Educator Resources Educator Resources

Do Americans have shared ideals? What do they look like?​ Students investigate this question by closely examining words that express American ideals, selecting images from a provided deck that best illustrate their interpretation of the word, and them comparing their choices to others in their group.

What does it mean to be a good citizen? Students investigate this question by looking at the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance, which foreign-born people must take to become naturalized American citizens, and thinking deeply about what are or should be crucial requirements of citizenship. This lesson guides students to closely examine information, to ask probing questions, and to take part in complex discussions with classmates.

What would you do to support what you believe in? Through an interactive and movement-based activity, students investigate this question and examine how in many instances there are no black-or-white answers.

What does the right to vote mean to you? Through an interactive and movement-based activity, students investigate this question and examine how in many instances there are no black or white answers.

Children often lack knowledge and skills necessary to interact with each other, especially when confronted with differences in mobility, hearing, sight, developmental skills or verbal skills.

Maps, truth, and belief have a complicated relationship with one another. Every map is a representation of reality, and every representation, no matter how accurate and honest, involves simplification, symbolization, and selective attention.

This lesson asks students to investigate the connections between constitutional principles, the United States founding documents, and their relationship to one another.

Students will discuss the importance of Civil Discourse and discuss challenging contemporary issues.

Students will examine arguments concerning the role of the government during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Uncover the tools to hold constitutional conversations and civil dialogue.

Comic books are visual literature. This simple cooperative group activity allows students to identify confrontational issues within their own school and then imagine solutions.

This resource is an interactive Google Site to help students understand the electoral process of the 2020 election.

The ideas and tools in this guide will help you prepare students to engage in reflective conversations on topics that matter.

This film explores the First Amendment right of the “people peaceably to assemble” through the lens of the U.S. Supreme Court case National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie.

Students analyze different examples of collective action problems, discovering how micro-behaviors at the individual level can cause macro-problems on a societal scale. After brainstorming different problems in their communities, students choose one and create a campaign to encourage individuals to change their micro-behaviors to help address the problem.

NK360° Helpful Handouts: Guidance on Common Questions provide a brief introduction to teachers about important topics regarding Native American life, cultures, and communities. Honoring Indigenous Inhabitants: Land Acknowledgement discusses land acknowledgement as a dynamic cultural practice rooted in Indigenous traditions. Use this resource as a starting point to recognizing the continuing experiences, rights, and values of Native Peoples. Culturally sensitive activities and resources related to land and tribal sovereignty are provided.

Explore case summaries and engage in discussions focused on how Supreme Court decisions maintain the rule of law and protect minorities

Gain a deeper understanding of the 14th Amendment and the evolution of Title IX by analyzing the Supreme Court’s 1984 decision in Grove City College v. Bell

In this lesson, students read a text that examines recent research into the question of whether democratic forms of government are in decline in the world and whether young people have less affinity for democracy than in the past. Next, they participate in a Civil Conversation (CivCon) based on the reading; in this structured discussion method, 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.

Suffrage and the passage of the 19th Amendment marked an important moment in the progression of women’s participation in our democracy and civic life. The 2019 National Youth Summit looked at woman suffrage as an example of how groups with limited political power have and continue to shape our democracy using strategies and tools, like the vote and public protest, to give voice to issues and galvanize fellow Americans into communal movements for change.

This lesson focuses on helping young children learn to participate in different kinds of digital communities. Students will solidify and work on what they know about being part of any community.

Students explore the ways that their perceptual set influences their expectations and shapes how they view the world and others. They examine how their personal experience and cultural background affect their perceptual set and can lead to prejudice. Students then brainstorm strategies for widening their perceptual set to have a better understanding of the world around them.

Students explore the power of personal narrative to shape and influence the people around them. They gain a better understanding of the ways these stories produce empathy and create connections between people. Students identify scenarios where they might use their own personal stories to influence others in a positive way.

Students learn about the Electoral College and the difference between the electoral and popular vote, and analyze arguments in favor and against the Electoral College.

Racism takes a toll on the health of Black people and people of color in the United States. And in the wake of nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd, many cities and counties across the country declared racism a public health crisis. This lesson will help your students examine the problem, understand how “declarations” and “resolutions” are part of public policy, and recommend policies for responding to inequities in health care.

