This mini-lesson covers the basics of the Supreme Court's decision that prohibited a suspect's statements from being used as evidence unless the suspect has been advised of his or her rights to remain silent. Students learn about the 5th Amendment right against coerced confessions and the 6th Amendment right to a lawyer, and how the right to a lawyer is essential to guarantee the right to silence. They analyze the "Miranda warning" and consider the principle that justice must not be obtained improperly. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Describe the 5th Amendment right to silence and the 6th Amendment right to a lawyer. *Identify the main arguments put forth in the case. *Explain why the Supreme Court believed a warning is necessary. *Identify the impact of the Court's decision on everyday law enforcement. *Analyze the purpose of the "Miranda warning." *Defend or critique the principle that justice must not be obtained improperly.

In this three-day mock election simulation lesson, students explain the steps taken from party formation to national election. Harnessing skills gained from the Electoral Process lesson, students will act out the campaigning and voting process by simulating a real election in their own classroom.
Love this lesson? Explore all of our free election curriculum and teaching resources at our Election Headquarters. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Explain the steps taken from the primary season to the election through scaffolded activities. *Demonstrate the voting process in primary and class wide elections. *Describe the impact of an election at the classroom level in an open response activity. *Engage in a simulated democratic process.

This mini-lesson discusses the Baron de Montesquieu, one of the great thinkers of the 18th century. He spent a lot of time thinking about how governments should be created and maintained. These ideas guided the Founding Fathers when they wrote the Constitution and continue to influence the way people think about government around the world. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Analyze the ideas behind America's founding documents. *Identify the ideas of various Enlightenment thinkers who influenced America's founders. *Recognize how various individuals and groups contributed to the development of the U.S. government. *Big Ideas: liberty, separation of powers, checks and balances, European governments

How did women win the right to vote? Explore how the women's suffrage movement spread across the United States beginning in the late 1800s. Use this infographic to show students how two different approaches to the movement worked to grant women the right to vote-first in the West, then in every state after the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Can't get enough suffrage?? Us either! Pair this infographic with the accompanying WebQuest Movement & Action: The Women's Suffrage Movement to dive deeper into the tactics suffragists used to secure the right to vote. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Distinguish between the state-by-state and federal approaches to women's suffrage *Recognize the spread of the suffrage movement from the West to the East *Identify tactics used by suffragists to support the movement

While people protest in the streets, the Legal Defense Fund fights for them in the courts, challenging discriminatory laws in every aspect of life. [1:56]

Starting a brand new nation was a tough job for America's first presidents-and it didn't help that many Americans were wary of the new central government. In this lesson, students learn about some of the decisions and actions the first presidential administrations took to make sure the United States would be strong enough to last.
LESSON OBJECTIVES: Explain how actions of early U.S. presidential administrations established a strong federal government. *Identify actions that helped stabilize the early nation's finances. *Identify actions that helped strengthen the early nation's military. *Describe ways in which the early changes in leadership were peaceful transitions of power. *Understand both the importance of the central government to the early nation and the tension it created.

NewsFeed Defenders is a challenging game designed to sharpen students' news literacy skills. In Newsfeed Defenders, students will: Join a fictional social media site focused on news and information; Learn elements of high-quality journalism and markers of deceptive posts; Spot dubious posts that sneak in through hidden ads, viral deception, and false reporting. For the best play experience, click "Play Fullscreen" in the upper right area of the screen. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Identify markers of verification, transparency, accountability, and independence in news stories. Define and identify problematic news items, and other news-related types of misinformation. Explain a variety of strategies to verify images and information. Evaluate text for bias based on word choices and framing methods. Use third-party information to judge credibility of a source.

Make your students' game play more meaningful with activities designed specifically for NewsFeed Defenders. This easy-to-use resource set means deeper learning for students and best practices around game-centered learning for you!
Extension Packs require PowerPoint and are designed for use with projectors or interactive whiteboards. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Identify markers of verification, transparency, accountability, and independence in news stories. *Define and identify problematic news items, and other news-related types of misinformation. *Explain a variety of strategies to verify images and information *Evaluate text for bias based on word choices and framing methods. *Use third party information to judge credibility of a source. *Evaluate the benefits and challenges of digital news and social media to a democratic society.

This is a full unit of study from iCivics, featuring multiple lesson plans with presentations, downloadable documents, and more. The universe of information we live in is a complicated web of messages with a mind-blowing array of sources, biases, and agendas. Help your students develop the mad news literacy skills they need with the resources in our hot-off-the-press News Literacy unit. Designed for the high school classroom, this unit teaches students to recognize high-standards journalism so they can make informed judgments about the information coming at them. Students get practical skills to help them identify and deal with misinformation, bias, opinion, and more.

