CRF publications provide educational tools to help you create a dynamic, interactive learning environment in the classroom in the areas of Law and Government, Civic Participation, and U.S. and World History.
Our most popular publication, Criminal Justice in America has been completely revised and updated. New and revised readings, updated statistics, and expanded case studies make the Fourth Edition of Criminal Justice in America the best resource for bringing current criminal-justice issues into your classroom. This Internet-supported text is perfect for an entire law-related education course or as a supplement for civics, government, or contemporary-issues courses. Its extensive readings are supported by:
Directed discussions
Role plays
Mock trials
Cooperative and interactive exercises
Activities to involve outside resource experts
Research activities for students to use the library or Internet
Resources on our web site
The Student Edition is divided into six units:
Crime includes sections on victims, victim rights, history of crime, methods for measuring crime, youth gangs, white-collar crime, swindlers and con artists, elements of crimes, murder, theft, hate crimes, cyber crimes, and legal defenses to crime.
Police includes sections on history of law enforcement, criminal investigations, crime labs, search and seizure, interrogations and confessions, the exclusionary rule, the use of force, police corruption, racial profiling, and police-community relations.
The Criminal Case explores a hypothetical criminal case from arrest through trial. It includes all the key steps of the criminal trial process.
Corrections includes sections on theories of punishment, history of corrections, sentencing, alternatives to incarceration, prison conditions, parole, recidivism, capital punishment, and current debates on corrections.
Juvenile Justice includes sections on the history of the juvenile system, delinquency, status offenses, steps in a juvenile case, rights of juveniles, juvenile corrections, transfer to the adult system, and death penalty for juveniles.
Solutions includes sections on the debates over the cause of crime, racism in the justice system, history of vigilantism, policy options to reduce crime and make the criminal justice system fairer, and options for individual citizens.
The Criminal Justice in America Teacher's Guide provides detailed descriptions of teaching strategies, activity masters, chapter and final tests, background readings, and extra resources to supplement the text.The Criminal Justice in America web site offers links to supplementary readings, the latest statistics, cases mentioned in the text, and much more.
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CityWorks
Grades 9–12
CityWorks is a standards-based, local government curriculum designed to fit into any civics or government class. An independent, multi-year, research-based study released in 2002 concluded that classes using CityWorksimproved student knowledge of both regular and local government andhelped prepare students for effective citizenship by increasing student civic competencies as compared to students in traditional government courses.CityWorks provides interactive lessons in which students become citizens of the fictional city of Central Heights to learn about issues of state and local government and practice critical-thinking skills. Along the way they take on the role of local political leaders and active citizens to address political and social issues facing the community.The curriculum has two elements:
Six interactive lesson modules centering on specific local government content, such as the executive, legislative, and judicial functions of local government and on realistic public policy issues, such as the economy and crime and safety.
CityWorks Project activities follow each lesson. These activities and assignments help students explore problems, institutions, and public policy issues in their own community. Students are guided through a civics-based service-learning project that addresses a local community problem they have studied.
CityWorks curriculum materials consist of three components:
The CityWorks Teacher's Guide includes everything you need--instructions for lessons, reproducible masters for all lesson handouts (including the Bugle), instructions for the CityWorks project activities, and reproducible masters of the Student Handbook.
The Central Heights Bugle, six issues of a simulated newspaper in class sets of 35. Each edition is linked to one of the lessons in the teacher's guide and provides students with readings and information for the lesson.
A Student Handbook containing detailed instructions for completing the CityWorks Project activities and serving as a portfolio for students to record much of their work.
The Challenge of Governance Prepare your students to meet the National Standards. (Sample Lesson PDF)
Grades 9-12
The fourth and final volume in the Challenge series, The Challenge of Governance is designed to help students gain proficiency in meeting the National Standards for Civics and Government. This 72-page supplementary text provides 16 lessons. Each lesson has four parts:(1) a short reading reviewing one to four standards, (2) discussion questions based on the standards, (3) a high-interest reading based on an issue related to the standards, and (4) an interactive activity designed to foster intellectual and participatory skill development. The 16 lessons are:
The Constitution and Governance (Standards 3, 4, 8, 12)
Constitutional Limitations on Government (Standards 2, 8, 12, 15)
A Democratic Republic (Standards 1, 5, 6, 7, 12)
The Civil Society (Standards 2, 9, 10)
Diversity and Equality (Standards 11, 14)
Conflicts (Standard 13)
National Government and Taxation (Standards 15, 16)
State and Local Government (Standards 15, 17)
The Role of the Judiciary (Standard 18)
Setting the Public Agenda (Standard 19)
Voting and Selecting Political Leaders (Standard 20)
Public Policy (Standard 21)
America’s Foreign Policy (Standard 22)
America and New Global Realities (Standards 22, 23)
Citizenship and Rights (Standards 24, 25, 26)
Civic Participation and Responsibility (Standards 27, 28, 29)
A separate teacher’s guide provides step-by-step directions for conducting each lesson based on the materials provided in the text.
Fully illustrated with photos and cartoons
Perfect for U.S. government, civics, and contemporary-problems courses.
The Challenge of Governance
Show Your Support for Civic Education
For over 40 years, CRF has been providing educators FREE and low cost materials. This is made possible thanks to the generosity of supports like you. Please take a moment now to make a small tax-deductible contribution to CRF today .
The Challenge of Information
Grades 9-12
The second volume of the Challenge series, this 72-page supplementary text examines issues surrounding information and the media. This high-interest book is divided into five units:
Unit 1: A Free Press covers basic constitutional issues dealing with the media and free press. It examines landmark First Amendment cases and explores issues involving the right to know.
Unit 2: A Responsible Press looks into problems of press ethics, such as the use of questionable sources, the influence of advertising on editorial content, tabloid journalism, undercover journalism, and the violent content of local news coverage.
Unit 3: Free Press–Fair Trial discusses issues involving the press and the criminal justice system. It explores problems related to high-profile cases such as the trial of O.J. Simpson and evaluates whether reporters should have to reveal their sources in court.
