Welcome to the Legal Timelines teacher resource page. This page is geared towards teachers planning to use Street Law’s Legal Timelines interactive online timelines and inquiry packs.
This page provides:
- Timeline Activities: Designed to pair with any of the themes, students can complete these activities using the interactive online timelines.
- Theme-Specific Lesson Plans: These full lesson plans correspond to themed timelines and include student-centered activities designed to help students analyze and discuss a specific topic related to that theme.
- Community Guidelines Supports: Learning about legal history often involves challenging conversations. This guide, found below, provides advice, guidance, and resources for how to create a classroom culture allowing these conversations.
Please direct any feedback or questions about this page to: [email protected]
Timeline Activities
Designed to pair with any of the themes, students can complete these activities using the interactive online timelines.
- Scavenger Hunt (pdf): This Legal Timelines Scavenger Hunt can be used to help acquaint students with the Legal Timeline that they are studying and provide them an opportunity to reflect on what they see. Through the Scavenger Hunt, students will look through the Legal Timeline they are studying to find examples of key events and consider the significance of and relationship between these events.
- Timeline Curator Worksheet (pdf): This Legal Timelines Timeline Curator is designed to help students focus on sub-themes and/or cross-cutting themes found within one or more Legal Timelines and engage in more close reading and analysis of the timeline(s). The activity can be particularly helpful in getting students to think about how legal issues have evolved over time. Students will search through the Legal Timeline(s) they are studying to identify key events related to the theme provided by the instructor. Students will construct their own timeline place and these key events onto it and will reflect on their constructed timeline.
Theme Specific Lessons Plans
HIGH SCHOOL US HISTORY “Brown v. Board and Beyond” Resource Set
This resource set on Brown v. Board and Beyond is meant to be paired with Street Law’s Socratic Seminar Facilitation Guide. In pairing the set with the guide, students will first be introduced to the Socratic Seminar strategy and discussion norms. Then, they will learn more about the context and issues surrounding the decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas before reading texts, analyzing, and preparing for discussion. Students will then engage in a Socratic Seminar discussion based on their preparation. Finally, students will reflect on new learning and their experience participating in the discussion.
HIGH SCHOOL GOVERNMENT “War Powers” Resource Set
This resource set on war powers is meant to be paired with Street Law’s Socratic Seminar Facilitation Guide. In pairing the set with the guide, students will first be introduced to the Socratic Seminar strategy and discussion norms. Then, they will learn more about the context and issues surrounding the powers of the president and Congress to wage and declare war before reading texts, analyzing, and preparing for discussion. Students will then engage in a Socratic Seminar discussion based on their preparation. Finally, students will reflect on new learning and their experience participating in the discussion.
Community Guidelines Supports
Overview
Embedded into most lessons and discussions about America’s legal history are conversations about race, social identity, contested political issues, and/or other topics that can be tough to broach in a classroom. Building a classroom culture that allows for these conversations, while also affirming students’ identities, is an investment and takes time. Prior to using Legal Timelines in American History, we suggest building classroom and small group discussion norms, and recommend that you revisit them often with your students. Below, you will find some tips to help you do so, as well as links to additional resources that will support your ability to create a classroom space where students are able to engage in meaningful discussions around challenging topics.
