Laws & Citizen Rights
Teaching Activity PDFs
The Color Line
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 6 pages.
A lesson on the countless colonial laws enacted to create division and inequality based on race. This helps students understand the origins of racism in the United States and who benefits.
African American, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery
Re-examining the Revolution
Background Reading PDF. By Ray Raphael. 7 pages.
Based on his book Founding Myths, Raphael critiques the textbook portrayal of the American Revolution. The textbooks say that “a few special people forged American freedom” which “misrepresents, and even contradicts, the spirit of the American Revolution.”
Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights
Constitution Role Play: Whose “More Perfect Union”? and The Constitutional Convention: Who Really Won?
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 23 pages.
A role play on the issues involved with the framing of the Constitution.
Democracy & Citizenship, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class
Rethinking the U.S. Constitutional Convention: A Role Play
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bob Peterson. 14 pages.
A role play on the Constitutional Convention which brings to life the social forces active during and immediately following the American Revolution with focus on two key topics: suffrage and slavery. An elementary school adapation of the Constitution Role Play by Bill Bigelow.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Slavery, Women's History
‘If There Is No Struggle…’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 16 pages.
A role play putting students in the position of abolitionist groups working together to end slavery.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery
Seneca Falls, 1848: Women Organize for Equality
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
A role play allows students to examine issues of race and class when exploring both the accomplishments and limitations of the Seneca Falls Convention.
Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Women's History
A Lesson on the Japanese American Internment
Teaching Activity PDF. By Mark Sweeting. 4 pages.
How one teacher engaged his students in a critical examination of the language used in textbooks to describe the internment.
Asian American, Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Learning About the Unfairgrounds: A 4th-Grade Teacher Introduces Her Students to Executive Order 9066
Teaching Activity PDF. By Katie Baydo-Reed. 10 pages.
Students hold a “tea party” and a mock trial to connect with a challenging novel.
Asian American, Criminal Justice, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
The Other Internment: Teaching the Hidden Story of Japanese Latin Americans During WWII
Teaching Activity PDF. By Moé Yonamine. 18 pages.
Poetry, photography, and text are used in this role play to teach about the often untold history of Japanese Latin American internment during WWII.
Asian American, Civil Rights Movements, Criminal Justice, Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies
“A School Year Like No Other”: Eyes on the Prize: “Fighting Back: 1957-1962″
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
A companion lesson to the Eyes on the Prize segment on school integration.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
Five Years After the Levees Broke: Bearing Witness Through Poetry
Teaching Activity PDF. By Renée Watson. 7 pages.
A teacher’s reflection on the power of poetry to spark critical discussion and reflection on current issues of inequality surrounding disaster response in the United States.
African American, Art & Music, Environment & Food, Language Arts, Laws & Citizen Rights, Media, Racism & Racial Identity
Stenciling Dissent: A Student Project Draws on the Language of the Streets
Teaching Activity PDF. By Andrew Reed. 5 pages.
Teaching activity connects students to history of art as a means of protest and gives them opportunity and skills to create their own stencil with a powerful message.
Art & Music, Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing
The Black Upsurge Against Racial Segregation
Teaching Activity PDF. By Tasha Boettcher. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 17 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the long Civil Rights Movement in America.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
The Early Women’s Movement
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 6 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the early women’s movement, including their efforts for social, racial, and political equality.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Women's History
Half a Revolution
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 16 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 5 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the Revolutionary War as “a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight,” as well as the failure of early Americans to complete a full revolution.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Social Class
Labor Matters
Teaching Activity. By Teaching Tolerance.
Introduces students to the role of the labor movement in securing contemporary benefits such as the 40-hour workweek, the minimum wage, and workplace safety regulations.
Women, Gays, and Other Voices of Resistance
Teaching Activity PDF. By Jack Bareilles. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 19 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the emergence and legacy of the 1960s counterculture, as well as the movements it helped create.
Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, LGBT, Women's History
World War II and McCarthyism
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 19 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 16 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on domestic opposition to the “good war” and the impact of McCarthyism.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Articles
Freedom’s Unfinished Revolution: Teaching a People’s History of Reconstruction
Background Reading for Teachers PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 4 pages.