In the debate over the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was a deal breaker. In this lesson, students learn why the federalists thought the Constitution didn't need a bill of rights and why the anti-federalists refused to accept the Constitution without one. Students will find out why individual rights was such a big issue, where the concept of a bill of rights came from,and how the Bill of Rights finally got added to the U.S. Constitution. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Identify arguments for and against the need for a bill of rights in the U.S. Constitution *Explain why the Bill of Rights was added to the U.S. Constitution *Describe how the Bill of Rights addresses limited government *Relate the arguments over the need for a bill of rights to the wording of the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution *Compare and contrast the fears on both sides of the argument over the need for a bill of rights

This mini-lesson covers the basics of the Supreme Court's decision that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples. Students learn about the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses, and how the Court's interpretation of them reinforced that marriage is a fundamental right. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Define the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment *Identify the main arguments put forth in the case *Describe the Supreme Court's decision and rationale *Identify how the 14th Amendment has been applied in different Supreme Court decisions *Analyze the factors that influence a justice's decision

In One Big Party, students learn about the role of political parties in the United States and the influence parties have in our political system, including the role of third parties. This lesson does not cover political party ideologies.
Use our mini-lesson Party Systems to teach students about the different kinds of political party systems that exist in countries around the world. (Party Systems used to be part of One Big Party but now stands alone.)
Or use our Google Slide and Pear Deck activities!
Love this lesson? Explore all of our free election curriculum and teaching resources at our Election Headquarters. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Define "political party." *Describe the roles of political parties. *Identify third parties and explain ballot access issues. *Identify ways that political parties influence public policy. *Distinguish between single-party, two-party, and multi-party systems. *Explain proportional representation.

With the Oregon Treaty, the United States added what today is the Pacific Northwest. In this mini-lesson, students learn how it happened, what tensions were involved, and how Native Americans were affected. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Identify the 54-40 line of latitude and explain the phrase "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!”. *Illustrate U.S. and British territory after the Oregon Treaty. *Draw the Oregon Trail. *Use compass directions, lines of latitude, and meridians to draw features on a map.

This mini-lesson explores the Supreme Court's decision that required the Professional Golf Association to accommodate competitors with disabilities in its tournaments. Students learn about the Americans with Disabilities Act, the modifications it requires of public places, and how those modifications affect people's lives. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Explain some of the protections in the Americans with Disabilities Act *Identify the main arguments put forth in the case *Describe the rationale behind the Supreme Court's decision *Identify the impact of the Court's decision on the rights of disabled people and the role of the legal system in protecting those rights

Does every country have Republicans and Democrats? (Spoiler alert: No.) Use this mini-lesson to show your students that there are lots of different political party systems around the world.
Got a 1:1 classroom? Download fillable PDFs of this lesson's materials below!
Love this lesson? Explore all of our free election curriculum and teaching resources at our Election Headquarters. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Define "political party" *Distinguish between the different political party systems: single-party, two-party, and multi-party *Explain proportional representation

For over two centuries, American political offices have peacefully transferred power after every election. Use this infographic/poster to show students how precedent, tradition, and legitimacy have helped create this democratic norm. Consider the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and why it is important to a democratic form of government.
For more resources on classroom conversations surrounding the Capitol insurrection, click here. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Recognize how the concepts of precedent, tradition, and legitimacy have helped to establish the peaceful transfer of power *Understand the role a peaceful transfer of power plays in a democratic form of government

This is a full unit of study from iCivics, featuring multiple lesson plans with presentations, downloadable documents, and more. In this language arts unit, students learn how to "argue on paper" using a fictional case about a school dress code rule against band t-shirts. The lessons take them through the process of writing two persuasive essays: one supporting the rule and one opposing it. After the essays, we suggest having your class play the game Supreme Decision to see how these arguments relate to issues of freedom of speech in schools. Supreme Decision is an excellent fit with the language arts classroom because it requires reading comprehension and higher-order thinking skills in the application of rules and evaluation of arguments.

What exactly is the ideal government? Let some of history's leading philosophers give you their take. In this government philosophy lesson, students explore how philosophers have explained the relationship between people and their governments and examine how those ideas influenced America's founding documents. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Recognize philosophers and their ideas *Compare how philosophers have explained the relationship between people and their government *Understand how philosophers have envisioned the ideal government *Explain how philosopher's ideas influenced America's Founders *Identify the philosophies included in America's founding documents, such as the Declaration of Independence

This mini-lesson covers the basics of the Supreme Court's decision that it was constitutional to keep black and white people segregated as long as the accommodations for each race were "equal." Students learn about the concept of "separate but equal," the reasons the Court found the doctrine acceptable, and the fact that the doctrine was not abolished until the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Students compare arguments from the Plessy case and the later case Brown v. Board of Education, and they consider whether the Brown court would have decided in Plessy's favor. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Define the "Separate Car Act." *Describe the 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law. *Identify the main arguments put forth in the case. *Describe the Supreme Court's decision and analysis. *Identify the impact of the Court's decision on the issue of segregation. *Compare the Court's reasoning in Plessy to the reasoning in Brown v. Board of Education.

Every 10 years the U.S. government circulates a census. Make sure your students know how to make it count! Use this printable poster infographic to show your students how their participation in the census brings power to their local community.
**But wait there's more!** Download our lesson plan Get Counted! (The U.S. Census). In this awesome overview, students dive into the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the census and the importance of being counted and informed. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Identify the purpose of the U.S. Census in the apportionment of federal funding and representation *Recognize the impact that completing the census has on local communities