In this lesson, students learn about what led the Framers to draft a new form of government, which arguments were used in the decision over whether to add a Bill of Rights to the new Constitution, and who ensured that a First Amendment would be passed by the First Congress.

Using a Reading from the Center for Civic Education's We the People text book, students investigate the basic ideas about government and rights expressed in the first state constitutions to determine the extent to which the state constitutions influenced the framing of the United States Constitution and Bill or Rights.

In this lesson students investigate the origins of religious liberty, the reasons so many people risked migration to the New World, and the ideological underpinnings of Roger Williams's notion of "soul liberty."

In this lesson students use primary-source documents to analyze both Thomas Jefferson's famous "wall of separation" metaphor and the religious-liberty clauses of the First Amendment.

In this lesson students witness firsthand that the U.S. Constitution is a "living document" that depends on human judgment to resolve conflicts that arise over its meaning. By examining both majority and dissenting opinions, students recognize the subjectivity of the law and investigate how legal arguments are framed. They apply these understandings to a discussion of the rights and responsibilities of public school students regarding the Pledge of Allegiance.

In this lesson, students explore the difficult balance between honoring a true "marketplace of ideas" in society and ensuring that society remains safe and stable.

In this lesson, students analyze important issues surrounding a free press in a free society and the value added to the school community by an uncensored student press.

In this lesson, students analyze news coverage and learn about the difficult choices journalists must make in order to do their jobs. The lesson illustrates how the news media try, without always succeeding, to present fair and accurate news coverage.

In this lesson, students examine their right to petition through advocacy. They are shown the ways they already advocate for issues every day and are given a series of steps to consider in planning a larger advocacy/petition campaign.

In this lesson, students analyze the First Amendment Schools Vision Statement, discuss what a First Amendment School would look like, and conduct interviews to assess their own school's commitment to the civic mission of education.

In this lesson, students investigate survey findings to assess the vitality of the First Amendment in public schools. Students also conduct a survey in their school.