Students will examine changes in African American voting rights throughout North Carolina's history. This lesson begins by reviewing key vocabulary. Students then independently research the history of African American voting rights in North Carolina using a primary source web quest or jigsaw activity.

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.

Students will learn about North Carolina's little known eugenics program, as well as explore the constitutionality of state mandated sterilization by reviewing the NC Supreme Court case, In re Moore. Stidents will culminate this lesson by making recommendations on how the state should make amends for the program's past controversial actions, as well as examine actual consolation recoomendations recently made by the North Carolina's General Assembly.

In this lesson, students read primary and secondary source documents about the Supreme Court case Allegheny County v. ACLU and the 1st amendment. Students then answer analysis questions about the case. There is a teacher answer key included in the lesson.

This unit, designed for a freshman Civics course, focuses on the basics of American citizenship.  The unit introduces the requirements of being an American citizen, how one can become an American citizen, and how American citizenship has been molded over the course of our nation's history.   This unit is introduced after students have had an introduction to American Government and have taken an American history course.  

Civics HSCEs:  C.5:  Citizenship in the United States of America

After Sept. 11, 2001, the federal government created the Department of Homeland Security and tasked it with preventing future terrorist attacks on American soil. The creation of this massive and expensive bureaucracy resulted in a dramatic expansion of government scrutiny over individual Americans' behavior and, critics argue, a decrease in civil liberties. The degree to which these trends have made Americans safer is unclear.

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 read primary and secondary source documents about the Supreme Court case Bethel v. Fraser and the 1st amendment. Students then answer analysis questions about the case. There is a teacher answer key included in the lesson.

This divide over gun control is animated by different interpretations of the Constitution: specifically the Second Amendment, its meaning, and its applicability in 21st century America. In this eLesson your students will explore some of the constitutional issues and policy proposals that make up the gun control/gun rights debate.

Students will explore the Supreme Court case Board of Education v. Earls, in which high school sophomore Lindsay Earls challenged her school's drug testing policy. Students will watch a documentary on the case, apply the Fourth Amendment to the case, and further their understanding by participation in activities such as creating an anti-drug campaign and a moot court or mock trial.

In this lesson, students use secondary source documents about the Supreme Court case Cantwell v. Connecticut and religious freedom. Students then answer analysis questions about the case. There is a teacher answer key included in the lesson.

In this Teaching with the News lesson, students will explore, debate, and evaluate multiple perspectives on U.S. foreign policy regarding drones.

In this lesson, students read primary and secondary source documents about the Supreme Court case Dickerson v. The United States and the 5th and 6th amendments. Students then answer analysis questions about the case. There is a teacher answer key included in the lesson.

In this lesson, students read primary and secondary source documents about the Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller and the 2nd amendment. Students then answer analysis questions about the case.

In this lesson, students read primary and secondary source documents about the Dred Scott v. Sanford Supreme Court case about federalism and due process. Students then answer an advanced placement style document based question. There is a teacher answer key at the end of the lesson.

In this lesson, students read primary and secondary source documents about the Supreme Court case Edwards v. South Carolina and freedom of speech and assembly. Students then answer analysis questions about the case. There is a teacher answer key and extension activity included in the lesson.

In this lesson, students read primary and secondary source documents about the Supreme Court case Engel v. Vitale and the establishment clause. Students then answer analysis questions about the case. There is a teacher answer key included in the lesson.

Students will read A Raisin in the Sun as they discuss and analyze the "American Dream." In this lesson, students discuss the concept of the "American Dream" and using poetry by Langston Hughes compare the "dream" to the reality experienced by particular groups who have historically struggled for access and equality. Students then further this exploration by reading and discussing Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, using the play as a basis to examine the way 1950s American society particularly restricted African American access to the "American Dream." Through their reading of the play, interactive class discussion, group work, art activities and creative writing activities, students gain an understanding that the concept of the "American Dream" has been and continues to be multidimensional and complicated, particularly in terms of the historical struggles groups of people have faced in attaining equal rights, access, acceptance, etc.

In this lesson, students read primary and secondary source documents about the Supreme Court case F.E.C. v. Wisconsin Right to Life, the 1st amendment, and campaign finance. Students then answer analysis questions about the case.

In this lesson, students learn about the force and limits of the First Amendment's protection of free speech through a documentary about the landmark Supreme Court case Virginia v. Black. The students will investigate where the permitted use of a symbol may blur into a prohibited threat of violence by grappling with the meaning of a sign that is particularly charged with history: the burning cross. Students will also consider the duty of an attorney to an unpopular client by comparing and contrasting Black's attorney to other famous attorney/client pairs in history.