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Lesson Plan

Ratification Debates: A New York Case Study

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Historical Background The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 was full of conflict and compromise. Yet as the convention drew to a close, some of the biggest debates were just beginning. According to the...

Lesson Plan

An "Unconstitutional" Act? The Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Background At the beginning of the Civil War, as the number of dead increased daily, a force of opposition to the war efforts began to intensify in the Congress and in the voices of the American people. Abraham Lincoln, in an effort...

Lesson Plan

"Father" of Our Country v. "Father" of the Bill of Rights

Government and Civics

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Essential Questions To what extent does the Bill of Rights provide a "blanket of protection" for American citizens? Why do many Americans believe that the Bill of Rights is especially relevant today? Objectives Students will be able...

Lesson Plan

Beyond Rosie the Riveter: Women's Contributions During World War II

Art, Economics, Government and Civics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview Although often understated, the social, economic, and political contributions of American women have all had profound effects on the course of this nation. For evidence of this, one needs to look no further than the many...

Lesson Plan

Jackie Robinson, WWII, and the Integration of Baseball

9, 10, 11, 12

Background In the 1940s America was in the throes of a crippling depression and a world war. While all Americans coped with the overwhelming challenges that the economy and war presented, some Americans faced an additional hardship,...

Lesson Plan

Japanese Internment Camps of WWII

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview Since Japanese people began migrating to America in the mid-nineteenth century, there has been resentment and tension between Americans and Asian immigrants. In California at the turn of the century laws were passed making it...

Lesson Plan

Children on the Home Front

World History

2, 3, 4, 5

Overview While American soldiers were fighting abroad, those left at home, including children, contributed to the war effort in many ways. Background Although World War II wasn’t fought on US soil, its effects were deeply felt by all...

Lesson Plan

The Supreme Court, Title IX and Gender Equity

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Background The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the federal judicial system and has both original and appellate jurisdiction. Historically, the Supreme Court’s most influential role has been through the...

Lesson Plan

Traitors and Spies in the Time of War: How the Supreme Court Determined Who Would Live and Who Would Die

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview In April 1865 over 600,000 Americans lay dead from battle wounds and other causes directly related to their service in the armies of the Confederacy and Union during the four-year Civil War. If we adjusted the number of dead...

Lesson Plan

Travels Through Time: The Impact of Supreme Court Decisions on the Struggle for African American Equality

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview After the Civil War, African Americans were under attack as they struggled for equal rights in America. Laws were put in place during Reconstruction to assure Freedmen basic civil rights. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and...

Lesson Plan

Montgomery to the Supreme Court

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview Students will examine primary source documents and photographs to explain how local events lead to cases being presented before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upholds laws that protect the rights of all people and...

Lesson Plan

The Jungle

Literature

8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Overview The United States was transformed in the last decades of the nineteenth century by the industrial revolution. The rapid growth of cities, increase in immigration, expansion of a struggling working class, and concentration of...

Lesson Plan

Farewell to Manzanar: Japanese Internment Camps During World War II

Government and Civics, Literature, World History

6, 7, 8

Background In 1886, after the arrival of Commodore Perry, the Japanese government lifted its ban on emigration and allowed its citizens to move to other countries. In the years after that, however, the United States made it more...

Lesson Plan

Going to School, Then and Now: Education in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird

Literature

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Overview The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are both written in the voices of children. While each book gives and unabashed commentary of the social mores of the time and place...

Lesson Plan

Theodore Roosevelt: A Bully Reformer

Economics

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction Theodore Roosevelt was the twenty-sixth president of the United States. His presidency would become the symbol of strong leadership, reform, and a square deal for Americans in the new century. When Roosevelt was...

Lesson Plan

Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview In the early twentieth century, President Theodore Roosevelt was a dynamic force in a relatively new movement known as conservationism. During his presidency, Roosevelt made conservation a major part of his administration. As...

Lesson Plan

Origins of the Teddy Bear

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Overview The term "teddy bear," used to describe a stuffed toy bear, originated in 1902 during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency. By examining the political cartoons of Clifford K. Berryman, students will learn that the teddy bear is a...

Lesson Plan

Lincoln and Presidential Power

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction When Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860, his experience in politics and government included serving in the Illinois legislature and the US House of Representatives. He had also studied law...

Lesson Plan

Lincoln and Civil Liberties

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview The tension between individual rights and a government’s need to preserve and protect national security during times of war has represented a constant theme throughout American history. During the John Adams administration, a...

Lesson Plan

Abraham Lincoln: A Man for All Seasons

8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Overview At one time in our country’s history we stood divided as a nation over the issue of slavery. It was Abraham Lincoln’s ideology and sense of purpose that helped to unite our country and set us on a path toward realizing the...

Lesson Plan

Women in the Great Depression: Investigating Assumptions

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction The greatest economic calamity in the history of the United States occurred in the third decade of the twentieth century. When the stock market crashed in 1929 and the economy plummeted over the next few years, the nation...

Lesson Plan

Of Mice and Men and Migrant Farm Workers of the Great Depression

Literature

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview John Steinbeck’s famous hobos, George and Lennie, bring the migrant farm experience of the Great Depression to life in the celebrated classic of American literature, Of Mice and Men . Part of the huge grain growing industry...

Lesson Plan

Dust Bowl Stories

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Overview Utilizing video and photos, elementary school students will synthesize some Dust Bowl experiences by creating a children's book in this multi-day activity. Background Beginning in the 1930s, drought wracked Oklahoma, Arkansas...

Lesson Plan

The 1919 Black Sox Scandal

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction Baseball became an increasingly integral part of the American landscape in the second half of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century. Growth of the sport occurred in conjunction with the...

Lesson Plan

The Scottsboro Trial

Government and Civics

5, 6, 7, 8

Background In 1932, times were hard for many as jobs were not easy to find and people had difficulty putting food on the table. In March of that year, nine black boys ventured out looking for work only to find themselves caught in a...

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