Containing more than 50 articles from the award-winning Tar Heel Junior Historian magazine and over 40 lesson plans, this multidisciplinary Educator Notebook will enrich your exploration of North Carolina and American history with diverse perspectives. This resource's link takes you to a very short form that gives you free downloadable access to the complete PDF book.

In this lesson, students review the history of lynching in America and how the NAACP led the fight to pass a federal anti-lynching law. A set of discussion questions is provided. In an associated activity, students create, layout, and publish an opinion/editorial page for a 1934 newspaper on the topic of lynching.

In this lesson, students examine the content of and controversy surrounding Proposition 187, proposed to voters in California as a measure to discourage illegal immigration in the state. A set of discussion questions is provided. In an associated activity, students role play as members of a Citizen Advisory Panel that has been tasked with making recommendations about a proposed law.

This lesson introduces students to the importance of building a constituency to support or oppose public policies using the case study of the Montgomery Bus Boycott as an example. Students read primary documents from the boycott and discuss how the documents show how leaders tried to build support.

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of political issues and political parties. By investigating the compelling question about how well political parties represent individuals, students consider their own political ideology as a lens for learning about the extent to which political parties address international and domestic issues.

In this lesson, students will explore the governmental power of eminent domain and gain an understanding of its relationship to the Fifth Amendment's protection of private property. Students will watch a DVD about the Supreme Court case Kelo v. City of New London and then participate in a city council simulation based on the case. By studying the Kelo case and its impact on the nation, students will gain a deeper understanding of the conflicting interests involved in eminent domain cases.

In this lesson, students will examine Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council and learn about regulatory takings. Students will then participate in small group simulations of the Coastal Resources Advisory Council and explore a local issue related to the Lucas case. Teachers may also choose to team up with a science teacher to further study the environmental issues facing coastlines.

Students will analyze documents pertaining to the woman suffrage movement as it intensified following passage of the 15th Amendment that guaranteed the right to vote for African American males. Documents were chosen to call attention to the struggle's length, the movement's techniques, and the variety of arguments for and against giving women the vote.

Narrated by Bowdoin College Government Professor Andrew Rudalevige, "Founding Principles" provides an introductory overview and basic understanding to American government, but one that is crucial to building citizen-leaders, promoting civic engagement, and working toward the common good.
Chapter Eleven discusses the theory and practice of the lawmaking process, including the sequence of turning a bill into a law, the rules of debate, and the power of the purse.

Narrated by Bowdoin College Government Professor Andrew Rudalevige, "Founding Principles" provides an introductory overview and basic understanding to American government, but one that is crucial to building citizen-leaders, promoting civic engagement, and working toward the common good.
Chapter Fifteen reviews the important aspects of the American system of government and encourages viewers to use their knowledge to get involved in their own political world.

Narrated by Bowdoin College Government Professor Andrew Rudalevige, "Founding Principles" provides an introductory overview and basic understanding to American government, but one that is crucial to building citizen-leaders, promoting civic engagement, and working toward the common good.
Chapter Seven discusses how the media has evolved throughout history and politics.

Narrated by Bowdoin College Government Professor Andrew Rudalevige, "Founding Principles" provides an introductory overview and basic understanding to American government, but one that is crucial to building citizen-leaders, promoting civic engagement, and working toward the common good.
Chapter Six discusses public opinion and how it affects politics and governmental policy, as well as how data is gathered.

Narrated by Bowdoin College Government Professor Andrew Rudalevige, "Founding Principles" provides an introductory overview and basic understanding to American government, but one that is crucial to building citizen-leaders, promoting civic engagement, and working toward the common good.
Chapter Twelve discusses the governmental bureaucracy, social policy, and regulation.

This two-day lesson centers around a project that is designed to help students demonstrate knowledge of the key concepts and issues that they learned in this unit of study. They will be comparing and contrasting laws passed in the United States and South Africa regarding segregation and apartheid, respectively.This lesson was developed by Carolin Bethea-Brown as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

In this two-day lesson, students will analyze the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as laws passed at the state and federal levels that were used to systematically deny African Americans of their constitutional rights. Throughout the lesson students will draw comparisons between laws made in the United States with laws made by the apartheid government of South Africa.This lesson was developed by Caroline Bethea-Brown as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

This lesson is to be conducted over a two-day (90 minute block schedule) period. The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the role the federal government played in overturning laws that systematically undermined the 14th and 15th Amendments. During this process students will gain a better understanding of federalism, checks and balances, and judicial review. In addition, they will have the opportunity to compare and contrast laws passed in the United States with laws passed by the South Africa's apartheid government.This lesson was developed by Caroline Bethea-Brown as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

This resource provides information on interest groups and how they seek to influence public policy.

Did changes in state constitutions tend to affect the voting population? In this lesson, students discuss the general trend in the first half of the 19th century to extend the right to vote to more white males.

In this two-day lesson plan, students examine the struggle for desegregation during the Civil Rights Movement and a current study that finds that American schools are reverting to segregation. On the first day, students examine the notion of ‘separate but equal’ by reading about the Brown v. Board of Education decision and by researching different events, legislation and organizations that influenced desegregation. On the second day, students assess ways in which race relations have and have not changed since this historic decision, examine the recent ‘resegregation’ study, and propose suggestions for addressing the school segregation issue to local, state or national leaders.

In this lesson, students will learn about the case of Dorothy E. Davis, et al. vs. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia using primary source materials. This case predated the Brown vs Board of Education case and was brought about by a 16 year old student who complied the data about the differences between her all black school and the all white school.