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This City University of New York page explores the history of Puerto Ricans in relation to US citizenship and the right to vote.

Tons of information about the US government divided into sections for various grade groups.  I think this would be especially helpful for the younger grades.  The readings are good for all grades but I think that as far as real activities go for older grades, it is lacking.  Overall, easy to use information and helpful for students to use on their own.

This is one of those classic websites, particularly for elementary students. This should be in the repertoire of all elementary teachers, for no other reason, than Constitution Day every September. I also think this is useful for ELL students whose vocabulary is limited but who need to know about US history and government.

This is a link to a 1997 article/piece from the Los Angeles Times that summarizes who was/was not a citizen at various points throughout US History.

This is the US government's Immigration website. On the site, you can find information about how to become a US Citizen.

I went searching for a useful article on the Shelby County v. Holder decision. I wanted to supplement the material provided in the Middle School Lesson for this week, which covered a history of voting rights in America. The materials did not go so far as to include this recent development, which arguable disenfranchised a large portion of Americans. I would read this article with the students and then add a character for "period 4" in the lesson who, students would realize, may be disenfranchised by this 2013 Supreme Court decision.

And make sure students realize the close proximity in date of this article and story. This is as current as it gets.

Another good resource site and interesting lesson plans that focus on the Chinese experience in America. This could provide more background information for you as you get into the Chinese Exclusion Act and how citizenship was denied to Asian Americans for many years.

An overhwleming topic. this page focuses on the aspect of suffrage as addressed by reconstruction and provides great background knowledge for students going into the study of the civil rights movement.

Good summary of major actions and players with links to more detailed accounts.

Dense reading. Perhaps best for teacher background.

I don't think I need to write a description for this. It could be useful in engaging soon to be young voters on the importance of active citizenship through voting.

I came across this lesson plan through a CUNY link in the optional reading for Session 5. I think it combines excellent primary sources (e.g., James Madison's notes regarding how to establish an electoral process) with incredibly creative activities to help students understand the advantages and disadvantages of the electoral college. I'm excited to try this out with my class this year!

This chart shows how many electoral votes each state had between 1981-90, 91-2000, and 2001-10. Could be useful when teaching contemporary elections - and could be particularly helpful when looking at demographic patterns - inferences galore to be made!

Here is a nice opinion piece by the NYT regarding the Electoral College: http://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000001821730/electoral-college-101.html?ref=electoralcollege

Albert, I loved this article and the trailer. The best quote from the trailer is the last line: Interviewer: What is democracy? Kid: It's a type of ... disease.

A short video that breaks down the Bill of Rights and makes the ten amendments comprehensible for English language learners.

Thanks for bringing your ELL world into this course.

The 14th Amendment granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African-Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the American Civil War. This simple overview of the 14th Amendment and Brown vs Board of Education would be appropriate for elementary students. It does have short advertisements.

What doesn't the Standford History Education Group have on their site? The site offers everything from lesson plans, to primary source materials, to pedagogical approaches to teaching history, to assessment materials. This site has especially great tools for getting students to think like historians!

I love the section of "reading like A Historian".

The American Civil Liberties Union has a vast array of materials hosted on their site. Perhaps the materials of greatest use to teachers are the frequent "news releases" about issues pertaining to our individual freedoms that are currently in the news.

The is a site that teachers should bookmark and read weekly because it keeps you up to date with the issues of the day.

I referenced this site back when we were studying the expansion of voting rights. I found this page helpful in particular for learning more about the role women played in passing the Fourteenth Amendment, even though it did not give them the vote. This site in general also has a lot of useful information and suggestions.

This is a card-matching game providing students with practice classifying information by culture. Key topics for comparison/contrast and sorting include citizenship requirements, legislative function, selection of the executive, characteristics of a jury, role of trial lawyers, law code, uses of the Death Penalty, use of slavery, position of women. Overall goal of lesson is to provide students with reinforcement of key ideas and talking points for considering the impact of Ancient Athenian and Ancient Roman democracy on the United States.

Great game for middle school students.

This will be perfect for my curriculum. It is nice to have a whole class of researchers helping me out! Have you used this before, Allison?

A variety of games built on the founding documents; one fun one is "Do I Have a RIght?" Great for middle school.

This website has interactive games to understand the branches of the government, the Supreme Court and and passing laws. There are also teacher resources, which include curriculum units on topics such as the Constitution, citizenship, the branches of government and state and local government.

This is a website that gives detailed analysis of the Pros and Cons of divisive issues debated by American society. It's a great way to start many a debate. Furthermore, it has specific connections to many Constitutional debates like Gun Control, Capital Punishment, and Citizenship.

A printable PDF timeline of voting rights from the Northern California Citizenship Project's Mobilize the Immigrant Vote 2004 Capacity Building Series. Formatted in a very readable graphic organizer that can be cut and pasted as part of a larger visual timeline project, or simply as a reading resource. Timeline entry summaries are concise yet cogent and range from 1776 to 2002. It could be interesting to have students conduct research to fill in the gap from 2002 to present.

A great resource that chronicles policies and events related to the subject of voting rights.