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Annenberg Classroom

Lesson Plan

Teachers will find standards-aligned lesson plans to accompany the videos in Annenberg Classroom. Lesson plans that teach critical thinking skills are also available.

72 resources available

Lesson Plan

High School | One Nation, Many States: Investigating the Commerce Clause and the Balance of Power

This lesson centers on the constitutional and historical themes presented in the Balancing State and Federal Power: The Constitution’s Commerce Clause film. Students investigate how the Commerce Clause in Article I, Section 8 became one of the most significant sources of federal authority and a recurring point of tension between state and national power. The lesson emphasizes: 

Congress’s enumerated powers under Article I of the Constitution
The evolving balance between state and federal authority
The role of Supreme Court interpretation in expanding, limiting, and redefining federal power
The ongoing relevance of Commerce Clause debates in a modern, interconnected economy

*Developed by Robyn and Ryan Slay, experienced social studies educators in Georgia.

Lesson Plan

High School | The 8th Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment

This high school lesson, based on The Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment film, examines whether evolving standards of decency should apply equally to juveniles and adults in the criminal justice system. Students will explore key constitutional themes, including the Bill of Rights, the Eighth Amendment, and judicial review, while analyzing how Supreme Court rulings shape laws and punishments.

Lesson Plan

High School | Cruel and Unusual? Rethinking Juvenile Justice Through Constitutional Lenses of Fairness, Justice, and Evolving Perspectives

In this unit, based on The Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment film, students will explore the changing interpretation of the 8th Amendment, and the phrase “cruel and unusual punishment”. Students will analyze multiple primary and secondary source documents, to understand historical context and current stakeholder perspectives on the juvenile justice system. Finally, students will use the concepts of ‘fairness’ and ‘justice’, to make amendments to the current Juvenile system in their state of residence, supported by precedent, evidence, and analysis.

Lesson Plan

High School | Cruel and Unusual Punishment Lesson – Inquiry Design Model

This high school lesson plan, based on The Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment film, engages students in exploring the concept of cruel and unusual punishment. Students will begin by brainstorming a list of punishments they believe fit this definition and explaining their reasoning. They will then analyze images of various punishment methods to determine whether they meet the constitutional standard. The lesson is largely student-driven, encouraging critical thinking as students examine the nature of punishment and take a position on whether the death penalty should be maintained or abolished.

Lesson Plan

The Press, Political Power and Protest: Examining New York Times v Sullivan

This high school lesson plan uses the New York Times v Sullivan film as a foundation for examining the Civil Rights Movement, Freedom of the Press, and the First Amendment. Students will compare front page headlines during that time, read an Eleanor Roosevelt newspaper column as well as an excerpt from Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, and analyze the “Heed Their Rising Voices” ad to understand the issues of the era, assess the free press’s role and impact on society, and evaluate the rights and responsibilities of citizenship that come with freedom of the press.

Lesson Plan

New York Times Company v Sullivan: The Civil Rights Movement and Freedom of the Press

This middle school lesson plan focuses on the essential role of freedom of the press in a democracy, the importance of the press in the success of the Civil Rights Movement, and the contemporary challenges to freedom of the press and civil rights. Students will use the film and primary source resources including an excerpt from Governor George Wallace’s inaugural address promoting segregation, an excerpt of the Supreme Court decision in NY Times v Sullivan written by Justice William Brennan, and the “Heed Their Rising Voices” ad to analyze this important moment in First Amendment history.

Lesson Plan

Documenting the Civil Rights Movement: How the Free Press Changed America

This high school lesson plan provides students with opportunities to learn about the Civil Rights Movement through the prism of freedom of the press using actual events and hypotheticals. Students will use the Frayer Model to analyze images from the Civil Rights Movement and the “Heed Their Rising Voices” ad in the NY Times v Sullivan case to examine the role of the press in creating an informed citizenry and their contributions towards the health of democracy. The lesson plan also includes an AP U.S. Government and Politics extension activity comparing Supreme Court decisions.

