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Constitution 101 Curriculum
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Article III of the Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the national government, which is responsible for interpreting the laws. At the highest level, the judicial branch is led by the U.S. Supreme Court, which consists of nine Justices. In the federal system, the lower courts consist of the district courts and the courts of appeals. Federal courts—including the Supreme Court—exercise the power of judicial review. This power gives courts the authority to rule on the constitutionality of laws passed (and actions taken) by the elected branches. The Constitution also promotes the principle of judicial independence—granting federal judges life tenure (meaning that they serve until they die, resign, or are impeached and removed from office).
Purpose
Article III of the Constitution establishes the national government’s judicial branch: the federal judiciary, headed by a single Supreme Court. In this activity, you will examine the current justices of the Supreme Court and learn how a Supreme Court nominee gets appointed to the Supreme Court.
Process
As a class, discuss what you know about the Supreme Court and what you want to know by the end of this module.
Next, review and discuss the Info Brief: SCOTUS Class Photos presentation.
Finally, read the Info Brief: Supreme Court document and complete the Activity Guide: Supreme Court worksheet.
Launch
Display the image of the Supreme Court for students to view. As a large group, review a simple K- W- L activity to start student discussion based on the following questions:
Next, review the presentation with students and have them complete the worksheet. Ask students to compare and contrast the images of the court over time.
Finally, have students read the Info Brief: Supreme Court document and complete the Activity Guide: Supreme Court worksheet. Have students share highlights with the class.
Activity Synthesis
Ask students to write three facts they learned about the Supreme Court and at least one question that they still have.
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of the nominating process, students may research the nomination and Senate hearings process for a recent Supreme Court justice.
Purpose
It is important to remember that Article III is a very short provision and doesn’t lay out many details about the Supreme Court and how it works—or even what the federal judiciary as a whole should look like. For example, it doesn’t set the number of Supreme Court justices, how many lower-court judges there should be in the federal judiciary, or when we should have any lower federal courts below the Supreme Court at all.
Furthermore, Article III can be a bit hard to understand without some background first. The basic ideas are simple enough, but the language is a bit more technical than other parts of the Constitution. In this activity, you will review the key terms of the module to help deepen your understanding of Article III.
Process
Complete the Activity Guide: Key Terms - Judicial System and Current Cases worksheet.
After your worksheet is complete, your teacher will guide you through a bingo game using the key terms and definitions of Module 9.
Launch
Begin the activity with key terms activity with the students. Have them review the definitions and answer questions. As a review, have students share their answers in the worksheet for all of the key terms. Finally, engage students in a fun, lighthearted activity of word bingo by reading the definitions of the terms. Have students build bingo sheets by placing the key terms on a bingo card or hand out premade cards. If your class needs more words for the bingo card, use a sampling of facts from the Info Brief: Supreme Court document. Don’t forget the FREE spot! If the students have the correct word, they’ll color, cover, or electronically mark in the box on their cards where the answer appears.
Activity Synthesis
Have students apply their knowledge of the terms. Read and mark up a current news article that uses the terms.
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of key terms about the judiciary, ask the following questions:
Purpose
The founders’ vision of judicial independence grew out of the colonists’ own experience under the British system. Judges were not independent within this system. Instead, colonial judges were seen as officers of the crown, who carried out the orders of the king and could be removed at his whim.
In this activity, you will learn more about the Founding generation’s original vision for the Supreme Court and the federal court system.
Process
Read Federalist No. 78 by Alexander Hamilton and complete the Activity Guide: The Federalist No. 78 worksheet.
Launch
The key arguments will fall under these big ideas:
Each argument must be summarized and at least one quote has to be used to cite as evidence.
Activity Synthesis
Have students discuss whether or not they agree with each argument Hamilton discusses in Federalist No. 78. Why, or why not?
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of the Founding generation's original vision of the judiciary, ask the following questions:
Purpose
In this activity, you will learn about the history of the Supreme Court.
Process
Watch the following video about the history of the Supreme Court.
Then, complete the Video Reflection: History of the Supreme Court worksheet.
Identify any areas that are unclear to you or where you would like further explanation. Be prepared to discuss your answers in a group and to ask your teacher any remaining questions.
Launch
Give students time to watch the video and answer the questions.
Activity Synthesis
Have students share their responses in small groups and then discuss as a class.