Unit 4: The Myth Makers encourages students to take a critical look at information. It gives students background for evaluating urban myths and rumors, conspiracy theories, and claims of paranormal phenomena.
Unit 5: New Frontiers addresses policy issues relating to the Internet. It takes a look at the growth of the Internet and at issues surrounding hate speech and indecency on the Internet. “Countdown to Doomsday”: An exciting Internet activity in which students take on the role of investigative reporters who must apply media-literacy skills to separate media fact from tabloid fiction. “Countdown to Doomsday” also serves as an authentic media-literacy assessment tool for The Challenge of Information. Also included: Civil Conversations on provocative issues and Information-Age Checklists showing students how to gather and evaluate information.
Fully illustrated with photos and cartoons
Perfect for government and civics, 20th-century U.S. history, contemporary-problems, media- literacy, journalism, and law-related courses
A separate teacher’s guide provides procedures for interactive lessons based on the text.
The Challenge of Information
The Challenge of Violence Grades 9-12
The first volume of the Challenge series, this 72-page supplementary text challenges students to grapple with one of America’s most vexing problems. The book is divided into three units:
Unit 1: The Problem of Violence places the problem of violence in a historical context; explores the problems of violence today, including gangs and youth violence; and examines causes and risk factors.
Unit 2: Law and Public Policy examines how law and public policy at the national, state, and local levels seek to address the problem. Students engage in crucial societal debates over proposed solutions, including punishment versus prevention, gun control, curfews, and school uniforms.
Unit 3: Taking Action Against Violence helps students move beyond the classroom to learn how to take action against violence in their own lives and communities. Working as individuals and groups, they learn about and practice the skills and strategies of violence prevention, including self-protection, conflict management, volunteering, and conducting their own service-learning public-safety projects.
A separate teacher’s guide provides step-by-step procedures for 21 interactive lessons, which use material from the text and 18 reproducible handout masters. Included are directed discussions, role plays, simulations, and critical-thinking exercises. Also included are readings and procedures for guiding three Civil Conversations in which students conduct structured, Socratic-style discussions on provocative issues.
Fully illustrated with photos, charts, and cartoons
Perfect for government and civics, 20th-century U.S history, contemporary-problems, and law-related courses
The Challenge of Violence
CRF Mock Trials
Mock Trials take students to the heart of the justice system. Students acquire critical-thinking skills and an in-depth understanding of our judicial process as they study a hypothetical case, conduct legal research, and role play the trial. Each Mock Trial packet includes a hypothetical case, witness statements, legal authorities, trial instructions, and procedural guidelines. It also includes a pretrial motion, designed to deepen student understanding of constitutional issues related to criminal trials.
Grades 6-12
Show Your Support for Civic Education
For over 40 years, CRF has been providing educators FREE and low cost materials. This is made possible thanks to the generosity of supports like you. Please take a moment now to make a small tax-deductible contribution to CRF today .
People v. Palmer Murder and scientific evidence
The day after a party, notorious Hollywood producer Jes Markson is found dead. Markson had been making a comeback after being found not guilty of murdering Taylor Rodriguez, Markson’s spouse. Markson’s former friend Alex Palmer is charged with firstdegree murder. Pretrial issue: Does a new “memory mapping” test meet the criteria to have its results admitted as scientific evidence?
People v. Campbell
Attempted school bombing and free expression
Police discovered a time bomb in a trash can near a high school’s lunch area. A student is charged with attempting to explode the device and possession of an illegal violent video game. Pretrial issue: Does the state’s law against violent video games violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
Seeing skilled students conduct People v. Campbell on DVD.
Seeing skilled students conduct People v. Markson on DVD.
People v. Kendall Manslaughter, Illegal Contest of Speed, and Freedom of Speech and Association A college student is accused of participating in a drag race that caused the death of another racer. Pretrial issue: Does the city's anti-drag racing club ordinance violate the First Amendment?
#70032CWB Individual, 64 pp. $5.95 ea.
Seeing skilled students conduct People v. Kendall on DVD or Video.
People v. Casco Credit Card Fraud A student is accused of buying items using other people's credit card information and of selling the items to other students. Pretrial issue: Was a drug-dog search at school, which uncovered information from the defendant, constitutional?
Seeing skilled students conduct People v. Casco DVD or Video.
People v. Martin Murder and self-incrimination
An honor student, involved in a cheating scandal, is accused of murdering a student who discovered the cheating and threatened to report it to the school. Pretrial issue: Did the police violate the defendant's Fifth Amendment rights?
Seeing skilled students conduct People v. Martin on video or DVD.
People v. Price
Arson and search and seizure
A fire destroys much of ski resort that was planning to expand into a wilderness area. An opponent of the expansion is arrested and charged with arson. Pretrial issue: Was a search of the defendant’s truck constitutional?
People v. Tanner
Homicide and memory reliability
A young adult’s 20-year-old memory of a sibling’s death sparks a police investigation leading to a murder charge. Pretrial issue: Should evidence of other violence be excluded because it is irrelevant and highly prejudicial?
Seeing skilled students conduct People v. Tanner on video or DVD.
People v. Brunetti Homicide, conspiracy, the right to bear arms Two students die in a schoolyard shooting —the victim and shooter. Police arrest the owner of the murder weapon. Pretrial issue: Is a statute regulating possession of assault weapons constitutional?
The Constitution & the Bill of Rights
Grades 4-12
CRF introduces a new teaching tool utilizing PowerPoint to provide social studies teachers with graphic presentations and classroom activities.
The Constitution & the Bill of Rights: An Introduction Grades 4-12
The Constitution & the Bill of Rights: An Introduction provides teachers with a Power Point content presentation and talking points to tell the story of the development of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Using animated graphics, the presentation provides a focus discussion, walks students through the creation of the Constitution, and introduces each of the 10 original amendments of the Bill of Rights as well as the later Civil War and 19th amendments.
