Starters Jonathan Milner Starters Jonathan Milner

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Critical Analysis

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” ― Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail.

  1. What is the main point Dr. King is making in this quote?

  2. Do you agree with Dr. King?

  3. What is an example of injustice in our world today and how does that injustice affect you?

  4. Explain whether it is true that we are all tied together and interconnected.

  5. Describe any example you can think of where we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality:

  6. Do you know why Dr. King was in the Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963?

  7. What was the most significant consequence of Dr. King’s lifework?

  8. What would Dr. King think about our world today?

  9. How are you celebrating Dr. King’s life on this holiday?

  10. The Declaration of Independence claims that, “All men are created Equal.” What would Dr. King say about the difference between the promise and that reality of equality in the United States today?

Learning Extension

One of the most important and moving letters in American history is Dr. King's brilliant and inspiring Letter from a Birmingham Jail. You can read it in a twenty minute sitting. You could even read it aloud to your class. We also have a great lesson on Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

Action Extension

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is not a day off, it’s a day on. Take part in the MLK Day of Service and share your story in class or online.

Visual Extension

Read More
Starters Jonathan Milner Starters Jonathan Milner

How much free speech do Americans want?

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, and your knowledge of American government and politics:

  1. In 2018 what percent of Americans said that the U.S. government should take steps to restrict false information online, even if it limits freedom of information?

  2. In 2023 what percent of Americans said that the U.S. government should take steps to restrict false information online, even if it limits freedom of information?

  3. Explain whether Americans would prefer that steps to restrict false information be taken by government or tech companies.

  4. Describe the change over time in Americans’ views about restricting false information.

  5. What best explains this change?

  6. Based on the visual below* how does party affiliation impact views on restriction of false information.

  7. AI has the ability to create and spread false information faster than ever. Explain whether you would support restricting the use of AI in 2024 campaigns and elections.

  8. Explain which of the following statements you agree with more: the U.S. government should take steps to restrict false information online, even if it limits freedom of information; or freedom of information should be protected, even if it means false information can be published.

  9. Imagine you were a lawyer arguing against a federal law that restricted false information online. What portion of the Bill of Rights would be the most support for your argument?

  10. Describe how you predict false information is going to impact the 2024 elections.

Learning Extension

Learn more AI deepfakes and hear one in this NPR story: How real is the threat of AI deepfakes in the 2024 election?

Action Extension

Contact your congressional representatives and let them know what you think about legislation to restrict false information.

Visual Extension*

Read More
US Government Jonathan Milner US Government Jonathan Milner

Of the 145 federal judges President Biden has appointed, what percent are women?

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:

  1. As of Nov. 5 – exactly a year before the 2024 presidential election – Biden had appointed 145 judges to the three main tiers of the federal judicial system: the district courts, the appeals courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. According to the data from the chart above, what percent of President Biden’s appointments to the federal judiciary are women?

  2. Describe the change over time in the percent of women appointed to the judiciary.

  3. How does party affiliation of presidents impact the percent of women they appoint to the judiciary?

  4. Based on your knowledge of American political parties, what explains that difference in percentage of judicial appointment?

  5. What president has appointed the highest percentage of women and the highest total of women to the judiciary in U.S. history?

  6. A student named Fritz said that the reason President Eisenhower didn’t appoint any women to the judiciary was because there weren’t any. Fritz is dumb and he’s been asked to think before he speaks. After Fritz was done, a student named Harlan went on to comment that the gender of a judge doesn’t matter because a male judge can just as easily give justice to a woman as a female judge. How do you respond to Harlan’s opinion?

  7. When former President Donald Trump left office in January, one of the most formidable aspects of his legacy was his imprint on the federal courts. In Trump’s four years in the White House, he appointed three Supreme Court justices, 54 appeals court judges and 174 district court judges, filling the judiciary with a raft of conservatives who were mostly white men. What is the most important consequence of Biden appointing a more diverse bench (federal court judges)?

  8. Half of Americans are women. Make a claim about whether having a more gender demographically representative court is good for the United States.

  9. Despite President Biden’s attempts to diversify the courts, as of 2022 Seventy percent of all sitting Article III federal judges were male. Based on your knowledge of American politics and the visual below,* how long do you imagine it will take for the courts to be evenly divided between men and women?

  10. When President Biden nominates someone for the federal courts, according to Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. freaking Constitution, who must approve that nominee?

