The Founders believed that property is among the natural rights governments exist to protect. One of the ways the Founders protected property rights was in the Fifth Amendment. This amendment restricts the government's ability to take property and ensures that when it does take property, it must pay for it. This lesson explores the Fifth Amendment and its applications.

The Founders meant for the First Amendment to protect a wide array of expressive activities. The Supreme Court, recognizing changes in society and technology, has applied the First Amendment's protections in some ways that are broader than ever. Student speech in public schools, however, poses unique questions. This lesson will help students to understand the operation of the First Amendment in both their school and in the wider context of society, and it will help foster students' appreciation of their rights, preparing them for responsible and effective participation in their school, community, and nation.

For much of American history, the Supreme Court had very little to say about the Second Amendment until 2008 when the Court heard arguments in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller. Richard Heller challenged the city's total ban on handguns on Second Amendment grounds. The Court agreed with Heller finding the ban unconstitutional.

The process of how a bill becomes a federal law is more than a series of linked steps. It is the fundamental way people in a democracy get involved and work through their elected officials to meet needs and solve problems to benefit themselves and other Americans. Through this lesson, students will learn about the dynamic process of federal lawmaking and how it relates to them.
The estimated time for the lesson is three to five class periods. It is aligned to the National Standards for Civics and Government.

Students consider the importance of voting as they analyze primary sources and the poem “One Vote” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. They then learn more about the connection between poetry and the women’s suffrage movement. After, students may investigate a contemporary politician or activist advocating for voting rights and present their findings to the class.

This lesson explores the role of the judiciary in relation to the legislative and executive branches and how judicial independence has evolved since the founding of the nation. Two significant cases covered in the lesson, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Cooper v. Aaron (1958), exemplify the importance of an independent judiciary. Students will use their knowledge based on watching the Annenberg Classroom video âAn Independent Judiciary.â

This library of mini-lessons targets the people, ideas, and events that influenced the development of America’s government. Each mini-lesson includes a one-page reading and a one-page activity, and is appropriate for a variety of uses. Unlike the iCivics lesson plans, these mini-lessons are designed for students to complete independently without the need for teacher direction. However, they also make great teacher-directed lessons or even class conversation-starters, and multiple mini-lessons can be combined to make a longer lesson.

This discussion guide is for use with the video âIs the Supreme Court Different?â which features a conversation with Linda Greenhouse, the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School, who is interviewed by Theodore W. Ruger, dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, at the Fair and Impartial Judiciary Symposium on October 26, 2019, at the Penn Law School.

In this lesson, students will study the life of James Madison. They will learn about why he is called "The Father of the Constitution," his views on the Bill of Rights, his remedy for the problem of factions in a democratic republic, and much more.

Students will learn about the federal and state courts and what they do. They will explore the courts’ role in fairly settling disputes and administering justice, and the unique role of the U.S. Supreme Court in interpreting the U.S. Constitution.

In a constitutional system of government, the role of the judiciary is essential for maintaining the balance of power, protecting individual rights, upholding the rule of law, interpreting the Constitution, and ensuring equal justice for all.
The estimated time for this lesson plan is two class periods.

This unit is one of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Teaching Literacy through History™ resources, designed to align with the Common Core State Standards. These units were developed to enable students to understand, summarize, and evaluate original sources of historical significance. Through a step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze, assess, synthesize, and develop knowledgeable and well-reasoned viewpoints on primary source materials.

In this lesson, students learn about the process used for jury selection and how the role and responsibilities of government in civil and criminal jury trials are viewed by the Supreme Court. They also reflect on the democratic values, principles, and dispositions of character working behind the scenes.

In this lesson, based on the Annenberg Classroom videos âFAQs: Juries,â students learn about the importance, history, and constitutional foundations of jury service. They become familiar with federal and state juror questionnaires and jury summonses. Students also participate in an attitudinal survey about jury service.

In this lesson, students analyze the interplay of processes and procedures that courts use to seat an impartial jury and gain appreciation for the essential role of juries in the justice system. They also explore the responsibilities and limits placed on government by the Constitution in the context of civil and criminal trials.

This lesson focuses on the landmark Supreme Court case Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952), which challenged the extent to which the president of the United States can exercise power during times of foreign conflict. The underlying issue, which has arisen throughout our nation's history, is to define the balance of power among the three branches of government during times of national emergency.
This lesson, based on the Annenberg Classroom video âKey Constitutional Concepts: Presidential Power,â is meant to teach students how constitutional law determines the parameters of presidential power by focusing on President Harry Truman's domestic policy regarding labor and the steel industry during the Korean War.
The estimated time for this lesson plan is 45 minutes.

The lesson begins with students considering the need for an attorney in a criminal trial, followed by an examination of the rights contained in the Sixth Amendment. Using the video, students examine both the constitutional right to counsel and how this right has been secured by Supreme Court decisions. Throughout this lesson, students are provided opportunities to form their own opinions regarding Gideon's case while reviewing the language of the Sixth Amendment as they see his case unfold. The lesson concludes with students writing a historical analysis of the Gideon decision and understanding how criminal defendants are now informed about their right to counsel.

The federal Appeals Court agreed with the government. Korematsu appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court agreed with government and stated that the need to protect the country was a greater priority than the individual rights of the people of Japanese descent forced into internment camps. This resource includes teacher materials, guides, and activities for teaching about this Supreme Court case.

This library of mini-lessons targets a variety of landmark cases from the United States Supreme Court. Each mini-lesson includes a one-page reading and one page of activities. The mini-lessons are designed for students to complete independently without the need for teacher direction. However, they also make great teacher-directed lessons and class discussion-starters.

Case background and primary source documents concerning the Supreme Court case of Lawrence v. Texas. Dealing with a citizen's constitutional right to privacy, this lesson asks students to analyze how the Court's definition of privacy evolved from 1965 to 2003.