In addition, the CD includes a graphic version of CRF’s “A Visitor From Outer Space” lesson, which engages students in a cooperative-learning activity to determine which rights are most important to them. Also included is a teacher’s guide with talking points to accompany the content presentation and step-by-step teaching procedures for the activity, “A Visitor From Outer Space.”
The Constitution & Bill of Rights: Due Process
Grades 4-12
The Constitution & the Bill of Rights: Due Process provides students with background on the concept of due process and introduces the related amendments from the Bill of Rights. Using colorful graphics, the presentation also explains the trial and appellate court systems.
In addition, the PowerPoint presentation includes a moot-court activity based on California v. Greenwood, a landmark search and seizure case. The presentation provides background and facts of the case to assist teachers in preparing students for the moot-court simulation. It also has the Supreme Court decision to assist in debriefing the activity.
Also included is a teacher’s guide with talking points for the due-process presentation, step-by-step teaching procedures for the moot-court activity, and student handout masters.
The Constitution & Bill of Rights: Due Process, Volume 2
Grades 8–12
The Constitution & Bill of Rights: Due Process, Volume 2, further introduces students to the concept of due process from the Bill of Rights. The PowerPoint presentation concludes with a moot-court activity, Chicago v. Morales: A Supreme Court Case, involving a gang ordinance.
The Constitution & Bill of Rights: Equal Protection Grades 7-12
The Constitution and Bill of Rights: Equal Protection introduces upper-elementary and middle-school students to the concept of equal protection. Using colorful, animated graphics, this PowerPoint presentation provides teachers with a graphic presentation and talking points on key concepts of equal protection. In addition, the PowerPoint presentation includes a moot court activity, Gratz v. Bollinger: A Supreme Court Case. Also included is a teacher's guide with talking points to accompany the content presentation, step-by-step teaching procedures for the moot-court activity, and student handout masters.
The Constitution & Bill of Rights: Free Expression Grades 7-12
The Constitution & Bill of Rights: Free Expression introduces students to the concept of free expression as outlined by the First Amendment. Using colorful, animated graphics, this presentation provides teachers with a graphic presentation and talking points on key concepts of free expression. In addition, the PowerPoint presentation includes a moot court activity, Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier: A Supreme Court Case. Also included is a teacher's guide with talking points to accompany the content presentation, step-by-step teaching procedures for the moot-court activity, and student handout masters.
Show Your Support for Civic Education
For over 40 years, CRF has been providing educators FREE and low cost materials. This is made possible thanks to the generosity of supports like you. Please take a moment now to make a small tax-deductible contribution to CRF today .
People v. A. Wolf: A Mini-Mock Trial
Grades 3-6
Based on the award-winning children’s book The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs: by A. Wolf by Jon Scieszka, this two-part simulation takes students through the process of selecting a jury and conducting a trial. In the first simulation, students take the roles of attorneys, judge, and prospective jurors to learn about the jury selection process (voir dire). Roles for prospective jurors are based on traditional fairy tales and legends, reinforcing literacy skills including characterization. In the second part of the simulation, the courtroom drama unfolds as students take the roles of attorneys, witnesses, judge, and jurors to determine if the wolf is guilty of two counts of murder (one of the pigs survives the wolf’s visit). Masters for handouts with instructions for the various roles are included. Also included is an introductory lesson, “Who’s Who In The Courtroom,” to acquaint students with the roles and responsibilities of judges, attorneys, jurors, and others involved in a courtroom proceeding. The materials come with the book The True Story of the 3 Little pigs: by A Wolf.
Working Together: Lessons in Justice
Grades 5-9
Reproducible LessonsWorking Together: Lessons in Justice provides interactive lessons on law and citizenship. Organized to fit into a U.S. history curriculum, lessons focus on subjects such as the American Revolution, the Old West, civil rights, and the three branches of government. All 10 lessons stress cooperative learning and critical thinking. The lessons are strengthened when used with a resource person to provide realism and positive role models. Each includes suggestions on resource persons.
We the People Grades 5–9
Reproducible Lessons
In 15 simple lessons, We the People brings alive the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights. Designed to introduce law and citizenship into U.S. history and government courses, We the People helps students understand democratic principles and how these principles relate to their daily lives. Students explore such issues as handgun control, civil law, police-community relations, and juvenile justice.
Each lesson includes discussion questions, motivational strategies, and interactive role plays. The use of outside resource persons is encouraged to provide realism and positive role modes.
We the People
It's Yours: The Bill of Rights Grades 7-12
For ESL students and students reading below grade level Perfect for sheltered English classes, It's Yours: The Bill of Rights offers eight units of interactive lessons on U.S. government and the Bill of Rights. This illustrated supplement focuses on the structure of U.S. government, the rights of free speech, equal protection, religion, and the rights of the accused. Carefully designed activities, reasoning exercises, and questions help students acquire language facility as they apply the Bill of Rights to situations relevant to their lives. A teacher's guide provides instructions for structuring lessons and utilizing outside resource persons.
Addresses needs of ESL or below grade-level reading students
Activities to involve outside resource persons
Content-based language development
It's Yours: The Bill of Rights
Active Citizenship Today (ACT), 2nd Edition Grades 6-12
For more than a decade, CRF's Active Citizenship Today (ACT) program has offered an exciting approach to civic education through service learning. The newly revised ACT curriculum helps students develop citizenship skills and knowledge while they plan and implement service-learning projects. This newly updated ACT curriculum consists of three components:
The ACT Handbook for Teachers (Second Edition) features new lesson plans, reproducible worksheets, and a complete explanation of ACT's structure, goals, and teaching methods. It now includes a section on implementing ACT throughout a school or district.
