After completing a study of the Enlightenment period, students will read the Declaration of Independence while highlighting phrases that appear to be influenced by Enlightenment philosophers. Working with a hard copy of the Declaration, students should justify their selections by citing in the margins which philosopher's ideas were likely applied.

Learn about the importance of public policy action on natural resource and conservation issues. This episode highlights some key pieces of conservation legislation. The American system of land and wildlife management is one built on, and for, public involvement. Learn about how these decisions are made and, most importantly, how to get involved.

This choice board is appropriate for middle and high school. It links students to other sources and can easily be assigned via Schoology and Google Classroom.

In this lesson, students will learn about why their personal information is important and how they can keep it safe. They will also learn to pull out other people’s personal information and how that character/person can keep it safe. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. In this learning experience students will learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. and how he marched for causes he believed in. As a result of this learning experience students will choose their own important cause to walk or advocate for in order to honor and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy of advocacy and leadership.

Americans elect a president through the state-by-state mechanism of the Electoral College rather than direct nationwide popular vote. Today, all but two states award all of their electoral votes to the statewide winner.

This is a "remix" of a previous resource: https://goopenva.org/courses/a-defense-of-the-electoral-college

It has been remixed to add a visual map and additional student questions.

Designed for two 90-minute class periods. First students will imagine they are stranded on an island with no way to escape. It has all necessary resources to survive, and they have been tasked with creating their own system of government. Students will work in groups to create a government system, using slides or a poster to display their work.In the next class period, groups will take turns presentig their form of government to the class, and peers will ask them questions about their form of government and discuss if it would last several geerations. Includes Lesson Plan as well as Google Doc/PDF of student handouts and teacher/peer rubrics

The most democratic body in the federal government, hundreds of representatives for the House are elected every other year. This site maps elections from before the Civil War until today showing changing patterns across regions and between urban and rural areas.

This is a description of the primary system and the caucus system. This is how candidates are selected to run in elections.
*Remixed to add questions for students.

This is a description of the primary system and the caucus system. This is how candidates are selected to run in elections.
*Remixed to add questions for students.

This is a description of the primary system and the caucus system. This is how candidates are selected to run in elections. Remix made to make it easier to understand.

 After explaining the process of the Electoral College, this is an extension activity for students to help them apply that knowledge in a mock Presidential race.  Students will pair up with another student and create a candidate and party (or just simply use their name/party).  In competing against one another, they will roll the dice for each of the 50 states (plus DC) to see who wins the electoral votes for that state.  At the end, students will tally up the total electoral votes to see who made it to 270 or more!  Remember to have them check their math by adding their totals to make sure they have 538.  Additionally students will tally their dice roll which will simulate the popular vote and allow for students to see potentially a candidate win the popular vote, but lose the election.  This is a great simulation to cover what the winner-take-all system looks like.   

Students will be shown a YouTube Video about different types of electronic communication. There will then be a whole class discussion about 3 specific types (e-mail, social media, and text messages). They will then be given individual LCD tablets and asked to either write A (Email), B (Social Media), or C (Text Messages) for what they would use to send information in certain scenarios that the teacher gives. The teacher will have 3 cards made with A and a picture of email on it, B and a picture of social media platforms on it, and C with a picture of a cell phone on it to help guide students and remind them what to write on their panels. They will hold these up when they are done and a discussion will be done of each scenario.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Equal Rights Amendment. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This is a remix of a previous resource:
Franky Abbott, Samantha Gibson, (2016) The Equal Rights Amendment. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-equal-rights-amendment

The remix includes new visuals and questions pertaining to the renewed interest in passing the ERA.

No sitting American president traveled outside the country before Theodore Roosevelt traveled to Panama in 1906 to see the construction of the Panama Canal. A century later Air Force One regularly carries the head of the executive branch to all corners of the world. The Executive Abroad maps the international trips of presidents and secretaries of state.

Alternative facts, fake news, and post-truth have become common terms in the contemporary news industry. Today, social media platforms allow sensational news to “go viral,” crowdsourced news from ordinary people to compete with professional reporting, and public figures in offices as high as the US presidency to bypass established media outlets when sharing news. However, dramatic reporting in daily news coverage predates the smartphone and tablet by over a century. In the late nineteenth century, the news media war between Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal resulted in the rise of yellow journalism, as each newspaper used sensationalism and manipulated facts to increase sales and attract readers.

This is a remix of a previous source. The link to original source is https://goopenva.org/courses/fake-news-in-the-1890s-yellow-journalism

The original author is Melissa Jacobs

Melissa Jacobs, (2018) Fake News in the 1890s: Yellow Journalism. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/fake-news-in-the-1890s-yellow-journalism/additional-resources#tabs

Empower yourself this election season: learn to navigate the sea of information and distinguish fact from fiction in both traditional and social media!

This is a description of Federalism (Division of Powers between Federal and State Government) with the concept of Federalism explained, the logic of federalism, and an explanation of the powers and responsibilities of federal, state, and local governments. Remix made to make it easier to understand.

This Project Based Assessment is meant to be completed over the course of at least two weeks, but as long as the instructor needs to implement. In this program, students will personify a prominent political figure in early American politics; either a Federalist or a Republican. After studying their figure's political writing, researching the figure's profile, and preparing talking points for a debate, students will debate a given question in the format of one of Chief Justice John Marshall's "Lawyers' Dinners" that he often held at his Richmond home. The dinner party debate will be composed of five Federalists, five Republicans, and a moderator. The students' goal is to convince the members of the opposite team to join their position on the given question. An instructor will take John Marshall's position as moderator and host over the party. For bonus fun and impact, students are invited to hold their Lawyers Dinner debate in the John Marshall House dining room.