Students learn what happens in appellate-level courts and how those courts operate differently from the trial courts most people are familiar with from watching television. By following the case of a real middle school girl who was strip searched at school, students find out what happens when someone takes a case all the way to the Supreme Court. Through this case, students learn about the structure of the federal court system and the way appellate courts decide cases.
Civics Lessons
Appellate Courts: Let’s Take It Up
Becoming an Informed Voter: Preparing for the General Election
This lesson focuses on a voter’s need to be fully informed prior to casting a vote on Election Day and how to acquire the necessary information. Students learn what a yes or no vote or a decision to abstain means on a ballot. Students learn the definitions of amendment,initiative, and referendum. Students are given the opportunity to think critically and to learn firsthand why voters need to be fully informed about ballot questions.
Electing a President
This lesson starts with a political cartoon, then leads into discussion about the Electoral College and electing the U.S. President.
Equal Justice Under Law
In this lesson, students explore the cause-and-effect relationships
between historical events and the development of constitutional
principles that protect the rights of all people in America today. In its first constitutional challenge to the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the U.S. Supreme
Court decided to hear a case brought by a Chinese immigrant, not an American citizen.
Texas v Johnson: Is There a Constitutional Right to Burn the American Flag?
This lesson explores Texas v. Johnson, the 1989 Supreme Court decision on flag burning. First, students read about and discuss Texas v. Johnson. Then in small groups, students role play aides to a U.S. senator on the Judiciary Committee. The committee is considering a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning flag burning, and the aides must make a recommendation on whether the
senator should support or oppose the proposed amendment.
We the Students: Writing a Class Constitution
The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution sets out the purposes or functions of American government as envisioned by the framers. Using the Preamble as a guide, students will identify the purposes of their own classroom and create a class “constitution.”
Cyberbullying
Deliberating in Democracy Lesson which gets students to deliberate whether schools should punish students for off campus cyber bullying
Juvenile Justice
Deliberating in Democracy lesson which gets students to deliberate the question-Should violent juvenile offenders be punished as adults?
What Makes a Court Supreme?
The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the original purpose and
powers of the Supreme Court according to the Constitution. Students learn the Supreme Court’s role in preserving the U.S. Constitution and the balance of power it creates.
Judiciary Act of 1789
The purpose of this lesson is to teach students about the significance of the Judiciary Act of 1789 in establishing a federal judiciary, and the power of judicial review as outlined by the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case, Marbury v. Madison (1803). By the conclusion of this lesson, students will understand the key provisions of the Judiciary Act of 1789 and the structure of the federal judiciary, as well as the power of judicial review.