The ACT Field Guide (Second Edition) is a lively, full-color, user-friendly student handbook full of tips, methods, and profiles. This practical guide is designed to support ACT lessons and provide students with resources for all stages of a service-learning project. A final section features skills that students may need to develop during a project, e.g., how to conduct interviews, persuade others, speak in public, conduct opinion polls, raise funds, run meetings, and much more. ACT Online offers free web resources for students and teachers at every stage of the ACT process.The ACT curriculum takes students through five units of study:
1: Exploring Your Community takes students on a quick tour of their community looking for its resources and problems. They learn about each others' impressions of the community. They do a brief community search. They go on the Internet and create a statistical profile of the community.
2: Choosing and Researching a Problem lets students select a problem and research it at the library, online, and in the community. Students find out what government, business, media, and non-profit organizations are doing about the problem.
3: Evaluating Policy introduces students to the world of policy. They look at policies addressing the problem and learn simple ways to analyze policy.
4: Examining Options offers students a variety of project ideas and ways to gain support in the community for any project they do. Students decide on a project idea and think of ways to get support for it.
5: Taking Action provides students with instructions and information vital for a service project. Following these instructions, students build a plan, put the plan into action, and keep track of their progress.
This publications was made possible by a grant from the Ford Foundation. The first edition was funded by a grant from the DeWitt Wallace–Reader’s Digest Fund. ACT publications are produced and developed jointly by Constitutional Rights Foundation and Close Up Foundation.
Show Your Support for Civic Education
For over 40 years, CRF has been providing educators FREE and low cost materials. This is made possible thanks to the generosity of supports like you. Please take a moment now to make a small tax-deductible contribution to CRF today .
Take Charge: A Youth Guide to Community Change
Grades 8–12
All across the nation, young people are learning how to create positive community change. Whether school- or community-based, well-planned civic-participation projects help young people develop citizenship and leadership skills while they make the world a better place to live—for themselves and others. Take Charge is a step-by-step manual for teaching citizenship and creating community change. Designed for school or community use, this straightforward guide shows young people how to work together to:
Explore and define their community and identify its needs and resources.
Look at policies that impact their lives and the life of their community.
Interact positively with local government, businesses, non-profits, and the media.
Plan and complete a project designed to create positive community change.
Take Charge is ideal for school or community groups. With Take Charge, young people follow a simple framework to:
Explore their community.
Identify community problems.
Evaluate public policy.
Explore options to deal with community problems.
Plan an action project.
An additional Stop and Think component gives young people the tools they need to evaluate their progress and reflect on what they have learned.
Civic Action Starters
Grades 9-12
Perfect for schools or youth groups, these starter kits offer stimulating, hands-on, and quick introductions to effective citizenship.
Citizenship Mini-Lessons
Citizenship Mini-Lessons provide 14 interactive lessons on citizenship knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors. Every lesson can be taught in sequence or on an occasional basis. Each takes just one class period. Teacher materials include complete instructions for the lessons. Each lesson comes with a one-page student handout, which has a brief introduction, a short reading, an explanation of the activity, and discussion questions.Mini-Lesson topics include: • Opinion polling
• Policy analysis
• Rights and freedoms
• Citizenship and voting
• Propaganda
• News search
• Community exploration
• Differing perspectives
• Getting involved
• Values in conflict And MORE!!
Civic Action Guide
Are you going to help young people do a service project? The Civic Action Guide gives you all you will need, including:
Planning Guide, handouts that students can use to plan, implement, and evaluate a project. The handouts explain the basic steps of all projects, how to plan, and include a blank project plan for students to fill out.
Eight Community Action Projects, one-page handouts sketching plans for community- service projects. Each sheet includes a project description, its goals, resources needed, relevant facts or figures, a series of action steps, and some methods to evaluate the project.
Skills, handouts on skills, such as interviewing, opinion polling, and finding resources.
The Civic Action Guide also contains step-by-step teacher instructions for implementing the guide.
Show Your Support for Civic Education
For over 40 years, CRF has been providing educators FREE and low cost materials. This is made possible thanks to the generosity of supports like you. Please take a moment now to make a small tax-deductible contribution to CRF today .
CityYouth
CityYouth is a middle-school curriculum that integrates civic education and service learning into the core academic subjects: social studies, language arts, science, and math. CityYouth’s interactive lessons support team teaching, cooperative learning, portfolio assessment, and student service-learning projects. CityYouth students use critical-thinking skills to analyze issues and reinforces basic reading, writing, and math skills. CityYouth lessons support a variety of academic and performance standards in each core subject area as well as in civics/government and problem-solving.
This version of CityYouth contains 32 sequential, developmental lessons organized around four themes: Crime & Safety, Harmony, Health & Well-Being, and Environment. The lessons include readings, role plays, and simulations that help students use higher-level thinking skills to identify and analyze issues in their own school and community. In addition, CityYouth guides students toward applying the concepts and skills they learn while they plan, complete, and evaluate service-learning projects. CityYouth: Today’s Communities is used in the regular middle-school classroom and has also been successfully implemented as an after-school and core-advisory curriculum.
CityYouth Teacher's Guide
The complete curriculum consisting of four eight-lesson units; repro-ready masters of every student handout and worksheet; classroom and community teaching strategies; tools, methods, and rubrics for program evaluation and student assessment; and a valuable community action resource guide.
CityYouth Student Workbook, 132 pp.
The complete set of student-friendly, 2-color CityYouth handouts, worksheets, and cooperative learning checkpoints, with graphics.
This four-unit version of CityYouth is designed to support a U.S. history course of study. Each of the four units contains lessons set in a historical era that introduce a theme students will explore and analyze. Multidisciplinary lessons provide depth and contemporization of the theme and guide students toward applying what they learn through service-learning projects.
Unit 1: Leadership—American Revolution
Unit 2: Crime & Safety—Old West/Reconstruction
Unit 3: Youth & Education—Turn of the 20th Century
Unit 4: Media—Contemporary
Teacher's Guide: Contains step-by-step lesson plans, repro-ready masters of all student handouts, strategies for making school-community connections, and tools, methods, and rubrics for program evaluation and student assessment.
