The Supreme Court’s 1969 decision in Tinker v. Des Moines established a precedent for student rights that continues to shape legal battles today. This short documentary video explores the impact of Tinker v. Des Moines and the ongoing challenges to student speech in a digital age.
Andrew McGill
Posted inU.S. History
Lesson Plan: Cold War Breakout
Using text, images and Retro Report videos, students will analyze the early Cold War period from the perspective of the United States. This breakout game allows students to examine key events including the Truman Doctrine, the Korean War and the space race. Students will analyze relationships between countries during the Cold War and learn how those relationships created an era of mistrust, hostility and proxy battles, and nearly led to nuclear war.
Posted inU.S. History
Lesson Plan: The Berlin Airlift: Toast, Boast and Roast
Students will learn how the Berlin Airlift helped protect Berlin from Soviet control, contributed to the rise of NATO and set the tone for the Cold War.
Posted inCivics and Government
Lesson Plan: Shirley Chisholm Was a Trailblazer for Change
Students will learn about Shirley Chisholm and evaluate the significance of her time in Congress and her 1972 presidential campaign
Posted inU.S. History
Lesson Plan: What Japan’s Atom Bomb Survivors Have Taught Us About the Dangers of Nuclear War
On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic weapon on Hiroshima, Japan, instantly killing tens of thousands of people and unleashing suffering that has lasted for generations after World War II ended. Survivors, known in Japanese as hibakusha, recall how the sunny morning turned into devastation. “Flash! Boom! It was an extremely loud blast,” said Michiko Hattori, who was 16 years old at the time. Many of those who survived were left with disfiguring injuries, radiation sickness and severe social stigma. This lesson helps students analyze different perspectives and reflect on how history shapes our views on war and security today.
Posted inCivics and Government
Lesson Plan: The Debate Over Sanctuary Cities
Students will learn about sanctuary cities and engage in a deliberation over whether local governments have the right to limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Posted inCivics and Government
Lesson Plan: Linnentown
The descendants of residents of Linnentown, a once-thriving historically Black neighborhood in Athens, Ga., come together to preserve the memory of the neighborhood. Their family homes were razed in a 1960s urban renewal project. Now they, along with civic-minded neighbors, unite to try to reclaim forgotten history.
Posted inCivics and Government
Lesson Plan: What the World War II-Era Bracero Program Reveals About U.S. Immigration Debates
U.S. immigration policy has long reflected a tension between the demand for low-wage labor and the enforcement of immigration laws. That dynamic has shaped families, workplaces and communities across generations. This short doc traces that history from the mass deportations during the Great Depression to the Bracero guest worker program after World War II, and into today’s debates over unauthorized immigration.
Posted inLesson Plan
Lesson Plan: How a Sheep Named Dolly Sparked a Scientific Revolution
Students will learn about the scientific importance of Dolly the sheep, and analyze the ethical considerations surrounding scientific animal cloning.
Posted inCivics and Government
Lesson Plan: Who Controls the Purse? Presidential Power and the Fight Over Spending
The Trump administration’s attempts to freeze or cancel billions of dollars in federal spending have reopened a constitutional debate over the power of the purse – Congress’s authority to appropriate taxpayer money. At the center is impoundment, an executive maneuver to withhold funds that Congress has appropriated. This short doc revisits the last major impoundment clash, under President Richard Nixon, which led to the passage of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. With federal courts now weighing in and Congress divided over the current administration’s actions, legal scholars and historians explore what’s at stake when a president challenges the laws that govern federal spending.