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of the history of the Supreme Court, ask the following questions:
Purpose
So, how does a constitutional case get to the Supreme Court? Someone—often a single person—goes to court and argues that a law, an arrest, or a regulation is in conflict with the Constitution. When this happens, they may eventually be able to petition the Supreme Court to hear their case. However, the Supreme Court has broad discretion to choose which cases it decides each year. The Supreme Court receives about 10,000 petitions per year, and only agrees to hear about 65 of them. That’s not a lot! In this activity, you will study a real case and analyze how it got to the Supreme Court.
Process
Begin by reading the Common Interpretation: Article III, Section 1 and the Info Brief: How Does a Case Get to the Supreme Court document for background information about Article III and the federal court system. Summarize by writing a paragraph how the judicial branch works today.
Next, work as a group to chart the path of a case to the Supreme Court. Your group will choose a historical case from the list of choices provided. Read about the case and work with your group to build a simple road map graphic to show the progression of this case to the Supreme Court. Be creative in your design. You can draw the path, sketch it out in a Word document, or use tools such as Piktochart.
Select a case from the historical case list.
Compare your roadmap to the one provided on how the typical case gets to the Supreme Court today.
Launch
Have students read Common Interpretation: Article III, Section 1 and Info Brief: How Does a Case Get to the Supreme Court. Then, discuss with students how the judicial branch works and how the cases start with We the People and get to the Supreme Court.
Activity Synthesis
As a final activity, have students select a historical court case to build their path to the Supreme Court infographic. Students should identify the typical path, short-cuts, and areas where cases get blocked by exploring data on how many cases are heard at each level of the court system and analyzing what are the criteria for cases to get past certain checkpoints.
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of how a case gets to the Supreme Court, ask the following questions:
Purpose
The Supreme Court’s term typically lasts from the first Monday of October to the end of June.
Opinions are released throughout the term, with the last of the opinions (often on the most important and controversial cases) coming out at the end of June—although there’s no deadline because the justices set their own schedule.
In this activity, you will explore some of the most significant cases that the Supreme Court heard last term.
Cases for 2021–2022 Term:
Process
After you review these three cases of the last term, use the information from the NCC website and SCOTUSblog to complete the Activity Guide: Supreme Court in Review worksheet.
Be prepared to share your briefs (explainers) you have developed in small groups.
Launch
Give students time to review three of the high-profile cases of the last term and write short briefs (explainers) for each case.
Activity Synthesis
Have students share their briefs with one another in small groups.
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of current Supreme Court cases, ask students to write a short opinion for the Supreme Court for one case based on the facts presented and the constitutional issues in question.
Purpose
Congratulations for completing the activities in this module! Now it’s time to apply what you have learned about the basic ideas and concepts covered.
Process
Complete the questions to test your knowledge.
Launch
This activity will help students determine their overall understanding of module concepts. It is recommended that questions are completed electronically so immediate feedback is provided, but a downloadable copy of the questions (with answer key) is also available.
Purpose
The Supreme Court can offer a model for how to offer arguments in a constructive, cooperative way so that people with opposing views can meaningfully listen to one another, consider different viewpoints, learn from one another, and possibly change positions or reach a compromise.
In this activity, you will explore the process for building consensus and the value of listening to arguments from other perspectives.
Process
Watch the Supreme Court Spotlight video from the National Constitution Center where U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer (Ret.) provides an insider perspective on what happens behind closed doors at the Supreme Court.
As you watch the video, record the following information:
Launch
Before you begin, have students think about an argument they’ve had recently and write down a few notes about it. Who was involved? What was the issue? Were you able to come to a resolution? Why? Why not? Share with the class if time permits.
Activity Synthesis
After viewing the video clip, students can share their 3-2-1 notes in their small group. Ask students to circle any ideas that are shared by more than one person. Have each group choose a representative to share out to the whole class. The teacher may choose to have different groups give their responses for only one aspect of the 3-2-1 notes. However, ask each group to share the one word that was repeated. This is powerful because the same word may be repeated many times signifying its importance. Encourage this because some students may be upset that another group already said their answer.
Activity Extension (optional)
Looking for more tools on civil dialogue practice in your classroom? Check out the civil dialogue toolkit and corresponding lessons.
The First Amendment protects some of our most cherished rights, including religious liberty, free speech, a free press, the right to assemble, and the right to petition our government for a redress of grievances. Together, these essential rights are connected to the freedom of conscience—protecting our ability to think as we will and speak as we think. As we examine the First Amendment’s text and history, we will explore debates over the First Amendment’s five freedoms, analyze landmark Supreme Court cases, and examine how the First Amendment has been used by ...
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