Set of Student Handout Masters: The complete, copy-ready set of student handouts, including cooperative-learning checkpoints, unbound for easy repro.
CityYouth: Ancient History Travel with your students on an exciting, standards-based journey to ancient Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome.
CRF's new CityYouth: Ancient History provides teachers with 13 social studies lessons and related lesson ideas for core teachers of language arts, mathematics, and science. It integrates civic participation and service learning into the regular curriculum. Its four units focus on ancient history and can culminate in a service project. CityYouth: Ancient History is divided into four units.
Unit 1: Ancient Egypt explores the social and political order of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes; shows how the Nile helped shape ancient Egyptian civilization; traces the political history of ancient Egypt through the three kingdoms; and outlines the relationship between religion and Egypt's social and political order.
Unit 2: Ancient China explores the geography of China and the development of ancient Chinese civilization; introduces the social, legal, and political impact of Qin Dynasty Emperor Shi Huangdi; examines the ancient philosophies of Confucianism and Daoism; and looks at developments in the Han Dynasty, including the opening of the Silk Road.Unit 3: Ancient Greece looks at the rise of Greek city-states and Athenian democracy under Pericles; compares two contrasting Greek city-states: democratic Athens and militaristic Sparta; and explores ideas about what makes a good society from three of the Western world's greatest philosophers--Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
Unit 4: Ancient Rome traces the history of Rome from its founding myths through the Roman Republic; examines the political and social institutions of the republic; explores the leadership of Augustus when Rome made its transition from republic to empire; and discusses religious toleration and persecution in the Roman Empire.
Additional CityYouth Program Components
CityYouth Action Pack, 13 pp.
A low-cost disposable set of student worksheets designed to help students plan and complete their own service-learning project.
CityYouth Certificates
Award students for their accomplishments.
SUPER VALUE!!! -- CityYouth Class Set
Get a Teacher's Guide plus 40 each of student workbooks, action packs, and certificates.
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CityYouth, our multidisciplinary citizenship and service-learning program for middle schools, is sweeping the country. Now you too can receive intensive CityYouth training. Two-day trainings are conducted on a regional basis and prepare administrators and teachers in all CityYouth fundamentals: Curriculum, project development, and implementation. Materials are provided. To find out more about this exciting opportunity, contact us at (800) 488-4CRF.
Youth and Police is the perfect way to educate about the law, improve police-community relations, and involve middle-school youth in service-learning activities to improve public safety-all in one comprehensive package. This multi-dimensional curriculum contains five core and five extension interactive lessons and comes with reproducible handout masters. The core sequence features a two-day lesson sequence on the development of the modern police force, a two-day simulation on issues of school safety, and an adaptation of CRF's renowned Police Patrol simulation. Then, working together with community police or school officers, students create and conduct their own service-learning project to improve community-police relations and neighborhood safety. The extension lessons promote critical-thinking skill development by involving students in examining laws and policies that affect law enforcement. Topics covered include the use of force, the laws of arrest and search, the Miranda rule, and police governance and discipline.
• Promotes positive police- community relations
• Helps students think critically about controversial issues
• Blends law-related and service-learning strategies in one comprehensive package
Youth and Police
Police Patrol
Simulation for 20-35 players Grades 5-12
Perfect for students from fifth through 12th grade and beyond, Police Patrol is an innovative curriculum that will open communication and break down stereotypes between police and students. Students get an opportunity to have positive interactions with police officers, to learn about police work, and to work on improving police-community relations. Police Patrol consists of these sessions:
Pre- and Post-Survey and Discussion for measuring the change in student attitudes.Police Patrol Simulation. This powerful simulation engages youth and police officers in a structured activity that builds understanding and communication. Students are provided an opportunity to "take a walk" in an officer's shoes as they become police officers and citizens interacting in typical police call situations. The simulation puts adult officers in the roles of mentors and coaches to help youth officers handle calls using police procedures.
Police-Community Relations Discussion. Following the simulations, students and police officers discuss ideas for improving police-community relations.
Project Planning. Students design a service project to improve police-community relations. A list of project ideas is included along with instruction on planning, implementing and evaluating projects.This publication includes a step-by-step instructions for conducting each session, handouts, discussion questions, and pre- and post-surveys for officers and students. To facilitate duplication, the packet includes separate masters of all handouts.Police Patrol
Public Policy Packets
Grades 9-12
Show Your Support for Civic Education
For over 40 years, CRF has been providing educators FREE and low cost materials. This is made possible thanks to the generosity of supports like you. Please take a moment now to make a small tax-deductible contribution to CRF today .
Constitutional Rights Foundation's Public Policy Packets offer readings, discussion questions, and interactive activities to address current debates over particular public policy issues.
Election Central Grades 9–12
Election Central engages students in learning about campaigns for political office. The standards-based curriculum consists of five interactive activities, putting students in the roles of candidates, campaign staff, and community members.
Activity 1: Running for Office places students on a mayoral campaign team, where they learn about campaigning and create ads.
Activity 2: Get the Youth Vote gives students information on young people’s voting rates and strategies for attracting the youth vote and asks them to create a strategy for the campaign.
Activity 3: Policy & Platforms informs students about the public agenda and public policy and lets them analyze policy proposals using a framework.
Activity 4: Endorsements puts students in the roles of local groups and campaign teams seeking endorsements from these groups.
Activity 5: Press Conference lets students take the roles of candidates, campaign staff, and reporters in a simulated press conference. Each activity promotes:
Critical thinking and positive dispositions about the political process.
Understanding of campaign and election processes.
Designed to be completed in two or three class sessions, each activity provides:
A focus activity to introduce concepts and content.
An application using interactive methodology such as role plays, simulations, active discussion, and cooperative learning.
An informal assessment through discussion of student-created products or presentations to ensure student understanding of key concepts.
Perfect for use in classroom settings, after-school programs, clubs, or leadership classes.