Students reflect on the impact their decisions have on the wellbeing of the planet and on future generations. A discussion on why it is important for people to use long-term thinking introduces students to the Seventh Generation Principle. Through a creative writing task, students reflect on the importance of having a long-term view when making decisions that impact future generations.

As a highly-structured model for conversation, Deliberations allow teachers to help students cooperatively discuss contested political issues by carefully considering multiple perspectives and searching for consensus. This Deliberation focuses on whether juveniles should be punished as adults.

As a highly-structured model for conversation, Deliberations allow teachers to help students cooperatively discuss contested political issues by carefully considering multiple perspectives and searching for consensus. This Deliberation focuses on fracking.

As a highly-structured model for conversation, Deliberations allow teachers to help students cooperatively discuss contested political issues by carefully considering multiple perspectives and searching for consensus. This high school Deliberation focuses on the decision to raise the minimum wage.

As a highly-structured model for conversation, Deliberations allow teachers to help students cooperatively discuss contested political issues by carefully considering multiple perspectives and searching for consensus. This Deliberation focuses on the Electoral College.

As a highly-structured model for conversation, Deliberations allow teachers to help students cooperatively discuss contested political issues by carefully considering multiple perspectives and searching for consensus. This Deliberation focuses on an amendment banning flag desecration.

As a highly-structured model for conversation, Deliberations allow teachers to help students cooperatively discuss contested political issues by carefully considering multiple perspectives and searching for consensus. This Deliberation focuses on compulsory voting.

The 2020 National Youth Summit was centered on the case study of Claudette Colvin—a 15-year-old Black student in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. Colvin refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus and testified in the legal case that brought an end to segregated busing in Montgomery. Check out videos, lesson plans and primary resources from this event.

This resource is an interactive Google Site to lead students through the 10 Questions for Changemakers in order to create a student-led civics project.

On February 1, 1960, four African American college students challenged racial segregation by sitting down at a “whites only” counter lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. Politely asking for service, their request was refused. When asked to leave, they remained in their seats. Their sit-in inspired others to engage in nonviolent protests, which drew attention to the inequalities in civil rights at the time. This suite of resources provides strategies to explore this history, the Civil Rights Movement and the power of nonviolent protest.

Pop-up cases are short, one-page scenarios based on issues reverberating in the news today. Use one of the cases to spark discussion and put your students in the shoes of policymakers. This case asks students to consider the following scenario: as the United States emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic into a recession, policymakers need to consider another global crisis: climate change. How should the United States pursue environmental sustainability alongside economic recovery?

This lesson explores Article V of the Constitution and the amendment process. It uses three proposed amendments as case studies: DC statehood, a flag desecration, and the Equal Rights Amendment.

In this lesson, students learn about the expansion and restriction of voting rights in the United States. They examine laws and court rulings that have affected the voting rights of millions of Americans, brainstorm possible explanations for voter disengagement and explore a timeline of voting rights in the United States. In an extension activity, students learn how to register to vote.

This free classroom resource provided educators with all of the material necessary to hold a simulated Senate debate in the classroom. Two-day lesson plans guide your class though examining a national issue, evaluating proposed provisions that might address the issue, previewing an actual bill that has been before the Senate, and taking on the roll of a senator to deliberate and vote on the bill.

Pop-up cases are short, one-page scenarios based on issues reverberating in the news today. Use one of the cases to spark discussion and put your students in the shoes of policymakers. This case asks students to consider the following scenario: at the start of a new presidential term in 2021, the United States reassesses its policy toward China in light of the ongoing repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang.

Debates are one of the most anticipated events in the lead up to a presidential election. Each candidate carefully plans their strategies to persuade the American public that they are the one to vote for in November. Examine historical examples of presidential debates and customize your own viewing scorecard.

Featuring examples of published cartoons from the MHS collections as well as other libraries and foundations, this resource collection illustrates how cartoonists helped to tell the story of voting rights in the United States.

In this lesson, students explore the ways that decisions by local government affect their lives. They’ll review research and data about a few recent local elections to push back against the myth that a single vote doesn’t count. They’ll learn how laws in their state encourage or suppress voter engagement. And in an extension activity, eligible students learn how to register to vote.

A collection of 11 modules of explainers and lesson plans on the global challenges that will define our lifetime.

With and without the vote and throughout American history, young people have been a force to be reckoned with as they take action and stand in support of the issues that matter most. This video series shares 10 stories of young people shaping and changing elections throughout American history.