9/11 and the Constitution

The anniversaries of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, provide us an opportunity to reflect upon who we are as Americans, examine our most fundamental values and principles and affirm our commitment to them, and evaluate progress toward the realization of American ideals and propose actions that might narrow the gap between these ideals and reality. The following lessons are designed to accomplish these goals.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Center Staff

The Better Arguments Project

Better Arguments can help students learn to engage productively across differences and grapple with differing viewpoints. Linked are resources that are applicable to school-based learning activities and after school programs. These include a curriculum, exit ticket exercise and current events exercise.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Reading, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: The Better Arguments Project

Electing Our Presidents Teacher Workshop

Educators from the Hoover, Truman, Carter, Clinton and Reagan Presidential Libraries hosted “Electing Our Presidents.” This professional development webinar examined the question, “Does our process of electing our president best serve the American people?” “Who counts?” - Josh Montanari, Carter Presidential Library “Who can vote?” - Kathleen Pate, Clinton Presidential Library “How do we vote?” - Elizabeth Dinschel, Hoover Presidential Library “What happens if the results are challenged?” - Mark Adams and Angela Estep, Truman Presidential Library “What happens if a President dies or is unfit to serve?” - Mira Cohen, Reagan Presidential Library

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Case Study, Lecture

Author: Harry S. Truman Library & Museum

The Iran Hostage Crisis Simulation

To have students gain a better understanding that representing the United States abroad is an extraordinarily dangerous job. This lesson provides students with a hands-on history lab where participants step into the roles of President Carter and his advisors, work with formerly classified primary source documents, and collaborate to tackle one of history’s greatest challenges. Reveal to students how, in the wake of a successful 1979 revolution by Islamic fundamentalists against the pro-American Shah of Iran, the United States became an object of virulent criticism and the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was a visible target.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Case Study, Homework/Assignment, Lesson Plan, Primary Source, Reading, Simulation

Authors: Christopher Stanley, Harry S. Truman Library & Museum

Limits to Presidential Power

Through this lesson, students will analyze the boundaries of presidential power through primary sources and complete a performance task.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Case Study, Lesson Plan, Primary Source, Reading

Author: Harry S. Truman Library & Museum

The Development of Political Parties

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

I Have A Dream Speech

I Have a Dream Speech. Martin Luther King's Address at March on Washington, August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.

Material Type: Primary Source

The Road to Civil Rights

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to: ● Identify key events of the Civil Rights Movement and their place in time ● Explain the significance of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution in relation to the expansion of rights for African Americans and how they laid the footing for the Civil Rights Movement ● Summarize central ideas of short, dense text ● Apply Tier 2/academic and Tier 3/domain-specific vocabulary associated with the Civil Rights Movement

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment

Author: Brooke Machado

The 14th Amendment

Jeffrey Rosen of the National Constitution Center in conversation with Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute. Created by Aspen Institute.

Material Type: Lesson

Author: Aspen Institute

The 15th Amendment

Jeffrey Rosen of the National Constitution Center in conversation with Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute. Created by Aspen Institute.

Material Type: Lesson

Author: Aspen Institute

African-American Communities in the North Before the Civil War

One of the heroes of the Battle of Bunker Hill was Salem Poor, an African American. Black people fought on both sides during the American Revolution. Census data also reveal that there were slaves and free Blacks living in the North in 1790 and after. What do we know about African-American communities in the North in the years after the American Revolution?

Material Type: Lesson Plan

The African American Experience in NC After Reconstruction

The documents included in this lesson come from The North Carolina Experience collection of Documenting the American South and specifically focus on African Americans and race relations in the early 20th century. The lesson juxtaposes accounts that relate to both the positive improvements of black society and arguments against advancement. Combined, these primary sources and the accompanying lesson plan could be used as a Document Based Question (DBQ) in an advanced US history or African American history course.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Meghan Mcglinn

African American History: From Emancipation to the Present

The purpose of this course is to examine the African American experience in the United States from 1863 to the present. Prominent themes include the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction; African Americans' urbanization experiences; the development of the modern civil rights movement and its aftermath; and the thought and leadership of Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. WARNING: Some of the lectures in this course contain graphic content and/or adult language that some users may find disturbing.

Material Type: Lecture, Lecture Notes, Syllabus

Author: Jonathan Holloway

Mary McLeod Bethune

A collection of materials provided by Nancy Long to celebrate Florida's new statue of Mary McLeod Bethune in the U.S. Statuary Hall Collection 2022.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Donnis Barkley

HS American Gov. EBAS Lesson Seed: Structure and Function of the Legislative Branch

Lesson seeds are ideas for the standards that can be used to build a lesson.  Lesson seeds are not meant to be all-inclusive, nor are they substitutes for instruction.  This lesson seed provides a compelling question and a bank of sources to use to drive an inquiry based lesson or a potential Evidence Based Argument Set (EBAS).  When developing lessons from these seeds, teachers must consider the needs of all learners.  Once you have built your lesson from the lesson seed, teachers are encouraged to post the lesson that has emerged from this lesson seed and share with others. Compelling question:Should term limits be imposed on members of Congress?  EL Modification: highlight important vocabulary, add images to improve text comprenesion; consider adapting content, process and/or product based on Can Do WIDA DescriptorsImage source: "United States Capitol - west front" by Architect of the Capitol from Wikimedia.org

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Authors: Robby May, MSDE Admin, Leah Renzi, Beth Ann Haas

Lesson One. The Omnipotence of the Majority

In this lesson, students are introduced to Tocqueville's argument about the "omnipotent" power of the majority in America and its consequences. After an initial statement that the "very essence" of democracy is majority rule, he contrasts the means by which state constitutions artificially increase the power of the majority with the U.S. Constitution, which checks that power.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Balancing Three Branches at Once: Our System of Checks and Balances

Learn about the checks and balances system of the three branches of the U.S. government.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

The Federalist Debates: Balancing Power Between State and Federal Governments

This lesson focuses on the debates among the U.S. Founders surrounding the distribution of power between states and the federal government. Students learn about the pros and cons of state sovereignty vs. federalism and have the opportunity to argue different sides of the issue.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Mock Constitutional Convention

This activity gives students the ability to take on the role of the various delegates to the constitutional convention, get to know their beliefs and backgrounds, how they felt about the many issues being debated, what arguments they formulated, and their opinion about the eventual resulting document.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Tom Marabello

Gerrymandering: What it is and Why it Matters

The topic of Gerrymandering can be a difficult one to teach and get students to understand. This lesson includes several options, along with additional resources and information for the new teacher or a teacher who like many Americans may have trouble grasping and explaining gerrymandering and congressional redistricting. The lesson options include having students engage in a Debate and/or activity where they draw or redraw the boundaries of a state or congressional district.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Interactive, Lesson Plan, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Tom Marabello