The Immigration Debate
Historical and Current Issues of Immigration 2nd Edition
Grades 9-12
Newly updated, revised, and expanded, The Immigration Debate features 12 interactive lessons on the history of immigration, refugees and asylum, and illegal immigration. Each is linked to U.S. history and government standards.
History of Immigration 1: History of Immigration Through the 1850s
2: History of Immigration from the 1850s to the Present
3: Ellis Island
4: Educating European Immigrant Children Before World War I
Refugees and Asylum 5: U.S. Immigration Policy and Hitler's Holocaust
6: Refugees: International Law and U.S. Policy
7: Issues of Asylum in the U.S.
8: Refugees From Vietnam and Cambodia
9: Refugees From the Caribbean: Cuban and Haiti "Boat People"
llegal Immigration 10: Illegal Immigrants
11: Plyler v. Doe 12: California's Proposition 187Each lesson features a standard-based reading, questions to engage students in a discussion, and an interactive activity that helps students delve more deeply into the reading and develop critical-thinking skills.
Terrorism in America
What can a democracy do to protect itself? Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, Americans must confront troubling issues about terrorism. Terrorism in America provides current and historical perspectives on these issues. Terrorism in America includes interactive lessons on:
The September 11 attacks
The Oklahoma City bombing
How other countries handle terrorism
Military tribunals
America’s response to terrorism in 1919
Changing our Constitution
Talk radio
Free speech cases
Conspiracy theories
Also included:
Lessons to help students do a service project
Teacher instructions for all lessons
All lessons have master copies ready for easy duplication. This curriculum was originally developed following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. It was revised, updated, and expanded after the September 11 attacks. On our web site, we have also developed America Responds to Terrorism, a collection of online lessons and resources. Included are much of the material from Terrorism in America, additional lessons, and a huge collection of links to lessons, media sources, government sources, and information on the Middle East, Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, maps and geography, Islam, tolerance, think tanks, commentary, and other collections of links on terrorism. This site is constantly updated.
Terrorism in America
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Of Codes & Crowns, Third Edition From the Ancient World to the Renaissance Linked to world history standards
Grades 9-12
Download Sample Lesson (PDF) One of our most popular texts returns in a new edition—Of Codes and Crowns is fully revised and updated. Featuring lessons with:
Short, high-interest readings.
Discussion questions to facilitate understanding.
Interactive activities to foster critical thinking.
Unit 1: Hammurabi’s Treasure explores the concept of lex talionis, the law of retribution, and an ancient set of laws—The Code of Hammurabi.
Unit 2: Blood Feud discusses the Greek tribunal system and the myth of Orestes.
Unit 3: Jewish Law looks at the development of Jewish law, one of the foundations of Western legal tradition.
Unit 4: Roman Law traces the more than 1,000-year evolution of this law—from its beginnings in the city-state of Rome through the republic and empire.
Unit 5: Islamic Law looks at the origins and development of Islamic law.
Unit 6: Merry Old England examines the medieval English jury system, one far different from ours today.
Unit 7: The Magna Carta analyzes how the English got King John to limit the power of monarchs.
Unit 8: The Trial of Galileo explores the conflict between the greatest scientist of the time and church officials who believed his ideas clashed with church doctrine. Of Codes & Crowns has an extensive teacher’s guide containing discussion questions and answers, and step-by-step instructions for the interactive lessons.
Of Codes and Crowns (Third Edition)
Volume Two: Of Democrats and Dictator From Elizabethan England to the Modern Age Linked to world history standards
Grades 9-12Download Sample Lesson (PDF)
Unit 1: Sir Edward Coke and the Common Law explores the development of the common law by focusing on one of its great proponents, Sir Edward Coke.
Unit 2: The Enlightenment Philosophers looks at four philosophers’ views on government and natural law—Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau.
Unit 3: The Code Napoleon explores the first modern code of laws, which became the model for legal systems in most other nations in the world.
Unit 4: The Dreyfus Affair examines the trials of the innocent man Alfred Dreyfus and the role the press played in his convictions and ultimate vindication.
Unit 5: The Totalitarians looks at the perversion of law under Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union.
Unit 6: War Crimes focuses on the development of rules of war and the Nuremberg and Yamashita trials following World War II.
Unit 7: Gandhi and Civil Disobedience looks at Gandhi and the question of when it proper to disobey the law.
Unit 8: International Law traces the emergence of international law in the modern age and looks at its value and limitations. An extensive teacher’s guide containing more than 20 lesson plans. The plans include focus activities, discussion questions with suggested answers, step-by-step instructions for interactive activities, and debriefing questions and suggestions.
Web Links: Our web site has links to additional resources for each unit.
Landmarks: Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Grades 9–12
U.S. Supreme Court cases have greatly affected U.S. history. Let your students discover some of the most important cases. Each reading in the student text focuses on one case, giving historical background, outlining the decision, and explaining its significance.
A separate teacher’s guide contains lesson plans for each reading. The plans include focus activities, discussion questions with suggested answers, step-by-step instructions for interactive activities, and debriefing questions and suggestions.
The student text begins with a reading on how the Supreme Court works. The book continues with readings on important cases such as: Marbury v. Madison (1803) | McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) | Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) | Brown v. Board of Education (1954) | Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) | Miranda v. Arizona (1966) | U.S. v. Nixon (1974) | Regents of UC v. Bakke (1978) | Texas v. Johnson (1989) | Bush v. Gore (2000)
The third volume of the Challenge series, this 72-page supplementary text provides an in-depth look at issues of racial and ethnic diversity in the United States. The book is divided into five units:
Unit 1: The Ideal of Equality focuses on the constitutional and legal doctrines that developed to ensure minority groups equal protection under the law.
Unit 2: A Diverse Nation provides a brief historical review of the experiences and struggles of various ethnic groups during the 19th and first half of the 20th century.
Unit 3: Civil Rights Movement covers the turbulent period between 1954 and 1975 that changed America forever. It examines the social protests, landmark Supreme Court decisions, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Mexican-American activism.
