Government · Week 10 · Institutions, Courts, and Federalism
Landmark Cases, Changing Minds
Tracing the shift from Plessy v. Ferguson to Brown v. Board of Education and reflecting on what helps a person or a nation change its mind.
- Students will
- Students explain how the Court's reading of the Fourteenth Amendment changed from Plessy (1896) to Brown (1954), explain how Miranda (1966) protects people questioned by police, and interpret each decision in the context of its time.
- SEL skill
- Restate how someone with a different view reasoned before sharing your own
- What it looks like
- Students practice taking another person's perspective and name what helps a person or a nation change its mind.
- Content focus
- Landmark cases, changing minds
- Format
- Collaborative analysis
Social awareness
Social awareness means understanding how other people see things and caring about them, including people whose backgrounds differ from yours. More social awareness activities
What you get
A teacher guide with what to say, step by step, plus student pages and a supports page for students with diverse learning needs, including those with IEPs. Print or Project it, or assign it in Google Forms and Google Docs for Google Classroom. Your first 10 activities are free.
Standards
- 12.5.4: CA History Social Science Content Standard, Grade 12: Principles of American Democracy (standard 12.5, item 4)
- CA HSS Analysis Skill: HI3 Interpret past events in the context in which they unfolded rather than solely by present day norms and values. (Historical Interpretation)
- C3 Framework (national): D2.Civ.12.9-12 Analyze how people use and challenge laws to address a variety of public issues.
- Literacy in history: RH.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
Fits these textbook chapters
- Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You, Chapter 5: The Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties
- Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You, Chapter 15: Courts, Judges, and the Law
- Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You, Chapter 16: The Criminal Justice System
- United States Government and Civics, Chapter 13: Federal and State Court Systems
- United States Government and Civics, Chapter 14: The Supreme Court of the United States
- United States Government and Civics, Chapter 15: Constitutional Freedoms
- Magruder's American Government, Chapter 3: The Constitution
- Magruder's American Government, Chapter 18: The Federal Court System
- Magruder's American Government, Chapter 20: Civil Liberties: Protecting Individual Rights
- Magruder's American Government, Chapter 21: Civil Rights: Equal Justice Under the Law
Textbook names are used only to help you find activities that fit what you teach. RoseThread Connect is not affiliated with these publishers.
More social awareness activities for Government
- Ideas the Founders Borrowed Social awarenessTracing how Greek, Roman, English, and Enlightenment thinkers shaped the Constitution, then noticing which voices have shaped students' own beliefs.
- Government Close to Home Social awarenessMapping who provides water, schools, roads, and tribal services in the Coachella Valley, including the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and noticing the unseen people who keep a community running.
- A Free and Responsible Press Social awarenessDiscussing why a free press matters and comparing how two outlets cover the same event, practicing curiosity about why others trust different sources.
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RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.