This resource pairs the text of the U.S. Constitution with the Federalist Papers.
AP U.S. Government and Politics Featured Resources Collection
This is a collection of lesson plans and bell ringers that support the AP U.S. Government and Politics course. They are organized by unit, include required Supreme Court cases as well as practice Free Response prompts and review resources.
Formation of State Constitutions
This lesson plan opens with reflective question that asks students to reflect the development of laws in the United States. Students then watch, analyze, and respond to an introductory video clip that details the goals of the writers of the first state constitutions. Next, students view for videos that provide historical background information, including uncertainty during the revolutionary era, what the colonists agreed upon, and how citizenship and society were viewed in the wake of the Enlightenment. Students then are assigned to study either Virginia’s, Pennsylvania’s, or Massachusetts’ first state constitution. After viewing the video clip for their assigned constitution, students then choose another first state constitution of choice and prepare a presentation comparing the two. The lesson concludes with a reflective video clip before students respond to a summative writing prompt.
First Amendment Quizzes
The First Amendment Academy is a hub for quick, engaging quizzes from Freedom Forum, which also provides educational resources through NewseumED. The quizzes test middle school and high school students’ knowledge with real-world scenarios, interactive activities and thought-provoking questions that make learning these five fundamental freedoms fun, fast and relevant.
Civic Online Reasoning Curriculum
Students are confused about how to evaluate online information. We all are. The Civic Online Reasoning curriculum provides free lessons and assessments that help you teach students to evaluate online information that affects them, their communities, and the world.
Women’s Fight for Suffrage
Learn about women’s fight for the right to vote in the United States including major leaders and strategies of the women’s suffrage movement.
Traditions of the Senate: Senate Decorum
For more than 200 years, the United States Senate has held certain traditions and customs that Senators follow in order to work together in Congress. Learn about Senate decorum, or the rules about how senators behave as they work. Then, use the worksheet to make some family rules.
Traditions of the Senate: Bean Soup
The Senate has a tradition, or a practice, of having Bean Soup on the menu every day! Learn more about the Senate’s Bean Soup and make your own senatorial soup at home.
Activist Spotlight: Lois Gibbs and the Environmental Toxins
Read about how Lois Gibbs organized a campaign to demand that her community clean up a toxic waste dump. Then, use the worksheet to address an environmental issue in your community.
Issue Investigation: Fracking
This Issue Investigation explores fracking, a way of using high-pressured liquid, sand, and chemicals to crack rock far underground and remove oil, coal, and gas. Some people think fracking is a great way for energy production and jobs. Other people think fracking is dangerous for the environment and public health.