This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 8th grade Social Studies content.

This resource accompanies our Rethink 8th Grade Social Studies course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

In this curriculum unit, students look at the role of President as defined in the Constitution and consider the precedent-setting accomplishments of George Washington.

In this interactive online activity, students will review and analyze the founding documents of the United States and understand Benjamin Franklin's contributions and connections to these founding documents. For the conclusion, students will choose the three most important documents that Franklin helped to shape, and reflect on the impact of the founding documents.

Students will gain an understanding of the rights guaranteed to citizens in the Bill of Rights, the modern
controversies that can arise from such rights, as well as the importance and relevance of the Bill of Rights to
every individual by participating in role-plays.

Students translate the Bill of Rights into modern English and analyze Supreme Court cases involving students to answer the question, "How does the Bill of Rights affect my daily life?"

Birth of a Colony explores the history of North Carolina from the time of European exploration through the Tuscarora War. Presented in five acts, the video combines primary sources and expert commentary to bring this period of our history to life. The accompanying teacher guides provide lesson activity ideas, vocabulary, and additional reading resources to compliment each act's theme. The 5 act themes are: First on the Land, The Road to Zacatecas, The Roanoke Voyages, A New Voyage to North Carolina, and , The Tuscarora War.

Birth of a Colony explores the history of North Carolina from the time of European exploration through the Tuscarora War. Presented in five acts, the video combines primary sources and expert commentary to bring this period of our history to life. Act IV of Birth of a Colony is divided into three parts. The first part explores the development of permanent English settlements in North Carolina. The second part of this segment focuses on the establishment of a proprietary colony in Carolina. The The third part of this segment focuses on the journey of John Lawson from Charleston, through the interior sections of the Piedmont, to the Pamlico Sound. This teacher's guide includes 2 SS lessons: John Lawson, Surveyor; Teaching the Carolina Charter. Additional suggested resources and optional extension activities are also included. The Birth of a Colony video can be accessed at the following link: http://video.unctv.org/video/2149619983/

Take a trip to the Cherokee Indian Reservation to see and hear how the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has regained and maintained its heritage despite losing its homeland to oppressive government action.

In this activity students will learn about how groups without political power—African Americans, women, and working-class men—sought to expand their political power in the Revolutionary era. Students will analyze primary sources to determine the methods by which non-voting groups made their claims on being part of "We the People".

Drawing on the resources of the Library of Congress's Printed Ephemera Collection, this lesson helps students experience the news as the colonists heard it: by means of broadsides, notices written on disposable, single sheets of paper that addressed virtually every aspect of the American Revolution.

These activities enable students to explore Congress Creates the Bill of Rights wtih a mobile app for tablets and eBook from the Center for Legislative Archives. The mobile app is an interactive learning tool for tablets. The eBook presents a historic narrative focusing on James Madison's leadership role in creating the Bill of Rights. There are also six worksheets that will engage students in studying this document and questions are provided.

In this resource, students will explore the protections and limitations on authority contained in the Bill of Rights and the process by which the First Congress created it. They will do this by compiling a list of their rights as students, analyzing the Bill of Rights, and studying primary source documents to trace the origin and development of the first ten amendments. Students will then consider how the Bill of Rights might be updated to reflect 21st century circumstances.

In this lesson, students learn how the Constitution established a new way to organize government called the federal system. Students will describe how federalism differs from other forms of government and identify strengths and weaknesses of a federal system.

In this activity, students analyze primary source documents in order to better understand the content, impact, and perpetual relevance of the U.S. Constitution to the daily lives of American citizens.

Students will work on an independent project throughout their study of the Constitutional Period by researching a Constitutional topic and creating a float representing that topic. Students will then educate others on their topic by presenting their float in a class parade.

In this lesson, students will explore the origins of the two-party system in North Carolina with an emphasis on the rise and fall of the Whigs. They will describe changes in each party and explore issues of pressing concern in North Carolina from the early 1800s to the beginning of the Civil War.

This lesson focuses on the debates among the U.S. Founders surrounding the distribution of power between states and the federal government. Students learn about the pros and cons of state sovereignty vs. federalism and have the opportunity to argue different sides of the issue.

Students will explore the Articles of Confederation and the Articles' influence in revising the Constitution of 1787. Students will experience the sentiments of Federalists and Anti Federalists by participating in a partner debate as either North Carolina Federalist James Iredell or Anti Federalist Willie Jones.

In this lesson, students will compare and contrast the introduction to the Articles of Confederation and the Preamble to the United States Constitution to uncover change over time from 1777 to 1787 and identify at least one important principle in the new Constitution.