Unit 4: Issues and Policies explores current issues of diversity —affirmative action, bilingual education, multiculturalism, reparations, hate crimes, and the extent of progress in race relations.
Unit 5: Bringing Us Together tells of governmental and grassroots efforts to bring people together and provides students with ideas and resources for service-learning projects.
A separate teacher’s guide provides instructions for interactive lessons based on the text. Also included are Civil Conversations on provocative issues, Diversity Checklists showing students how to approach issues of diversity, and Profiles of important historical and contemporary figures.
Fully illustrated with photos and cartoons
Perfect for 19th and 20th century U.S. history, government and civics, contemporary-problems, and law-related courses
Each lesson linked to civics and U.S. history standards
Project History is a new and exciting way to teach standards-based U.S. history to middle-school students. Each lesson features:
A reading based on a middle-school U.S. history standard.
Questions to engage students in a discussion.
A product-based activity that helps students delve more deeply into the reading and develop critical thinking skills.
Six standards-based, interactive lessons:
1: Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence examines the key ideas about government expressed in this document and how Americans value these ideas today.
2: The Federalist Papers looks at the ideas behind the Constitution and the role of leaders in writing the Federalist Papers and fighting for the ratification of the Constitution.
3: Slavery in the American South examines the economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery in the American South after 1800.
4: How the Women's Rights Movement Began traces the beginnings of the women's rights movement and the leadership role women played in antebellum reform movements.
5: Black Soldiers in Union Blue looks at how African Americans struggled for the right to fight with the Union Army in the Civil War and the effect that black soldiers and regiments had on the war and the American people.
6: Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Monopoly focuses on John D. Rockefeller and the development of the Standard Oil Trust to explore the changing social and political conditions in the United States during the Industrial Age.
Also included are Hands-On History Projects. These long-term projects give students an opportunity to pursue a U.S. history topic in depth and also serve as an exciting introduction to History Day. Project History includes four Hands-On History Projects:
Leaders Forum. Students portray American leaders who meet to discuss issues in U.S. history from the perspective of the leaders they are portraying.
History Network Newscast. Students create news-format presentations describing an event in U.S. history, its background, causes, consequences, and significance.
American History Museum Exhibit. Students create an exhibit using visuals and narrative descriptions.
Project History Book. Students create an alphabetically arranged "encyclopedia" defining, illustrating, and describing the significance of words or phrases from U.S. history.
Project History Web Links: The CRF web site (www.crf-usa.org) supports each Project History lesson with online links to focused readings and other resources.
Foundations of Freedom A Living History of our Bill of Rights By John H. Rhodehamel, Stephen Rhode, and Paul Von Blum
Grades 9-12
Foundations of Freedom traces the evolving history of the Bill of Rights. It begins at the Magna Carta and goes through the colonial period leading to the drafting of the Bill of Rights. It then follows the significant 19th and 20th century Supreme Court cases, constitutional amendments, and laws that helped the Bill of Rights develop. This lively narrative chronicles the events, issues, and people shaping the Bill of Rights and sets them against an impressive collection of photographs, illustrations, political cartoons, and primary source reproductions. Special features in each chapter highlight important people, events, and Supreme Court decisions.
Extensive teacher guides with lesson plans, discussion questions, and interactive activities
Foundations of Freedom
Letters of Liberty A Documentary History of the U.S. Constitution By John H. Rhodehamel
Grades 8-12
This beautifully illustrated text records the history and development of the U.S. Constitution through reproductions of original documents, portraits, maps, and personal letters of the founders. A concise narrative gives students background information for understanding the historical context of the documents.
Extensive teacher guides with lesson plans, discussion questions, and interactive activities
Letters of LibertyAdventures in Law and History 2nd Edition
Adventures in Law and History Upper-Elementary Grades Take your students on a trip through time to learn about law and civic education through motivating, interactive lessons. Adventures in Law and History Volumes I & II provide upper-elementary teachers with lessons set in American historical eras that introduce law-related concepts including the purpose and function of law, equal protection, and due process. Created in collaboration with elementary teachers, the curriculum provides role plays, simulations, readers theaters and other interactive methods to engage students in learning about history and law and to foster critical-thinking and cooperative-learning skills.
Each unit begins with an introductory lesson to provide students with historical background, followed by a sequence of lessons that send students on an imaginary voyage to the time period. Your students will grapple with law-related issues as they encounter fictional and historical characters and events that require them to apply problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. Each unit culminates with a lesson linking the historical and law-related content to the present and an activity providing an opportunity to engage youth in a service-learning project to build civic responsibility skills.
Both volumes of this illustrated curriculum feature step-by-step teaching procedures and reproducible worksheet and activity masters.
Adventures in Law and History I: Native Americans, the Spanish Frontier, and the Gold Rush
With introductory lessons for each unit to provide students with standards-based historical background.
Unit I: Students visit a Native American Chumash village and discover how rules and laws derived from myth and tradition help the Indians govern tribal life and resolve conflicts.
Unit II: Students meet Luisa, a girl living in a pueblo on the Spanish frontier. There, they explore the concept of property and how law helps resolve conflicts over property.
Unit III: Students experience a hypothetical mining camp in the Gold Rush era and discover what life might be like without effective authority. Students examine the role of the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary.
Adventures in Law and History II: Coming to America, Colonial America, and the Revolutionary Era
With standards-based introductory lessons for each unit to provide students with historical background.
Unit I: Using the methods of historiography, students trace the immigrant origins of five families whose ancestors came to America seeking opportunity and freedom and struggled for equality.
Unit II: Students, through the magic of time travel, visit a hypothetical New England village of the Colonial era and learn essential lessons about due process.
Unit III: Students explore the concepts of authority by helping a tired king rule his kingdom and view the causes of the American Revolution through the eyes of Bostonians as the colonies move toward independence.
