From the first days of American history until today, the Supreme Court has been pivotal in interpreting the Constitution and shaping America’s constitutional republic. Read summaries of the majority ruling in landmark Supreme Court cases that have had an impact on our rights as citizens.
Voices of History
Voices of History is a collection of eight Bill of Rights Institute curriculum resources including Being An American, Preserving the Bill of Rights, Founders and the Constitution, Supreme Court DBQs, Liberty and Security in Modern Times, Religious Liberty: An American Experiment, and Heroes and Villains. Teachers will have free access to each resources’ lessons plans and handouts.
Making Civics Real
A multimedia workshop for high school civics teachers. It includes 8, 1-hour video programs, a print guide to the workshop activities, and a website. The goal of this workshop is to give teachers new resources and ideas to reinvigorate civic education. The series presents authentic teachers in diverse school settings modeling a variety of teaching techniques and best practices in a variety of social studies courses from a 9th-grade government/civics/econ course, to a 12th-grade law course
Democracy in America
Democracy in America is a unique 15-part course for high school teachers to provide a deeper understanding of the principles and workings of American democracy. By combining compelling video stories of individuals interacting with American government, theoretical discussions of the meaning of democracy, and problem-solving, hands-on exercises, the course gives life to the workings of American democracy.
Creating Effective Citizens/Social Studies in Action Library
Watch lesson plans in the video, “Creating Effective Citizens,” from the Social Studies in Action Library, that teach students how to become active and effective citizens. Students participate in role-play and simulations that model civic action, discuss controversial laws about gender discrimination and individual rights, explore what it means to be a global citizen within a democracy, and engage students in local and national issues.
Dealing With Controversial Issues/Social Studies in Action Library
This program examines how social studies teachers in any grade level can encourage open and informed discussions with their students while dealing with controversial issues. Topics range from stereotypes and gender–based discrimination to the conflict in the Middle East. Through clearly identifying issues, listening to multiple perspectives, and formulating personal positions, teachers explore strategies that can be used to teach challenging issues such as these in their own classrooms.
“Story” from Essential Lens: Analyzing Photographs Across the Curriculum
Every photograph tells a story: Stories of struggle. Stories of beauty. Stories of community and culture. This video offers stories of three people and what compels them to do what they do. Hear from a high school teacher using the Protests and Politics photo collection from this resource (link to collection and big ideas on page), a National Geographic photo editor, and photographer Danny Wilcox Frazier who discusses his work, which focuses on marginalized communities across the United States.
Transforming Your Classroom with National History Day
National History Day motivates students to discover history by cultivating interest: students research a topic of their choice; developing research skills: students act as historians discovering how to uncover primary sources, build historical context and form historical interpretations; becoming experts on a research topic: presenting their research to teachers, students, and historians; achieving success.
National History Day Contest
You will choose a historical topic related to the annual theme, and then conduct primary and secondary research. You will look through libraries, archives and museums, conduct oral history interviews, and visit historic sites. After you have analyzed and interpreted your sources, and have drawn a conclusion about the significance of your topic, you will then be able to present your work in contests in one of five ways: as a paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary, or a website.
U.S. v. Windsor (2013)
Does the DOMA deprive same-sex couples who are legally married under state laws of their Fifth Amendment rights to equal protection under federal law? This case study shows how the Supreme Court answered this question in 2013.