Learning Extension

Read the entire Pew Research Report on gender and Biden judicial nominees. Then check out these fun facts:

  • Florence Allen was the first female to serve on an Article III appellate court. In 1909, she was the only woman in a class of some 100 students at the University of Chicago Law School. In 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt named her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

  • Burnita Shelton Matthews was the first woman to serve as a U.S. District Court judge. She was appointed in 1949 by President Harry S. Truman to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She went to law school at night at what would become George Washington University School of Law, earning LL.B and LL.M degrees. She also became a Master of Patent Law.

Action Extension

Contact President Biden or holler at him on Twitter @POTUS and share your opinion on his judicial nominations.

Visual Extension*

 
 
Read More
Jonathan Milner Jonathan Milner

How much does the average American know about government?

STOP: before reading further, take the Pew Research Center’s U.S. civic and political knowledge quiz and see how much you know about American government.

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, and your knowledge of American government and politics.

  1. What portion of Americans know who chooses the president if Electoral College is tied?

  2. Okay, smarty pants: Who chooses the president if Electoral College is tied?***

  3. What is the big story this data tells about Americans' political knowledge?

  4. How different do you imagine this information was 100 years ago and how different do you think this information will be in 20 years?

  5. Most Americans have a super computer in their pocket. We have more immediate access to information than at any time in human history. How has the smartphone revolution impacted Americans’ political knowledge.

  6. Some would argue that it does not really matter if a person knows the length of a Supreme Court term because that information can be found instantaneously online. In fact, we don’t need to know things now, just how to find information about those things. How do you respond to this argument?

  7. According to the visual below* how do political party affiliation, and age impact government knowledge?

  8. We will henceforth refer to the majority of Americans who cannot identify the length of a senate term as "low-information voters". Explain whether you want these "low information voters" to vote.

  9. Should we have a basic test of knowledge, such as, "Please name the party of your current representative. Please name the capital of the United States. Please count to three." in order for people to qualify to vote?

  10. How do you the public’s overall lack of knowledge about the government will impact the 2024 presidential campaign and election?

Learning Extension

Check out the Pew data about what Americans know about their government.

Action Extension

Take the Pew Research Center’s U.S. civic and political knowledge quiz and share your score with someone you trust. My score is below. I only had to take the same quiz 1776 times to pass!

Visual Extension*

Screen Shot 2018-01-24 at 2.05.05 PM.png
AP US Government and Politics
im_with_low_information_voter_mug-ra25e2d561c454e1890a94e5ca03d3243_kfpx2_324.jpg

***Answer: The U.S. House of Representatives!

Read More
Starters, GoPo Lessons Jonathan Milner Starters, GoPo Lessons Jonathan Milner

How many openly LGBTQ+ members Congress are there?

Critical Analysis

  1. According to the data from the visual above, what was the first year an out (someone who is publicly and openly) LGBTQ candidate won a seat in the U.S. House.

  2. According to the data from the graph above, as of 2023 what was the total number of out LGBTQ members of Congress.

  3. Based on the visual above, describe one trend in the data.

  4. What do you think best explains that change over time?

  5. Ed Koch (D) NY, Stewart McKinney (R) CT, and Barbara Jordan (D) TX, were all closeted (LGBTQ, but NOT out) representatives who served in the U.S. House in the 1970s. They were all posthumously (after their death) revealed to be LGBTQ. What about American political culture (general American political beliefs and values) and the U.S. political system explains why they chose to hide their sexual orientation in the 1970s and 1980s?

  6. The other day in class, a student named Beth said that sexual orientation of candidates doesn’t matter, and that people should vote for the best candidate, not just the one with the sexual orientation they prefer. Make a claim responding to Beth’s statement.

  7. More LGBTQ people ran for U.S. Congress in 2022 than in any other election cycle in U.S. history. At least 101 people ran for the U.S. Senate or U.S. House in 2022. Based on these numbers and the visual above, what portion of out LGBTQ candidates won in the 2022 midterm election.

  8. Based on the data from the visual below*, what demographic group is most supportive of LGBTQ candidates?

  9. Based on the visual above, how many openly LGBTQ members of congress do you predict there will be after the next election, in the 119th congress?

  10. The party affiliation of LGBTQ congressional candidates is listed below.* Why do you think there is such a huge gap in party affiliation of LGBTQ candidates?

Learning Extension

According to Out in American, there are currently 11 out LGBTQ members of the U.S. House and two out LGBTQ members of the U.S. There are over 10070 out elected officials nationwide.

Action Extension

Whatever your sexual orientation, take two minutes and register to vote online.

Visual Extension*

This lesson is here today but it will be gone tomorrow…unless you subscribe to our AP Government Archive.