Unit IV: Students learn about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship by helping Mr. Madison draft the Bill of Rights and also about the appropriate limits of those rights. Adventures in Law
publications 
Our most popular publication, Criminal Justice in America has been completely revised and updated. New and revised readings, updated statistics, and expanded case studies make the Fourth Edition of Criminal Justice in America the best resource for bringing current criminal-justice issues into your classroom. This Internet-supported text is perfect for an entire law-related education course or as a supplement for civics, government, or contemporary-issues courses. Its extensive readings are supported by:
CityWorks is a standards-based, local government curriculum designed to fit into any civics or government class. An independent, multi-year, research-based study released in 2002 concluded that classes using CityWorks improved student knowledge of both regular and local government and helped prepare students for effective citizenship by increasing student civic competencies as compared to students in traditional government courses.CityWorks provides interactive lessons in which students become citizens of the fictional city of Central Heights to learn about issues of state and local government and practice critical-thinking skills. Along the way they take on the role of local political leaders and active citizens to address political and social issues facing the community.The curriculum has two elements:
The fourth and final volume in the Challenge series, The Challenge of Governance is designed to help students gain proficiency in meeting the National Standards for Civics and Government. This 72-page supplementary text provides 16 lessons. Each lesson has four parts:(1) a short reading reviewing one to four standards, (2) discussion questions based on the standards, (3) a high-interest reading based on an issue related to the standards, and (4) an interactive activity designed to foster intellectual and participatory skill development. The 16 lessons are:
The second volume of the Challenge series, this 72-page supplementary text examines issues surrounding information and the media. This high-interest book is divided into five units:
The first volume of the Challenge series, this 72-page supplementary text challenges students to grapple with one of America’s most vexing problems. The book is divided into three units:
Mock Trials take students to the heart of the justice system. Students acquire critical-thinking skills and an in-depth understanding of our judicial process as they study a hypothetical case, conduct legal research, and role play the trial. Each Mock Trial packet includes a hypothetical case, witness statements, legal authorities, trial instructions, and procedural guidelines. It also includes a pretrial motion, designed to deepen student understanding of constitutional issues related to criminal trials.
Grades 4-12
Grades 3-6
Grades 5-9
Grades 5–9
For ESL students and students reading below grade level Perfect for sheltered English classes, It's Yours: The Bill of Rights offers eight units of interactive lessons on U.S. government and the Bill of Rights. This illustrated supplement focuses on the structure of U.S. government, the rights of free speech, equal protection, religion, and the rights of the accused. Carefully designed activities, reasoning exercises, and questions help students acquire language facility as they apply the Bill of Rights to situations relevant to their lives. A teacher's guide provides instructions for structuring lessons and utilizing outside resource persons.
ACT Handbook for Teachers 
Citizenship Mini-Lessons provide 14 interactive lessons on citizenship knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors. Every lesson can be taught in sequence or on an occasional basis. Each takes just one class period. Teacher materials include complete instructions for the lessons. Each lesson comes with a one-page student handout, which has a brief introduction, a short reading, an explanation of the activity, and discussion questions.Mini-Lesson topics include: • Opinion polling 
Civic Action Guide
This version of CityYouth contains 32 sequential, developmental lessons organized around four themes: Crime & Safety, Harmony, Health & Well-Being, and Environment. The lessons include readings, role plays, and simulations that help students use higher-level thinking skills to identify and analyze issues in their own school and community. In addition, CityYouth guides students toward applying the concepts and skills they learn while they plan, complete, and evaluate service-learning projects. CityYouth: Today’s Communities is used in the regular middle-school classroom and has also been successfully implemented as an after-school and core-advisory curriculum.
This four-unit version of CityYouth is designed to support a U.S. history course of study. Each of the four units contains lessons set in a historical era that introduce a theme students will explore and analyze. Multidisciplinary lessons provide depth and contemporization of the theme and guide students toward applying what they learn through service-learning projects.
CRF's new CityYouth: Ancient History provides teachers with 13 social studies lessons and related lesson ideas for core teachers of language arts, mathematics, and science. It integrates civic participation and service learning into the regular curriculum. Its four units focus on ancient history and can culminate in a service project. CityYouth: Ancient History is divided into four units.
Youth and Police is the perfect way to educate about the law, improve police-community relations, and involve middle-school youth in service-learning activities to improve public safety-all in one comprehensive package. This multi-dimensional curriculum contains five core and five extension interactive lessons and comes with reproducible handout masters. The core sequence features a two-day lesson sequence on the development of the modern police force, a two-day simulation on issues of school safety, and an adaptation of CRF's renowned Police Patrol simulation. Then, working together with community police or school officers, students create and conduct their own service-learning project to improve community-police relations and neighborhood safety. The extension lessons promote critical-thinking skill development by involving students in examining laws and policies that affect law enforcement. Topics covered include the use of force, the laws of arrest and search, the Miranda rule, and police governance and discipline.
Simulation for 20-35 players 
Election Central engages students in learning about campaigns for political office. The standards-based curriculum consists of five interactive activities, putting students in the roles of candidates, campaign staff, and community members.
Historical and Current Issues of Immigration 2nd Edition
What can a democracy do to protect itself? Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, Americans must confront troubling issues about terrorism. Terrorism in America provides current and historical perspectives on these issues. Terrorism in America includes interactive lessons on:
From the Ancient World to the Renaissance
From Elizabethan England to the Modern Age 
Grades 9–12
The third volume of the Challenge series, this 72-page supplementary text provides an in-depth look at issues of racial and ethnic diversity in the United States. The book is divided into five units:
A Living History of our Bill of Rights By John H. Rhodehamel, Stephen Rhode, and Paul Von Blum
A Documentary History of the U.S. Constitution By John H. Rhodehamel 
Adventures in Law and History I: Native Americans, the Spanish Frontier, and the Gold Rush
Unit I: Using the methods of historiography, students trace the immigrant origins of five families whose ancestors came to America seeking opportunity and freedom and struggled for equality.