This unit (the second part of Early Presidents and Social Reformers) focuses on the efforts to improve American society in the early 1800s. Across 6 lessons, students learn about the temperance movement, free public education, the abolitionists’ crusade to abolish slavery, and the early women’s rights movement. The unit explores early reformers’ legacy in ongoing modern-day struggles for equality and civil rights.
The United States Constitution (CKHG Unit)
This unit explores the creation and central ideas of the United States Constitution. Across 18 lessons, students learn how, after the Revolution, the Founding Fathers worked to confront the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation. They learn why the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution, and explore reasons why the Constitution has survived as the guiding document of government in the United States.
Media Literacy Booster Pack
Staying fresh and fluent in today’s media landscape isn’t easy. This collection of resources offers tools to tackle eight pressing challenges, from recognizing bias and propaganda to leveraging your role as a media contributor.
Free registration is required to access this resource.
Evaluating Election Ads
In this activity, students examine some of the techniques political campaigns use in ads to persuade voters, including assertions of fact and appeal to emotion. Students evaluate these techniques over time by comparing and contrasting historic and contemporary political ads.
Is Our Democracy in Trouble?
According to many scholars, modern liberal democracy has advanced in waves. But liberal democracy has also had its setbacks. Some argue that it is in trouble in the world today, and that the young millennial generation is losing faith in it.
The Campus Speaker: A Case Study in Free Speech
Use this classroom-ready lesson to examine free-expression issues surrounding a controversial speaker invited to appear at UC Berkeley. We provide questions to help guide your students on if and when offensive speech should be banned, and what are the competing groups and interests.
Forced Displacement: Human Rights and the Struggle for Social Justice
Annenberg Learner has curated a list of resources for students and teachers about the global refugee crisis and the related topic of immigration. Engage students with activities, lesson plans, and other professional development resources about these topics.
Decoding the News: Building Savvy Media Consumers
Objective: This lesson will promote understanding about what it means to be “news literate” and how learning to analyze media reports about current events can foster civic engagement.
Civil Conversation: Immigration Enforcement Raids
Controversial legal and policy issues, as they are discussed in the public arena, often lead to polarization, not understanding. This Civil Conversation activity offers an alternative. In this structured discussion method, under the guidance of a facilitator, participants are encouraged to engage intellectually with challenging materials, gain insight about their own point of view, and strive for a shared understanding of issues. This lesson plan addresses the debate over the policies of the federal agency – Immigration and Customs Enforcement – that investigates and enforces the nation’s immigration laws.
Should Our State Require Photo ID for In-Person Voting?
The right to vote is a fundamental right, protected by the U.S. Constitution. But there are limits to this right, and states can establish reasonable restrictions on time, place, and manner of voting. This deliberation lesson sets up the question of whether states should require a photo ID to vote at the polls.