American Government is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the single-semester American government course. This title includes innovative features designed to enhance student learning, including Insider Perspective features and a Get Connected Module that shows students how they can get engaged in the political process. The book provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of American government and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. American Government includes updated information on the 2016 presidential election.Senior Contributing AuthorsGlen Krutz (Content Lead), University of OklahomaSylvie Waskiewicz, PhD (Lead Editor)

Although the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, its interpretation is open to many opinions, causing great controversies. Students can read the Constitution as well as the many issues that surround the document. If that proves to be a bit dry, play Constitutional Trivia or Bill of Rights Golf. There are links to Supreme Court cases that include study questions and even a "Supreme Court Humor Page."

If James Madison was the "father" of the Constitution," John Marshall was the "father of the Supreme Court""”almost single-handedly clarifying its powers. This new lesson is designed to help students understand Marshall's brilliant strategy in issuing his decision on Marbury v. Madison, the significance of the concept of judicial review, and the language of this watershed case.

This is a full unit of study from iCivics, featuring multiple lesson plans with presentations, downloadable documents, and more. This library of mini-lessons targets a variety of landmark cases from the United States Supreme Court. Each mini-lesson includes a one-page reading and a one-page activity, and is appropriate for a variety of uses. Unlike the iCivics lesson plans, these mini-lessons are designed for students to complete independently without the need for teacher direction. However, they also make great teacher-directed lessons or even class conversation-starters, and multiple mini-lessons can be combined to make a longer lesson.

This lesson helps students learn about the judicial system through simulating a real court case involving student free speech rights. In addition to learning about how the Supreme Court operates, students will explore how the Supreme Court protects their rights, interprets the Constitution, and works with the other two branches 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.

This lesson contains several elements including an online interactive tutorial, quiz, and case study writing prompt.

Students will learn about their rights in school and how the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution has been applied to court cases by Federal courts.

The federal judiciary, which includes the Supreme Court as well as the district and circuit courts, is one of three branches of the federal government. This lesson provides an introduction to the Supreme Court.