Government Resources Archive
$15.00
Every month
$150.00
Every year

Our searchable archive of over 1000 lessons to build U.S. government and politics content knowledge and skills. Cancel at any time. Use promo code SIGNMEUP at checkout to get the first month of our monthly subscription for free!


✓ Free For Thirty Days. Cancel At Any Time
✓ Searchable archive of over 1000 U.S. government lessons
✓ Action-oriented, student-centered learning
Read More
Starters, GoPo Lessons Jonathan Milner Starters, GoPo Lessons Jonathan Milner

How Diverse is your School?

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, your big brain, the information provided and any links below:

  1. Based on the data from the chart above, what percentage of White students attend public schools where over half of the students are White?

  2. What racial or ethnic group in America is most likely to attend a school with students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds?

  3. Why do you think that even 50+ years after Brown v. Board, 78% of White students still go to majority White schools?

  4. Before Brown v. Board of Education (1954), by law, most students (especially students in the South) were forced to attend segregated schools. In fact, had the chart above existed in 1954, almost 100% for White and Black children would have gone to school with only students of their own racial and ethnic background. We are now over a half-century past Brown v. Board. What do you imagine the data from the chart above will look like in 50 more years?

  5. In 1896, in Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” (which meant segregation of schools, movie theaters, train cars, water fountains, swimming pools, and many public aspects of life) was constitutional. 58 years later, Brown v. Board struck down the Separate but Equal doctrine, ruling that segregation was unconstitutional. Upon what Constitutional basis did The Brown ruling rest?

  6. Many, but not all Americans supported the Plessy ruling and the American segregation of 1896. What had changed in American culture and society that led many Americans to oppose strict American racial segregation and apartheid by 1950.

  7. Imagine that you wanted to write an essay to argue that American schools should be more integrated. What principle of American government might support your argument for integrated schools?

  8. Imagine that you wanted to bring a suit to court to force American schools to be more integrated. What specific part of the Constitution would you use as the basis for an argument that the rights of American students are being violated.

  9. Describe the demographics of your current school and explain how it would fit on the chart above.

  10. Based on the data from the chart below* how has racial segregation changed over the past two decades and how does geography impact school segregation today?

Learning Extension

Read the entire Pew Report: U.S. public school students often go to schools where at least half of their peers are the same race or ethnicity.

Action Extension

Research the demographics of your school to see how they compare to the chart above. Share your findings with your local news outlet.

Visual Extension*

Read More
GoPo Lessons Jonathan Milner GoPo Lessons Jonathan Milner

Which spent more money in 2022: gun rights groups or gun control groups?

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, your big brain, the information provided and any links below:

  1. Companies, labor unions, trade associations and other influential organizations spend billions of dollars each year to lobby Congress and federal agencies to try to achieve their organizations’ goals. In 2022 how much more did gun rights groups spend lobbying (trying to persuade) politicians than gun control groups spent?

  2. Between 1998 and 2022, in how many years did gun rights groups outspend gun control groups in spending on lobbying? (Include gun manufacturing spending - as shown in the final column- as money for gun rights).

  3. In your lifetime, approximately how much money has been spent on lobbying on both sides of the gun argument.

  4. Describe the overall trend in spending on gun lobbying.

  5. Explain the cause of that trend.

  6. Make a claim about whether gun manufacturing spending (as shown in the final column) was spent for the gun rights side or for the gun control side.

  7. 81% of Americans told Pew Research Center in 2021 that they support gun control measures such as expanding background checks to include private firearm sales and purchases at gun shows, including a majority of Republican respondents. Preventing individuals with mental illnesses from purchasing guns is also supported by the vast majority of people on both sides of the political spectrum. Based on the fact that 81% of Americans support stricter gun laws, do you believe they will get stricter gun laws?

  8. In a 5 to 4 ruling in McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the Supreme Court ruled that because the right to self-defense is a "fundamental" and "deeply rooted" right, strict gun control measures (such as a Chicago handgun ban) violate an individual's right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. How will this ruling limit the impact of lobbying for stricter gun control.

  9. Passing legislation is hard to do and the law making process contains many veto points (places where a bill can be stopped). Identify two places in the legislative process where proposed gun legislation could potentially be stopped.

  10. Explain how party affiliation (as shown in the two visuals directly below*) impacts the gun funds received by politicians.

Visual Extension*

Learning Extension

Read this Open Secrets report on money in gun policy.

Action Extension

Imagine you were a citizen who had strong opinions about gun laws. Make a list of three things political actions you could take regarding guns and gun laws and rank them in order of political efficacy (effectiveness). Take one action this week and share your action with class.

Read More