Lesson includes several activities to demonstrate to students that freedom of speech continues to evolve.
Civics Lessons
Teaching Strategy: Discussion
The First Amendment: What’s Fair in a Free Country?
What Is A Good Rule? Creating Our Ballot Questions
This lesson offers students the opportunity to play the role of voters with special interests. Students draw up initiatives for new classroom or school rules. Working in groups of four or five, students share their ideas and rationale for new rules.
What Makes Lawmakers Tick?
This is the final lesson of three lessons on the Fundamentals of Representative Democracy.
This lesson is designed to give students a better idea of what makes members of Congress and state legislators tick. What motivates them, why do they run, what attributes and skills do they possess, and what is the nature of their jobs? This lesson relies upon a lawmaker being invited and coming to class to answer student questions about legislative life.
Who can Vote for Student Council President?
Students review hypothetical scenarios and decide who may vote for student council president. Students review constitutional principles states must follow when deciding who can vote.
No Animals at School
This lesson provides an opportunity for students to explore how rules and laws are written and interpreted. Strategies for writing a good rule/law are emphasized and scenarios examined to determine what a rule/law really means.
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The Exchange: Should the United States Reduce Immigration?
Through research and deliberation, students are encouraged to look at the issue of immigration reform from different points of view.
The President’s Roles and Responsibilities: Understanding the President’s Job
Through these activities, students learn about the roles and responsibilities of the U.S. president and their own roles as citizens of a democracy.
Appreciating Democracy
This lesson is designed to teach students to appreciate the most basic practices of democracy in the United States: The lesson can be taught in three or four 45-minute class periods. At the heart of the lesson are three easy-to-teach activities (or simulations).
No Hats in Class
Students learn about the importance of rules and laws; what makes a good law
2nd Amendment and the Courts
After reading and discussion of federal gun policies and proposals, their pros and cons, and the Second Amendment, students debate the merits of different gun policies.