Group items tagged

Simple and short writings on major Supreme Court cases.  Very good when you need a quick description of the importance of  a case or a handout reading for the class.  This is part of PBS and their section on Supreme Court history.

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.

The Oyez Project is the best site available for Supreme Court decisions and business currently before the court. As I write this description, there are currently two articles about the court considering same-sex marriage issues on the front page.

Here is a great summary by the NYT about Supreme Court cases that revolves around student freedoms - it is a great catalyst for discussions and student involvement in politics and student government.

Fabulous site. Every high school student will be fascinated to read about cases involving school and teens. The SC cases are beautifully analyzed and very accessible for high school kids.

So helpful even for my middle school students, I think. I even learned some things! Who knew that 28 states still allow corporal punishment? I especially love the "impact" sections, which show how influential these rulings can be on future cases.

This website is a great glossary of many Supreme Court cases that dealt with interpreting the Bill of Rights. Some of the topics covered are Religious Liberty, Personal LIberty, Students, Freedom of Speech. This website is a great resource for anyone trying to teach the Bill of Rights through cases.

This website has lots of great resources for teaching the Bill of Rights, but this page does a nice job of organizing landmark cases by rights and giving brief, student friendly summaries which would be really helpful in teaching.

I particularly like the section specifically related to students and The Supreme Court. Thanks.

This site has a number of podcasts summarizing Supreme Court decisions that influence the rights of students. I like that these podcasts are (mostly) in student-friendly language. I also like the idea of using podcasts as a way of accessing auditory learners and addressing the skill of note-taking and picking out key informaton.

I agree, Becca, that this site is quite accessible for students because of the podcasts. The cases they provide are all ones that could be used in the classroom.

Landmark cases of the Supreme Court includes Marbury v. Madison, Roe v. Wade, Brown v. Board and other instrumental cases in US history.  Provides synopsis' of the cases for different reading levels and a variety of class activities and worksheets that can be used.

This is another website that provides background information on the 1st Amendment. I like this website because it talks about a few Supreme Court decisions and justices that have asserted that freedom of Speech is absolute. Similarly, this website does a pretty good job of describing current issues and challenges to free speech.

Companion Guide to the HBO Documentary, "The Loving Story" which tells the story of how the Supreme Court banned all race based restrictions on marriage in 1967. This could be a way to get into marriage equality or basic civil rights.

There has been a lot of controversy over Judge Thomas' attendance and remarks at this dinner. An interesting conversation to have with students about the idea of impartiality and how our experiences shape our choices.

This a is a topic list organized by Cornell Law of decisions made by the Supreme Court. Good resource for possible research projects.

Tough read for kids but great background for teachers.

This website is great, because it sorts court cases by topic/amendment addressed. Also, because it's from the ACLU, all of the issues revolve around people's rights in a concrete way, which makes it accessible for students.

Zach, I do like the way the site is organized. It makes such a difference when the site does not fight the user.

This site is great for resources on teaching the First Amendment. There are lessons for a range of ability levels and connections to Supreme Court cases. Lessons also encourage students to examine the First Amendment's present-day relevancy.

Included is a document description, a transcript, the ten amendments, a timeline and games to play. The games include The Court and Democracy, Law, Power and Personality and The First Hundred Years. Each game begins with a question and then you can scroll over certain areas. Interesting facts in these games.

Although I didn't use this entire lesson, there are some excellent vocabulary and 'anatomy' of the Constitution PDFs that would work well in lower grades and perhaps with ELL students.  Good overview of the structure of government and the powers and duties of the 3 branches. I feel that there is a lot to take from this lesson to use in class.

This video is straightforward and fascinating, helping to explain issues of apportionment. It really emphasizes the complexity faced by the Supreme Court in trying to interpret and understand the Constitution.

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.