Lesson Plan

Battle for Emancipation and Full Citizenship: A Journey from Dred Scott to the 15th Amendment

This high school lesson plan is designed to accompany the film “Juneteenth” and encourages students to consider the connections between historical events before, during and after the Civil War that charted the course to citizenship for enslaved people in the United States. Students will also examine societal reactions to the emancipation of enslaved people and how the resulting conflicts necessitated the need for the three Reconstruction Amendments.

Lesson Plan

Striking a Balance on Student Free Speech

This lesson will encourage students to investigate Supreme Court cases in conjunction with the Annenberg Classroom video “First Amendment: Student Freedom of Speech” to evaluate the decisions handed down by the Court in the effort to find the balance between a school’s need for order and a student’s right to expression. Students will explore five Supreme Court cases with the purpose of determining if the Court’s decisions helped or hindered defining “protected speech” for students in public school environments.

Lesson Plan

Second Amendment: Why Is It Controversial?

This lesson will engage students in the history of the Second Amendment and how its meaning and importance have changed over time. Students will examine various eras in U.S. history that shaped the debate: the American Revolution; the Civil War and Reconstruction; the 1930s and Prohibition; the assassinations in the 1960s; and the Supreme Court decisions in D.C. v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago (2010). Finally, students will be challenged to rewrite the amendment to make it more accessible to the world today.

Lesson Plan

Freedom of Assembly: The Right to Protest

This lesson will focus on freedom of assembly, as found in the First Amendment. Students will consider the importance of the right to assemble and protest by analyzing cases where First Amendment rights were in question. Using the case National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, students will consider if the government is ever allowed to control the ability to express ideas in public because viewpoints are controversial, offensive, or painful. Students will use primary sources and Supreme Court cases to consider whether the courts made the correct decision in the National Socialist Party v. Skokie case. Students will be able to form an opinion on the essential question: Is the government ever justified to restrict the freedom to assemble?

Lesson Plan

Teaching Critical Thinking by Asking: Could Lincoln Be Elected Today?

This lesson plan uses a video series called “Could Lincoln Be Re-elected Today?” from a political literacy project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The videos imagine political ads from the 1864 Lincoln v. McClellan presidential campaign using modern-day tactics. The lesson incorporates the videos to help classes recognize flaws in arguments in general and political ads in particular and to examine the criteria for evaluating candidates, past and present, for the presidency.

Lesson Plan

What Are the Challenges to Judicial Independence?

This discussion guide is for use with the video “What Are the Challenges to Judicial Independence?” which features a lecture by Charles Geyh, professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, at the Fair and Impartial Judiciary Symposium on October 26, 2019, at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Summary: Professor Geyh traces the development of the notion of judicial independence from the founding of our republic to the present. His discussion references how the sparse language of Article III of the U.S. Constitution has been amended over time by various conventions to promote the independence of a fair and impartial judiciary. He also examines how threats to such independence have arisen over time.

Download the discussion guide.

Lesson Plan

State vs. Federal Courts

This discussion guide is for use with the video “State vs. Federal Courts,” which features a conversation with the Hon. Renée Cohn Jubelirer of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, Robert Heim, Esq., and the Hon. Theodore McKee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Lynn A. Marks, Esq., moderates the panel discussion, which took place at the Fair and Impartial Judiciary Symposium on October 26, 2019, at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Summary: Beginning with the Founders, the assumption has been that a fair and impartial judiciary requires judicial independence. Article III of the U.S. Constitution sought to ensure this independence through a system that provided for the appointment of judges who would serve during “good behavior” (i.e., life tenure). Initially, most of the states copied this system, but later many changed it, influenced by a different view of democracy developed during what is generally known as the Jacksonian era. The result: These states now provided for the popular election of judges based on fixed terms of service. In 1940, Missouri adopted a system that intended to take politics out of the process of choosing judges. Subsequently, this plan was adopted by many states. Learn more from a discussion about state and federal courts.

Download the discussion guide.

