Teaching About Due Process and the Law

In this lesson, students will be presented with various cases of discrimination. They will identify the discriminatory practice, and discuss the difference between permitted and illegal discrimination. The instructor might then lead discussion about the difficulties in drafting laws that ensure no discrimination while not interfering too much with private citizens’ freedoms.

Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in educational settings. The law applied to any educational institution that received federal funding. This lesson has students learn about what Title IX does and explore its impact on gender equality today.

Grades 11, 12, 9, 10
Federal Government
Interactives

Voting Rights Act of 1965: Lesson Plans & Resources

On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. This landmark piece of legislation made discrimination based on race illegal. This law protected the right to vote for all citizens; forced states to obey the Constitution; and reinforced the 15th Amendment. The Share My Lesson team has curated a collection of free lesson plans, activities, and classroom materials that educators can use to teach students about the Voting Rights Act.

Grades 7, 8, 9, 10, K, 11, 1, 12, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
History
Lesson Plans

Equal Protection Under Law

In this lesson, students will analyze the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection clause. They will distinguish between identical treatment and equal treatment under the law, and discuss situations in which discrimination is acceptable – not letting a 6-year-old obtain a driver’s license, for example.

14th Amendment: Battles for Equality

The 14th Amendment wrote the Declaration of Independence’s promise of freedom and equality into the Constitution. It transformed the Constitution forever. And it’s at the heart of what many scholars refer to as America’s “Second Founding.” Even so, the 14th Amendment is the focus of many of the most important constitutional debates (and Supreme Court cases) today. In many ways, the history of the modern Supreme Court is really a history of modern-day battles over the 14th Amendment’s meaning. Nearly every constitutional case that you care about today turns on the 14th Amendment.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Did the North Carolina residents’ claim that the 1990 redistricting plan discriminated on the basis of race raise a valid constitutional issue under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause? North Carolina drew legislative districts to create a majority black district.

Grades 12, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Judicial Branch/Supreme Court
Research (Digests of Primary Sources)

Actions That Changed the Law

In 1998, when Lilly Ledbetter filed her complaint of wage discrimination against the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, her goal was to get equal pay for equal work because that was the law. She had no idea that her decision would eventually involve all three branches of government and result in a law with her name on it – the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act: Lesson Plans and Resources

On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. Originally proposed by President Kennedy in 1963, this landmark piece of legislation made discrimination based on race, religion, sex or national origin illegal. Additionally, the Civil Rights Act ended the practice of unequal voter requirements based on race or sex and ended racial segregation in schools. The Share My Lesson team has curated a collection of free lesson plans, activities, and classroom materials for educators to use in teaching students about the Civil Rights Act.

Grades 11, 1, 12, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Rights and Responsibilities
Interactives