A truly critical inquiry should identify unequal power relationships in society and offer students counter-narratives to transform unjust social relations.

Teaching young people to track congressional representatives and public issues through Congress can engage students with their government and advance their civic participation.

These key prompts can help social studies teachers and students gauge a compelling question’s rigor, relevance, and functionality.

The U.S. Constitution codifies a complex system of governmental checks and balances. But for all its innovation, our founding document fails to address the question of how to prosecute wrongdoing by personnel in the executive branch, including the president of the United States. 

Beverly Milner Bisland and Iftikhar Ahmad

The featured 1937 letter from a Japanese primary school student apologizing for the sinking of the USS Panay by Japanese aircraft provides an entry into the study of U.S.-Japanese relations before World War II.

A world history assignment, kicked off with a question on the French Revolution and furthered with a political cartoon, demonstrates the power of electronic discourse to enhance instruction and increase student participation.

In a project that connected social studies classes with literature classes, students honed academic skills as they constructed mock trials from the events of a famous novel.

The writ of habeas corpus has been a critical tool for balancing the rights of individuals with the government's responsibility to protect the nation's welfare. The featured elementary, middle, and high school lessons explore the significance of this right.

Key historical events changed voting practices in America and extended the right to vote. This article spotlights a few of those events, as well as contemporary voting issues, and outlines a teacher-tested lesson on voting.