Educator Resources Educator Resources

The War of 1812 is often referred to our country’s second war of independence. As a young nation, the United States’ economy, territory, and rights of individual citizens were again threatened by the British. A Sailor’s Life for Me! presents life at sea during the War of 1812 for those serving aboard USS Constitution, one of the few naval vessels in America’s young navy, and now a national symbol, through interactive games, primary sources, and Museum resources.

This lesson introduces children to different ways young people have used the internet to work toward positive social change.

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.

This lesson focuses on analyzing the style and substance of campaigns in both free media, such as the news and televised debates, and paid media, such as TV commercials.

Argue real Supreme Court cases, and put your lawyering skills to the test.

Explore the National Constitution Center’s Article I: How Congress Works module for everything you need to know about Article I of the Constitution!

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.

Students will answer the question “How can you make change in your community?” during this activity.

 In this lesson, students consider the impact of the poll tax as a barrier to voting by examining four primary sources.

This lesson is designed to help students develop the skills and understanding to engage in civic dialogue across differences. Students will practice empathy through telling each other’s stories.

This collection of historical biographies tells the story of civic leaders through the lens of the DKP’s 10 Questions for Changemakers.

The Checkology virtual classroom is a free browser-based e-learning platform with 14 interactive news literacy lessons led by subject matter experts. Checkology also includes dozens of challenges and exercises to extend student learning, a verification training center to teach students how to fact-check like the pros and a journalist directory to connect classroom teachers with journalist volunteers for classroom visits.

Lewis Hine shot hundreds of photographs that exposed the working conditions facing thousands of child laborers in the first two decades of the twentieth century. His powerful images shed light on a world largely hidden from most middle-class Americans and influenced public debate about child labor laws. This lesson asks students to think critically about Hine’s photographs and their usefulness as evidence of the past.

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

Learn about local government by playing a county official responding to citizen requests.

Students explore the experiences of Mexican-American farmworkers in the United States and learn about how they – especially through the leadership of Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers – worked with others for improvements in pay and working conditions, as well as respect for their civil rights. Students analyze primary sources and then complete a writing assignment to reflect on working with others to help solve a problem.

Eagle Eye Citizen allows teachers and students to solve or create online interactive challenges while engaging with rich Library of Congress primary sources. Students learn civics content as well as primary source analysis skills.

Learn how activists in Louisville, Kentucky successfully campaigned against segregated streetcars in 1870-71.

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.

Elections provide concrete examples for teachers to help students make authentic connections between what is traditionally taught in secondary civics or government classes and the very real-world consequences we face with each election cycle. In this learning resource, historian Joanne Freeman makes the case for historical analysis as a means to engage students in exploring the political processes which shape our nation’s democratic society.

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

Students analyze strategies and significance of 1977 504 protests by disability rights activists.

This set of Library of Congress primary sources explores systems of racial segregation in the U.S. and the efforts of African American civil rights movements to end them.

Students will examine the life and actions of John Brown through primary sources and historical narrative.

This teaching module helps teachers guides students to explore rare manuscripts to learn about the presidency of John F. Kennedy and his emphasis on service. After analyzing sources, students create their own calls to service.

In this lesson, students consider young people’s rationales for participating in civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, and the risks and rewards of their inclusion.

Students examine the historic contribution of young people in shaping positive changes in America, then identify characteristics of collaboration and creating coalitions in order to build their understanding of civic community.

Advocacy is an action in which a person or group aims to affect change on a political, social or economic issue. People who are advocates engage in a variety of activities to generate awareness of their cause and initiate change including organizing public speaking events, media campaigns and support groups as well as conducting research and seeking solutions.

This lesson plan, designed for Grades 3-5, explores women’s suffrage from the perspective of Native American and African American women.

“What is Democracy?” Lesson Plan including song, videos and slide deck for Grades 3-5 and adaptable for Grades K-2.

Sending a letter to elected officials can be a powerful and personal way to ensure the public’s voice is represented in politics, but just how do you get in contact with your representatives? Using primary and secondary sources, this collection explores the power of letters, highlights social justice letters throughout history, and examines activist covers–envelopes–and postage stamps for a cause from the National Postal Museum’s collection. Using all of these objects as inspiration, users are encouraged to select a cause of personal concern to them, and send their own letters to elected officials.

In this lesson, students assist the new mayor in solving problems in MyTown by setting up a city council and judge (legislative and judicial branches of government). They read and discuss letters from townspeople and decide which branch of the town’s government should handle the problem described in the letter. Available in English and Spanish at this link.

This lesson explores how the government balances individual liberties and the needs of the nation during times of crisis.

This lesson is an excerpt from the teacher’s guide of One Survivor Remembers, a teaching kit built around the incredible life story of Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein.

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.

Explore the spread of support for American independence from January to July of 1776. Encounter the perspectives of real men and women on all sides of the debate.

Some historians have characterized Progressive reformers as generous and helpful. Others describe the reformers as condescending elitists who tried to force immigrants to accept Christianity and American identities. In this structured academic controversy, students read documents written by reformers and by an immigrant to investigate American attitudes during the Progressive Era.

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.