In the is activity students will study and explore which candidate for President they most identify with. Students will take a series of online tests to discover where they stand on the issues, the candidate who is the closest to matching their political ideology and which political party platform is most congruent with their beliefs. Students will also read and answer what it takes to be a great President and the characteristics that defined great Presidents of the past. Also included is an activity that explores how physical characteristics of men and women can influence voters and why men may have an evolutionary advantage in politics. The activity explores how men and women have different leadership styles.

Students will be brainstorming ideas and creating a Bill to make their school a better place. Students will put their knowledge of the process of how laws are created and ultimately submit their ideas to the Principle if their Bill is chosen. A very fun 3 day assignment. Great essay assignment on how to change your school. This was my final benchmark for my 8th graders, after we had finished studying Constitution, US government and the democratic process of how ideas become laws.

1. Religious Freedom: Engel vs. Vitale-School Prayer This activity is very excellent when studying the first amendment, religious freedom and the separation of church and state. Students will be researching and having a Socratic seminar on whether prayer should be allowed in school. Provided is videos, resources and links to scaffold student research etc... Students will also have a worksheet to help them fill out arguments for their respective side. -3 day assignment with debate 2. Four Supreme Court cases Students will examine four Supreme Court cases and research how they relate to the Bill of Rights. Great homework assignment! -1.5 hour assignment

This is a great summative project for students to apply their knowledge about government works and how to change they can change their community! Students begin by choosing a problem that they want to address in the community or the state. Students will then break down the problem step by step, analyzing and explaining in detail how they will resolve the issue in their community whether it is through community activism, voting/proposition etc… At the end of the project there is a jigsaw activity, where students can advocate present their problem/solution and students can critique them. Provided: (These are embedded in the document) 1.Objectives 2.Planning sheets for students-Google Doc and Google slides for students if you choose. Rubric Exemplars Citation help 6.Jigsaw activity

For this interactive group project, students will examine why government and laws are important to creating a functioning society. Students will use critical thinking skills to answers questions why government is important and well as watch videos on examples of anarchy. Students will also participate in a two day project in which they will establish their own laws for a fictional country.

Every generation of Americans needs to continually fight to maintain freedom and limit the size of government. To protect democracy and the freedoms we have, we need to limit the amount of power one person can have. The Lesson begins by showing students the Netflix series, “How to become a Tyrant.” This fascinating series shows the steps dictators take to gain ultimate power. Students are captivated during the five-episode series. - Each episode is 20-30 minutes. Next, I have students research a historical dictator, like Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Putin and use what they learned to describe the characteristics of the dictator and their secret to achieving ultimate power. Finally, students will watch videos about modern day dictators and tactics they use to gain ultimate power. Students will analyze the pros and cons of having a strong leader. Students will use critical thinking skills to analyze by citizens in countries such as El Salvador support Nayib Bukele. Embedded: Video guide Video Links Project Powerpoint-Discussing characteristics and definition of dictatorship

These bell ringers/ bell work/ class starters are an excellent way to motivate your students for the upcoming lesson, manage your classroom, and assess student comprehension. These bell ringer prompts allow you to smoothly transition into your lesson. A majority of the bell ringer questions also have projects and activities or video links that accompany the question (some are free, some are paid). In this bundle there are over 210 prompt ideas addressing many different topics that you can give to your class! I used these questions everyday to Segway into my history lesson that day. These Bell ringer questions are geared towards students from 7th to 10th grade. Topics: Getting pumped for the upcoming school year Introducing Social Studies American Revolution US Constitution/Bill of Rights/making laws US Civil War Imperialism Industrial Revolution Progressive movement-immigration women and workers rights World War 1 1920's Great Depression World War 2 Cold War The Modern World-1990 to today Politics Finance Psychology technology