This unit on American Indians: By studying the regions of the United States and the cultures that live in each region, students are able to compare/contrast within regions and across regions how tribes used their environments, and their cultural and other contributions to American life.

Note that the emphasis here is on broader groups of tribes for each region with some instruction on specific tribes representing each region. In no way is this case study approach to learning about one tribe meant to be generalized to all tribes of that region. We understand that each tribe was and continues to be unique in its culture, practices, lifeways, and traditions.

The unit is focused on the examination of geography in terms of “place.” Students dive into inquiry to answer the compelling questions, “Where are we?” and “Who are we?” Through these two questions students will understand where they live and where people around the world live. Students will also dive into the term “culture” and define it through many characteristics. Students will examine and reflect upon their own culture and research different cultures of North America.

This course contains five projects that are organized around the following question: “What is the proper role of government in a democracy?” Each project involves political simulations through which students take on roles that help contextualize the content required by the new College Board course framework.

Founders' Intent
Elections
Supreme Court
Congress
Government in Action

Openly licensed PDF unit plans of all the above units are available at this Sprocket Lucas Education Research Platform (scroll to bottom of web page).

Alternately, educators may sign up for free access to the online AP U.S. Government and Politics course that includes additional instructional supports:
https://sprocket.lucasedresearch.org/users/sprocket_access

This is an ADA compliant downloadable version of the American Government online textbook at U.S. History.org by The Independence Hall Association.

The American Yawp constructs a coherent and accessible narrative from all the best of recent historical scholarship. Without losing sight of politics and power, it incorporates transnational perspectives, integrates diverse voices, recovers narratives of resistance, and explores the complex process of cultural creation. It looks for America in crowded slave cabins, bustling markets, congested tenements, and marbled halls. It navigates between maternity wards, prisons, streets, bars, and boardrooms. Whitman’s America, like ours, cut across the narrow boundaries that strangle many narratives. Balancing academic rigor with popular readability, The American Yawp offers a multi-layered, democratic alternative to the American past.

Description: The attached unit has incorporated Media Literacy for Social Studies by scaffolding a variety of primary source document activities of varying perspectives on New Imperialism (1850-1914) which allow the studnt to identify possible bias or misinformation. The guided questions which accompany the primary sources ask the student to explain differing responses and to think critically about why those responses may be different depending on the context. 

These educational videos provide an invaluable resource on Ancient Nubia for Middle and High School Ancient World History and Geography teachers and students. The video content aligns with Geography, Economics, Civics, and Historical Thinking Social Studies standards across the nation. Key concepts and inquiry skills from each content area weave seamlessly throughout the videos and associated lesson plans. This unit overview document links to developed resources on the Archeology in the Community site.

This 2018 edition is the first to be released in a digital, fully-interactive format, designed to highlight facets of the Pacific Northwest landscape with novel approaches to data presentation. Where previous editions of the atlas were designed to ask and answer questions, this atlas serves as a platform for the geographically curious to explore the region, providing as many critical questions as it does critical answers.

Beyond this page are maps of the familiar and the unfamiliar. Migration maps highlight human movement between the Pacific Northwest and the rest of the United States; a wildfire timeline chronicles the year-to-year spread of modern and historical fires; and the watershed guide abandons traditional political boundaries in favor of natural, hydrological borders. All data in the atlas were gathered from publically accessible sources, compiled using open-source software and coding libraries. This is an atlas designed to be open, responsive, and to satisfy the geographic curiosity of any and all interested.

In this activity students will identify and define seven key ideas contained in the U.S. Constitution by making matches from the grid. They will then analyze documents that demonstrate each big idea in action.

This activity is designed to prepare students for the Constitution-in-Action Learning Lab at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is a part of a package of pre-visit activities associated with the lab experience.

BlackPast.org provides free access to documents, transcripts, timelines, videos, and lesson suggestions. With over 6,000 pages of information, BlackPast.org is the single largest free and unrestricted resource on African American and African history on the Internet today. Through this knowledge, the site aims to promote greater understanding to generate constructive change in our society.This resource highlights teacher-developed lessons for using BlackPast.org in the classroom and links to different sections of the BlackPast.org website.

Capitol stories: taking you inside the capitol! Choose by historical era, themes, or specific stories.

This 3-room video tour of the U.S. Capitol, featuring the Crypt, Rotunda, and National Statuary Hall.

In this activity students will analyze documents that span the course of American history to see examples of "checks and balances" between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches in action. Students will then match the documents they have examined with an appropriate description of the branches of government involved in the action.

The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has teamed with the Civic Learning Council and the National Constitution Center to provide this professional development opportunity on resources and tools for helping students engage in discussions of controversial issues.

Download the video file here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jefvmk5tv6t0zoa/OSPI_CLC_CIVICS-BridgeTheDivide-FINAL.mp4?dl=0

In Washington, a stand-alone high school civics course is required by a new state law.

A statewide sub-committee of OSPI's Social Studies Cadre and Walter Parker, Professor of Social Studies Education, University of Washington, drafted this list of resources in hopes that it will be useful to schools needing to create such a course or update an existing course. It is a work-in-progress.

**The resource is published by Common Sense EducationCommon Sense Education has created the Deep Fakes and Democracy lesson plan to educate students on how misinformation influences the Democratic process. Common Sense also has a broader section on Hoaxes and Fakes in its Digital Citizenship Curriculum: https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/lesson/hoaxes-and-fakes

How does Washington’s state constitution compare and contrast with the U.S. Constitution? In this lesson, students will find out! Guide your class through some basic similarities and differences as well as side-by-side text analysis with this lesson’s integrated reading/activity format.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Determine how the Washington State Constitution complements the federal structure of government in the United States
Compare the state government established by the Washington Constitution with the federal government defined in the U.S. Constitution
Compare and contrast rights protected by the Washington and U.S. Constitutions
Compare and contrast methods for amending the Washington and U.S. Constitutions

View this activity online or register with iCivics (free) to download materials. Materials may be copied or transmitted for noncommercial purposes with proper attribution.

This activity is designed to help students understand the debates at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that shaped America’s legislative branch of government. The primary goal of this activity is for students to discover how a compromise balanced the needs of large states and small states and how this led to the creation of the current House of Representatives and Senate.

In these short TED-style talks, Washington social studies educators share their thinking and experiences with colleagues in Washington state and around the world.

These 10-15 minute videos from the 2022 Conference for Social Studies provide inspiration and practical ideas for improving teaching practice. Talks are organized into the following tracks:
* Assessing Historical Thinking
* Bringing Context to World Events
* Crafting Inquiry
* Literacy
* Taking Informed Action

These videos are free for online viewing.