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This guide focuses on the history of free speech in one crucial year (1919), exploring how one influential Supreme Court justice changed his mind about the value of antiwar speech and in the process wrote opinions that have shaped our attitudes to free speech ever since. It provides students an opportunity to see the First Amendment evolve at a crucial hinge in its history, and it also provides them an opportunity to think about how far the rights to free speech should extend during wartime.

Free Speech Teaching Guide 1: The Birth of the Modern First Amendment and How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind
In Teaching Guides
Photo, "The Browning school. . . ," March 1915, Lewis Wickes Hine, LoC

Looking for history right where you are. You'd be surprised how inspiring local history can be.

History is All Around Us
In Ask a Master Teacher

Discover alternatives to writing based student activities. Why not encourage your students to make a graphic organizer or physical model to demonstrate understanding?

Using Non-Linguistic Representations to Strengthen Historical Thinking
In English Language Learners

Spotlight on Elementary Education

History is made by those who are unafraid to push the envelope and redefine the society in which they live. Encourage your students to examine the men and women who worked to make America what it is today with this creative activity. FIND OUT MORE »

Lesson Plan Reviews

Evaluate key elements of effective teaching Watch the INTRODUCTORY VIDEO
What Events Led to Lincoln's Assassination?

Elementary students investigate the first presidential assassination and [...] »

The Multiple Dilemmas of Abraham Lincoln

An interactive exploration of the decisions Abraham Lincoln had to make [...] »

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English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Scaffolding with Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are helpful for students with limited English proficiency [...] »

Supporting Text Comprehension and Vocabulary Development Using WordSift
screen shot-wordshift home page

Help English learners understand basic concepts with this interactive tool [...] »

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Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Using Historical Ephemera in the Classroom

Ticket stubs. Report cards. Photographs. All of these things have historical [...] »

Students Working in Local Historic Preservation

Engage your students in preserving local history! Use this teacher's [...] »

Four Reads: Learning to Read Primary Documents

Teach your students to read like a historian with this guided four-step [...] »

Applying KWL Guides to Sources with Elementary Students

To engage with a source, ask, "What do I know, what do I want [...] »

Webquest, Inquiry, and Lincoln’s Views on Technology

Searching for new, exciting ways to engage your students in the classroom? [...] »

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Ask a Master Teacher

Historic Stories, Fictional Accounts: Achieving Multiperspectivity
Photography, Guy Reads, 29 March 2010, Flickr CC

Nonfiction texts are great sources for learning about historical events and [...] »

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