Lesson Plan

The Nature of Judicial Independence

This discussion guide is for use with the video “The Nature of Judicial Independence,” which features remarks and conversation with Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Hon. Stephanos Bibas, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and David F. Levi, former dean of Duke University School of Law, on October 26, 2019, at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

After Justice Anthony Kennedy retired in 2018, President Donald Trump was given his second appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. This opening was widely seen as giving the president the chance to dramatically shift the balance of the U.S. Supreme Court to a more solid, conservative majority, even more so than the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Unlike Scalia, who was generally a reliable conservative vote, Kennedy had emerged as the “swing justice.” Indeed, Kennedy played a key role in some of the Supreme Court’s most recent controversial decisions, particularly those involving, among other matters, abortion, homosexuality, and prayer in public schools.

Download the discussion guide.

Lesson Plan

Is the Supreme Court Different?

This discussion guide is for use with the video “Is the Supreme Court Different?” which features a conversation with Linda Greenhouse, the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School, who is interviewed by Theodore W. Ruger, dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, at the Fair and Impartial Judiciary Symposium on October 26, 2019, at the Penn Law School.

Summary: For many years, Linda Greenhouse was a New York Times reporter covering the U.S. Supreme Court. Her widely read and respected newspaper columns provided the nation with a clear view of the role the Court played in American society. Unlike many other courts, the public sessions of the Supreme Court are not televised, and not that long ago even the audio tapes of the oral arguments before the Court were not readily available.

Download the discussion guide.

Lesson Plan

How Do Judges Decide Cases?

This discussion guide is for use with the video “How Do Judges Decide Cases?” which features the Hon. Anthony J. Scirica of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Stephen Burbank, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, at the Fair and Impartial Judiciary Symposium on October 26, 2019, at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Summary: Judge Anthony J. Scirica and Stephen Burbank regularly team up to teach a law school course on the judicial process. Their discussion at the symposium focuses on how judges arrive at decisions.

Download the discussion guide.

Lesson Plan

Deciding Difficult Cases

This discussion guide is for use with the video “Deciding Difficult Cases,” which features Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, interviewing the Hon. Emmet G. Sullivan, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, at the Fair and Impartial Judiciary Symposium on October 26, 2019, at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Summary: Jeffrey Rosen and Judge Emmet G. Sullivan discuss the 2008 public corruption trial of longtime Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. Stevens’ prosecution cost him reelection, and his defeat deprived the GOP of its narrow majority in the U.S. Senate at the time. Sullivan, who presided over the trial, chastised the prosecutors and the U.S. Justice Department, in general, for their mishandling of evidence and misconduct in the case. Sullivan’s role in these developments are a testament to the importance of judicial independence.

Download the discussion guide.

Lesson Plan

Civil Liberties vs. National Security: A Wartime Balancing Act

This lesson will focus on the case Korematsu v. U.S. in comparison with other times in U.S. history when the government was faced with the challenge of how to protect the country during war and, at the same time, protect individual freedoms. Using primary sources, students will examine five events in which U.S. citizens were forced to give up their civil liberties in times of war, highlighting the tension between liberty and security. Students will analyze these events to determine what groups were affected and the reasoning for and against the government action to decide if the government action was justified. Students will be able to form an opinion on the essential question: Is our government ever justified in restricting civil liberties for the security of the nation?

Lesson Plan

The 19th Amendment: Primary Sources

These primary sources follow the content and narrative structure of the Annenberg Classroom film “The 19th Amendment: A Woman’s Right to Vote.”

Lesson Plan

Why the Bill of Rights Matters to You

This lesson will allow students to use primary sources, the Bill of Rights, and Supreme Court cases in conjunction with the game “That’s Your Right” and the Annenberg Guide to the Constitution. Students will be able to understand the meaning and importance of the Bill of Rights as well as how it safeguards freedoms and protects citizens from government intrusion in everyday life. Students will focus on primary sources, the Bill of Rights and real-life scenarios to prepare them to play the game “That’s Your Right.” Afterward, students can extend learning by exploring real Supreme Court cases that affect students in schools.