All resources in Civics Educators

Search

“Freedom of Speech…Always Protected?”

(View Complete Item Description)

Without question, Americans look to their First Amendment right to free speech probably as much if not more than any other protection afforded to them under our Constitution and Bill of Rights; for that reason, it demands much attention.  This lesson will seek to provide a background of some of the major free speech cases throughout our country’s history, where those rights have been allowed to be infringed upon by government, and where the courts have stepped in to prevent government from censoring speech.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Tom Marabello

Freedom of Assembly: The Right to Protest

(View Complete Item Description)

This lesson from Annenberg Classroom will focus on freedom of assembly, as found in the First Amendment. Students will consider the importance of the right to assemble and protest by analyzing cases where First Amendment rights were in question. Using the case National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, students will consider if the government is ever allowed to control the ability to express ideas in public because viewpoints are controversial, offensive, or painful. Students will use primary sources and Supreme Court cases to consider whether the courts made the correct decision in the National Socialist Party v. Skokie case. Students will be able to form an opinion on the essential question: Is the government ever justified to restrict the freedom to assemble?

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Tom Marabello

“Congress, the President, and the Constitution: Then and Now”

(View Complete Item Description)

This lesson will give your students the chance to compare and contrast Articles I and II of the Constitution, and the powers delegated to both the legislative and executive branches.  Students will deeply examine the historic and current relationship between Congress and the President and how power and influence have seemed to ebb and flow between them over more than 200 years, including a look at the War Powers Act and how that has impacted the push-pull between Congress and the President, looking at some case studies from the past 35 years.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Tom Marabello

The 25th Amendment: Presidential Disability & Succession and Vice Presidential Vacancies

(View Complete Item Description)

This eLesson by Dr. Felix Yerace will provide students with an opportunity to learn about the text of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment as well as its historical usage and potential need. It will ask them to consider why such an Amendment was deemed necessary and how it has been, and could be, used. It will also give students the opportunity to debate possible applications of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Tom Marabello

The Development of Political Parties

(View Complete Item Description)

This lesson allows students to listen to a podcast and check out different links to learn more about political parties, how and why they developed, along with learning key vocabulary terms. There are several options within the lesson, including working with a partner, creating a word cloud, reading an article, watching documentary clips and a clip from the musical Hamilton, and completing a graphic organizer. It also includes information and materials where students can learn more about the major presidential elections of 1800, 1824 and 1860.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Case Study, Lesson Plan, Module, Reading, Student Guide

Authors: New American History, RetroReport

The 1992 L.A. Civil Unrest

(View Complete Item Description)

Sparked off by the acquittal of four officers in the Rodney King police brutality case, the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest took place over several days and led to rioting and destruction of the city. The unrest represented a boiling point of underlying issues including systemic racism, police brutality, failure of the criminal justice system, economic disparities between communities of color, and racial tensions. The perceived racial tensions between Korean and Black Americans, further complicated by the shooting of Latasha Harlins by a Korean storeowner, led to some targeting of Korean American neighborhoods/businesses for violence and looting. Students will explore the history, conditions, and tensions that led to the 1992 civil unrest in L.A. 2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies: Civics and Government: 5.1, 6.4, 7.5, 8.6, 8.8, 8.9, HS.2, HS.9, HS.11 Economics: 7.8 Geography: 5.13, HS.42, HS.51 Historical Knowledge: 5.22, 6.20, 6.21, 8.22, 8.25, HS.52, HS.53, HS.61, HS.64, HS.65 Historical Thinking: 5.25, 6.23, 7.25, 8.30, 8.31, 8.32, HS.68 Social Science Analysis: 5.26, 5.27, 5.28, 6.24, 6.26, 6.27, 7.27, 7.29, 8.33, 8.34, 8.36, HS.72, HS.73, HS.74, HS.75, HS.76, HS.78

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: The Asian American Education Project

Remix

Choosing Sides: The Road to The Revolutionary War

(View Complete Item Description)

In this lesson, students will be required to to complete the Patriot vs. Loyalist Choiceboard. In the Choiceboard, students have to choose 3 out 6 options to help them learn about the economic, political, and social views of the side of the Patriots and Loyalists during the American Reovlutionary War. In addition, students should view the PowerPoint and answer the questions as they come to them on notebook paper. Students will allowed to research the content; however, I have also provided them with a series of sources to use as well. 

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: tim Robinson

Great Depression Lesson Plan

(View Complete Item Description)

The overall goal of this lesson is for students to understand what caused the Great Depression, to compare and contrast the Great Depression with the conditions in the United States today, and ultimately to be able to use upper level thinking skills to draw a conclusion about whether or not the Great Depression will happen again and why/why not? In order to achieve this goal, the instructor will show an opening video about the Great Depression, followed by a brief lecture, before student break off into groups of 2 to conduct their own research. At the end of the class, the students will present their research, as well as the conclusion they made from the research they conducted, which will help the instructor know whether or not they fully comprehended the lesson.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Haylie Lackey