A review of Freedom’s Unfinished Revolution, a collection of primary documents for high school on the Civil War and Reconstruction.
African American, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery
Audio
May It Please the Court: Live Recordings and Transcripts of Landmark Oral Arguments Made Before the Supreme Court Since 1955
Book and CDs – Non-fiction. Edited by Peter Irons and Stephanie Guitton. 2007. 400 pages.
Book and CD provide a candid view of Supreme Court deliberations; includes MP3 recordings.
Books: Fiction
Catch a Tiger by the Toe
Book – Fiction. By Ellen Levine. 2005. 176 pages.
A historical novel for middle school on McCarthyism.
Democracy & Citizenship, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Media
Little Brother
Book – Fiction. By Cory Doctorow. 2008. 384 pages.
A contemporary novel for teenagers that explores Homeland Security and freedom of speech in the post-9/11 United States.
Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow
Book – Fiction. 96 pages. 2007. By James Sturm and Rich Tommaso with an introduction by Gerald Early.
Told from the point of view of a sharecropper, this narrative in graphic novel format follows baseball champion Satchel Paige as he travels throughout the segregated South.
Sylvia & Aki
Book – Historical fiction. By Winifred Conkling. 2011. 160 pages.
Based on the true story of two girls who meet in 1940s California and a landmark lawsuit on education.
Asian American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Latino, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
Books: Non-Fiction
The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther
Book – Non-fiction. By Jeffrey Haas. 2009. 424 pages.
The life and murder of Fred Hampton as told by Jeffrey Hass, co-founder of the People’s Law Office and attorney for the plaintiffs in the federal suit Hampton v. Hanrahan.
Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights
Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968
Book – Non-fiction. By Stephen Lawson and Charles Payne. 2006. 227 pages.
Introduces and examines the complex story of the modern Civil Rights Movement as it should be taught, providing key background information and analysis for teachers.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord
Book – Non-fiction. By Ray Raphael. 2003. 288 pages.
The events leading up to the American Revolution.
Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America
Book – Non-fiction. By Juan Gonzalez. 2011. 416 pages.
An updated and thorough account of the role the United States in the mass migration of Latinos to the U.S.
Immigration, Latino, Laws & Citizen Rights, World History/Global Studies
Landmark Cases Left Out of Your Textbooks
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Ann Fagan Ginger. 2006. 84 pages.
Short, sharp descriptions of how 43 human rights cases were won, from Haymarket Martyrs of May Day 1886 to Katrina victims in 2005.
May It Please the Court: Live Recordings and Transcripts of Landmark Oral Arguments Made Before the Supreme Court Since 1955
Book and CDs – Non-fiction. Edited by Peter Irons and Stephanie Guitton. 2007. 400 pages.
Book and CD provide a candid view of Supreme Court deliberations; includes MP3 recordings.
Mendez v. Westminster: School Desegregation and Mexican-American Rights
Book – Non-fiction. By Philippa Strum. 2010. 186 pages.
Description of a pre-Brown v. Board desegregation court case involving Mexican-American families.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Book – Non-Fiction. By Michelle Alexander. 2010. 290 pages.
A critical analysis of the role the justice system plays in the oppression of African Americans in the United States.
African American, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2005. 702 pages.
Howard Zinn’s groundbreaking work on U.S. history. This book details the lives and facts that are rarely included in textbooks — an indispensable teacher and student resource.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Education, Immigration, Imperialism, Individuals in US History, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
Pledging Allegiance: The Politics of Patriotism in America’s Schools
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Joel Westheimer. Foreword by Howard Zinn. 2007. 219 pages.
Educators address the politics of patriotism in America’s schools.
The Real Cost of Prisons Comix
Book – Non-Fiction. By Ellen Miller-Mack, Craig Gilmore, Lois Ahrens, Susan Willmarth, and Kevin Pyle. 2008. 104 pages.
This comic book presents the human stories behind the statistics.
Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South
Book – Non-fiction (with CD). Edited by William H. Chafe, Raymond Gavins and Robert Korstad. 2008. 346 pages.
