Addressing Gun Violence: Lesson Plans & Resources

School Resources to Address Gun Violence.

The Share My Lesson team curated a collection of free lesson plans and resources to support teachers in discussing the topic of gun violence with their students. This collection explores facts, history, laws, players, potential solutions, and activism on the issue of gun violence in the United States.

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

Deliberation Materials: Gun Licensing

Should the federal government require licenses for gun owners and purchasers? This activity includes a deliberation reading and glossary, as well as accompanying handouts to give students additional information on the topic and to guide them through the deliberation process from planning to reflection. Deliberation teaches people how to discuss controversial issues by carefully considering multiple perspectives and searching for consensus. In preparation for deliberations, all participants read common, balanced background information on the issue. During the discourse, they offer arguments for each position on a contested public issue, first drawing from the text and then bringing in their own experiences.

Second Amendment: D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago

The film “Second Amendment: D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago” examines the history of guns and gun ownership in our society from the Revolutionary War to modern times and the complicated debate over what the founders intended when they wrote the Second Amendment. Does it protect a right of individuals to keep and bear arms? Or is it a right that can be exercised only through militia organizations like the National Guard? 

Anti-Semitism and Addressing Hate

PWays to Address Hate & Anti-Semitism.

Senseless, violent acts of bigotry happen way too often in the United States. This Share My Lesson collection contains free K-12 lesson plans and resources on the rise of anti-semitism and addressing racism, with additional collections on helping children cope with traumatic events, gun violence, mental health and why remembering and teaching about the Holocaust is imperative.

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

Guns and School Safety

The Constitutional Rights Foundation provides resources to help students, teachers, administrators, and districts think about the best way forward for their communities and states. Resources include a simulation activity in which students act as state legislators trying to design the most effective policy for reduction of gun violence in their state (grades 9-12); a civil conversation in which students participate in a small-group discussion (middle school); talking points on the causes of school violence; and more.

Grades 9-12, 7, 8
Rights and Responsibilities
Lesson Plans