teacher may allow students to substitute a computer-based drawing or graphics alternative to an actual hand-drawn illustration.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
This unit is part of Gilder Lehrman’s series of Common Core State Standards–based teaching resources. These units were developed to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts of historical significance. Through a step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze any primary or secondary source material. Over the course of three lessons the students will analyze text from three documents defining American democracy: the Preamble to the United States Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the second section of the Declaration of Independence. Understanding these three texts is an essential part of understanding American ideology and citizenship. Students will closely analyze these sources and use textual evidence to draw their conclusions and present their understanding as directed in each lesson.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
This unit is one of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Teaching Literacy through History resources, designed to align with the Common Core State Standards. These units were developed to enable students to understand, summarize, and evaluate original materials of historical significance. Through a step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze, assess, and develop knowledgeable and well-reasoned viewpoints on primary and secondary sources. After completing this lesson, students will understand how the Electoral College system was established and how it functions in determining who will be the President and Vice President of the United States. The students will demonstrate their understanding by responding in writing to questions that are designed to make them use textual evidence to support their answers.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
"In this lesson, students will learn the basic vocabulary of maps and the concepts of map projections and distortion. In exploring the Mercator and Peters' map projections, students will learn how looking at different projections can influence our thinking about the world."
Material Type: Lesson
The Rule of Law is an important concept in understanding the Constitution; however, it is difficult for many people to define. Documents from the era of the drafting and ratification of the Constitution have been debated throughout history, as scholars and leaders have grappled over the proper relationship between the government and the governed. Moreover, the Rule of Law was established in the U.S. Constitution and enforced in the judicial system of the United States through judicial review. The first day of this lesson uses historical quotations to help students develop understandings of conceptions of the Rule of Law. In the second day of the lesson, through small group work and class-wide collaboration analyzing Supreme Court cases, students will reflect on how their understandings of Rule of Law relate to the Constitution, the judicial system, and their daily lives. (National Constitution Center)
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This lesson enhances the student experience during the Judge Chats program at the National Constitution Center. It is an anticipatory activity that helps students explore the requisite skills necessary to become a judge. Through this lesson, students will create a list of questions, based on what they learned in class, to share with the visiting judge during the Judge Chat program. The students will access their personal experiences to connect with the content of this lesson. They will examine and analyze primary source documents, in order to understand how the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions established the qualifications and duties of judges.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
Using C-SPAN’s Landmark Cases website and programs, students will simulate the Supreme Court hearing of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), otherwise known as the Dred Scott Case. Students will read the case scenario and take on roles of either an attorney or Supreme Court Justice as if they lived in the 19th century. After studying the case, both teams of attorneys will present their cases in written and oral form and receive questions from the justices. Afterwards, the justices will facilitate oral argument and offer written opinions. Finally, the class will debrief the experience and read and discuss the actual decision.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This lesson is designed to introduce students to the Constitution. It can be used as a one-day lesson to fulfill the Constitution Day requirement or as a means to begin a conversation about the framers of the Constitution. It has been carefully designed to highlight the three spheres of civic education as detailed by the National Constitution Center; that is, the lesson includes civic knowledge, active citizenship, and democratic deliberation. The Founders’ Library refers to the prior knowledge the Founding Fathers brought to the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. Students will examine these ideas and use them to analyze the Constitution and Bill of Rights. At the same time, students will be considering ideas and information that relate to their own lives. Students will finish the lesson by considering the idea of prior knowledge. Each student will be asked to think of books, music, movies, or television shows that impact ideas about the United States. The combination of personal experience and the critical examination of the Constitution will allow the students to have a deeper understanding of the creative imagination that was necessary to write and debate the Constitution of the United States This lesson is designed for one forty-five minute high school class period. It does not have to be limited to the social studies classroom, but can be completed in a variety of settings from a small seminar to a traditional humanities classroom.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
Students will investigate the legal language defining their freedom of speech rights. Participants will analyze landmark Supreme Court cases that define students’ freedom of speech, and then examine a recent challenge, Hawk and McDonaldMartinez v. Easton Areas School District (2013)—otherwise known as the I Heart Boobies case. To guide thinking, students will apply the IRAC case analysis technique and then will write majority and dissenting opinions as Supreme Court Justices.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
Many Americans struggle with understanding the language and subsequent interpretation of the Constitution, especially when it come to the rights encapsulated in the First Amendment. While many Americans can agree that speech should be protected, there are disagreements over when, where, and how speech can be limited or restricted. This lesson encourages students to examine their own assumptions and to deepen their understanding of current, accepted interpretations of speech rights under the First Amendment including when and where speech is protected and/or limited. It should reinforce the robustness of the First Amendment protections of speech.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This lesson introduces students to different viewpoints and debates surrounding the 2nd Amendment by using the National Constitution Center’s Interactive Constitution. Students will build understanding of the resources and methods used by justices on the Supreme Court and Constitutional scholars when analyzing and forming opinions about articles, sections, and clauses of the Constitution. Using graphic organizers, students will identify key points from the essays of constitutional scholars Nelson Lund and Adam Winkler. Students will be able to trace the historic development of the 2nd Amendment with help from the Common Interpretation and matters of debate essays, and use evidence from the readings to explore modern interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. For students studying the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, this lesson helps clarify the role of the Supreme Court and constitutional scholars in interpreting and applying the Constitution today.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
Many Americans struggle to understand the Constitution, especially the rights included in the First Amendment. While many Americans, like many in the Founding generation, can agree that freedom of the press should be protected, there are disagreements over when, why, and how freedom of the press may be limited. This lesson encourages students to examine their own assumptions and to deepen their understanding of current accepted interpretation of freedom of the press under the First Amendment.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
The First Amendment has two clauses related to religion, specifically preventing the establishment of religion and the ability to freely exercise religious beliefs. The goal of this lesson is for students to gain a deeper understanding of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. They will do this by understanding the history of the clause, as well as the relevant Supreme Court cases that will help students interpret how this clause has been applied. Students will also use scholarly essays and the text of the U.S. Constitution to evaluate current issues and cases that involve the Establishment Clause
Material Type: Lesson Plan
When James Madison set out to write the First Amendment, he was careful to include protections against the national establishment of religion. The framers had experienced a world in which the church ran the government and did not want to repeat that experience. The issue of government established religion is still relevant in our country today. In this lesson, students will learn about the establishment clause and will examine four major issues that center around it.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This lesson builds student understanding of the relationships between the United States’ founding documents by comparing and contrasting the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Using a close reading guide, students will explore the key concepts in Jeffrey Rosen and David Rubenstein’s “Constituting Liberty: From the Declaration to the Bill of Rights,” accessible on the Interactive Constitution at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution. Your students can more fully explore the U.S. Constitution’s history and what it means today with the new Interactive Constitution, where scholars of different perspectives discuss what they agree upon, and what they disagree about. These experts were selected with the guidance of leaders of two prominent constitutional law organizations—The American Constitution Society and The Federalist Society. This project is sponsored by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation. Please note that the link in the lesson plan for “Constituting Liberty: From the Declaration to the Bill of Rights” is rather difficult to locate, but is available here: https://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/13_Exhibition_Pamphlet.pdf.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
