This unit on American Indians: By studying the regions of the United States and the cultures that live in each region, students are able to compare/contrast within regions and across regions how tribes used their environments, and their cultural and other contributions to American life.

Note that the emphasis here is on broader groups of tribes for each region with some instruction on specific tribes representing each region. In no way is this case study approach to learning about one tribe meant to be generalized to all tribes of that region. We understand that each tribe was and continues to be unique in its culture, practices, lifeways, and traditions.

The unit is focused on the examination of geography in terms of “place.” Students dive into inquiry to answer the compelling questions, “Where are we?” and “Who are we?” Through these two questions students will understand where they live and where people around the world live. Students will also dive into the term “culture” and define it through many characteristics. Students will examine and reflect upon their own culture and research different cultures of North America.

In this class, we will explore America's diversity through questions of immigration, race, gender/sexuality and class--some of the major ways our culture is organized. It is comprised of 9 lessons based on online resources, plus 2 auto-ethnography assignments. This class was originally taught by Huma Mohibullah at Renton Technical College. 

Religion is a significant aspect of human cultures everywhere. In these lessons, we explore questions such as: What are the main elements of religion? Why is believing in a higher power important to human beings across cultures? How is religion related to our social orders? How is religion related to the politics of today's world?This resource is comprised of 7 lessons based on online modules, plus a final presentation assignment. Each lesson includes a discussion or written assignment. This class was originally taught by Huma Mohibullah at Renton Technical College. 

This course contains five projects that are organized around the following question: “What is the proper role of government in a democracy?” Each project involves political simulations through which students take on roles that help contextualize the content required by the new College Board course framework.

Founders' Intent
Elections
Supreme Court
Congress
Government in Action

Openly licensed PDF unit plans of all the above units are available at this Sprocket Lucas Education Research Platform (scroll to bottom of web page).

Alternately, educators may sign up for free access to the online AP U.S. Government and Politics course that includes additional instructional supports:
https://sprocket.lucasedresearch.org/users/sprocket_access

This unit begins by inviting students to tell the story of their community using artifacts from Washington's history. This allows them to reflect on shared values as well as how people have organized to advocate for those values. Then, students explore how rights are established in their community by analyzing the Washington State Constitution, the Puyallup Tribe Constitution, and the Treaty of Medicine Creek. Next, students investigate four different historic examples of how people have advocated for their rights and values in their community and choose one to research in further depth. In the final phase of the unit, student teams develop an advocacy campaign for a right that is currently being challenged. They conduct research on an issue of their choice, create and execute an action plan, and participate in an advocacy fair to campaign for change in their community. Finally, students draw on what they've learned to answer the unit driving question: "Why do people advocate for issues in their community?"

This is an ADA compliant downloadable version of the American Government online textbook at U.S. History.org by The Independence Hall Association.

The American Yawp constructs a coherent and accessible narrative from all the best of recent historical scholarship. Without losing sight of politics and power, it incorporates transnational perspectives, integrates diverse voices, recovers narratives of resistance, and explores the complex process of cultural creation. It looks for America in crowded slave cabins, bustling markets, congested tenements, and marbled halls. It navigates between maternity wards, prisons, streets, bars, and boardrooms. Whitman’s America, like ours, cut across the narrow boundaries that strangle many narratives. Balancing academic rigor with popular readability, The American Yawp offers a multi-layered, democratic alternative to the American past.

Description: The attached unit has incorporated Media Literacy for Social Studies by scaffolding a variety of primary source document activities of varying perspectives on New Imperialism (1850-1914) which allow the studnt to identify possible bias or misinformation. The guided questions which accompany the primary sources ask the student to explain differing responses and to think critically about why those responses may be different depending on the context. 

These educational videos provide an invaluable resource on Ancient Nubia for Middle and High School Ancient World History and Geography teachers and students. The video content aligns with Geography, Economics, Civics, and Historical Thinking Social Studies standards across the nation. Key concepts and inquiry skills from each content area weave seamlessly throughout the videos and associated lesson plans. This unit overview document links to developed resources on the Archeology in the Community site.

In this Animating Civic Action lesson, from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Washington State Governor's Office of the Education Ombuds, students listen to the story of Jared, a student experiencing homelessness. Students are asked to examine what it means to be homeless, to identify how homelessness affects people and to and to consider ways they can act to take action against homelessness in their school community.

In this Animating Civic Action lesson, from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, students listen to the story of Esther, a student refugee, about her experience in school. Students are asked to examine what it means to stereotype others, and to consider ways they can act to make their community more welcoming and inclusive.  

In this Animating Civic Action lesson, from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Washington State Governor's Office of the Education Ombuds, students listen to the story of Jared, a student experiencing homelessness. Students are asked to examine what it means to be homeless, to identify how homelessness affects people and to and to consider ways they can act to take action against homeless n their school community.

Often throughout American history former refugees rise to be community leaders dedicating their lives to helping others. Refugees often overcome key obstacles including language and culture to become important activists addressing social and political problems. Refugees offer key perspectives on the application of civic virtues and human rights. In this lesson students will hear from three refugee students about their experiences. Then, students will be asked to:Identify and describe obstacles student refugees encounter while assimilating at school.Identify reasons why refugees go on to develop a strong sense of civic duty and desire to give back to their communities. Research and identify ways they can take civic action to build a better community.

Students will build empathy to be “helpers” and make a difference in the lives of others through consideration of two questions: How can we listen effectively to better understand people’s stories, and how can we respond to and communicate effectively to peoples’ stories? Students will then propose opportunities to take action to improve our community response to support all students and their communities.

In this Animating Civic Action lesson, from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Washington State Governor's Office of the Education Ombuds, students listen to the story of Jared, a student experiencing homelessness. Students are asked to examine what it means to be homeless, to identify how homelessness affects people and to and to consider ways they can act to take action against homelessness in their school community.

This 2018 edition is the first to be released in a digital, fully-interactive format, designed to highlight facets of the Pacific Northwest landscape with novel approaches to data presentation. Where previous editions of the atlas were designed to ask and answer questions, this atlas serves as a platform for the geographically curious to explore the region, providing as many critical questions as it does critical answers.

Beyond this page are maps of the familiar and the unfamiliar. Migration maps highlight human movement between the Pacific Northwest and the rest of the United States; a wildfire timeline chronicles the year-to-year spread of modern and historical fires; and the watershed guide abandons traditional political boundaries in favor of natural, hydrological borders. All data in the atlas were gathered from publically accessible sources, compiled using open-source software and coding libraries. This is an atlas designed to be open, responsive, and to satisfy the geographic curiosity of any and all interested.

This 11-minute video and accompanying lesson plans explore the ways reapportionment and redistricting affect how and by whom the people are represented. Students will examine interactive resources to explore how changing district lines can affect the balance of partisan power, and evaluate criteria for drawing district lines. They will experiment with interactive maps to see both historic and contemporary changes to the balance of power among states, and discover who has power within those states to redraw the lines. These activities ask students to examine primary sources, pose questions for investigation and gather additional narratives.

This lesson is not under an open license; however it is provided free for educational services.

This 5th grade STEM Storyline Unit from Washington Educational Service District 112 is focused around Climate Justice, Over five NGSS aligned lessons and using the 5E model, students are presented with the ideas of environmental stewardship and restoration.

In this activity students will identify and define seven key ideas contained in the U.S. Constitution by making matches from the grid. They will then analyze documents that demonstrate each big idea in action.

This activity is designed to prepare students for the Constitution-in-Action Learning Lab at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is a part of a package of pre-visit activities associated with the lab experience.