African American, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality
Book – Non-fiction. By Richard Kluger. 2004. 880 pages.
One of the first texts, now a classic, on Brown v. Board.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
The Whistleblower’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Doing What’s Right and Protecting Yourself
Book – Non-fiction. By Stephen Martin Kohn. 2011. 332 pages.
A consumer guide to whistleblowing with step-by-step instructions, history, and twenty-one rules for whistleblowers.
Films
Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History
DVD. Southern Poverty Law Center. 2010. 40 minutes.
This documentary shows the devastating impact of bullying on students, in this case a gay student who works with lawyers to win a precedent setting case to create a safe place for students in school.
Conscience and the Constitution
Film. By Frank Abe. 2000. 57 minutes.
In World War II, 63 Japanese Americans refused to be drafted from an American concentration camp.
Asian American, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock
Film. Directed by Sharon LaCruise. 2011.
Documentary on the life of Daisy Bates, best know for her role with the Little Rock Nine.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Women's History
Henry McNeal Turner: “Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature.”
Film clip. Henry McNeal Turner’s “Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature” (1968), read by Danny Glover. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Slavery
Howard Zinn on Non-Violent Civil Disobedience
Film clip. 10 minutes. Howard Zinn. 1985.
Dr. Zinn’s testimony for the defense at the criminal trial of the AVCO Plowshares 7 where he describes the central role of civil disobedience in the history of the United States.
The Road to Brown
Film. Producer/Director/Writer: William Elwood. 56 min. 1990.
The little known story of Charles Hamilton Houston who paved the road to Brown v. Board.
African American, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
Sam Cooke: A Change is Gonna Come
Film clip. Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” (1964), is performed by Allison Moorer. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
African American, Art & Music, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights
Scandalize My Name
Film. 2000. 60 minutes.
Documentary about the impact of the McCarthy era on African Americans in the film industry.
African American, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
Slave Catchers, Slave Resisters
Film. Produced by Judy Richardson, Northern Light Productions for History Channel. 2005. 100 min.
Documentary on the many rebellions by enslaved people and other forms of resistance.
Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
DVD. Nonny de la Peña. 2004.
A documentary that investigates the ways in which the civil liberties of U.S. citizens and immigrants have been rolled back since 9/11/2001 and the passage of the Patriot Act.
We Shall Remain
Film and website. 2009. 450 minutes.
Three hundred years of Native American history.
Civil Rights Movements, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Racism & Racial Identity
Posters
United Nations Convention On The Rights Of The Child Poster
Poster. By Syracuse Cultural Workers. 18″ x 24″. Illustration and design by Karen Kerney, 2005.
Spanish/Bilingual
Rights Matter: The Story of the Bill of Rights
Website. The Bill of Rights Education Project, ACLU of Massachusetts.
The site offers a downloadable 69-page student friendly booklet on the Bill of Rights, available in English and Spanish.
Websites
Rights Matter: The Story of the Bill of Rights
Website. The Bill of Rights Education Project, ACLU of Massachusetts.
The site offers a downloadable 69-page student friendly booklet on the Bill of Rights, available in English and Spanish.
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
Website. A companion to the PBS films series of the same title.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
Tracked in America
Website.
Explores the historical context and stories of individuals who have been targets of U.S. government surveillance during the 20th century.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Website.
Full text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related information.
Voices of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Website.
Video interviews & articles telling the first hand stories of 27 individuals who participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights
WikiLeaks
Website.
Investigative journalism pieces and primary resource material archived from 2006-present to promote transparency of the world’s corporations, governments and other institutions.
Explore by Theme
- African American
- Art & Music
- Asian American
- Civil Rights Movements
- Criminal Justice
- Democracy & Citizenship
- Disability
- Economics
- Education
- Environment & Food
- Immigration
- Imperialism
- Individuals in US History
- Labor
- Language Arts
- Latino
- Laws & Citizen Rights
- LGBT
- Media
- Native American
- Organizing
- Pacific Islander
- Racism & Racial Identity
- Science
- Slavery
- Social Class
- Sports
- US Foreign Policy
- Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
- Women's History
- World History/Global Studies
