Justice Learning Navigational Guide for Teachers and Students

“This is a superlative site from world class sources – a must see for social studies teachers!” “A+”

-Education World

Civics Education in the Real World: JusticeLearning.org, brought to you by The New York Times Learning Network and NPR’s Justice Talking, offers students and teachers a multimedia introduction to headline issues and events related to law and justice – complete with free easy-to-use curricula and classroom resources.

Justice Learning challenges tradition by starting with issues that directly affect students’ lives. The site includes New York Times articles, audio from Justice Talking debates, and excerpts from speeches, testimony and policy papers from Congress, the courts, the presidency, the press and the schools. Students have direct access to analysis from the nation’s finest advocates and journalists.

How to use Justice Learning - Home Page

Main Menu The main navigation menu always appears on the left side of your browser as you click through the site. The links provide quick access to the main page, and every other aspect of the site.
Explore Issues Most of Justice Learning's web content is classified into broad topical categories or "Issues." Each issue module is a one-stop shop for an essential and balanced understanding of a controversial public policy issue. More often than not, these are issues with some pertinent Constitutional relevance. The Home Page displays a subset of active Justice Learning Issues. The top three positions always feature the newest Issues. The remaining Issues automatically cycle through the second tier on a weekly basis. You are always free to refer to additional Issues by clicking the "Click Here for More..." link. Each issue module contains links to "listen up" on the issue, read more and find additional primary source materials which will help you understand the topic.
Constitution Timeline In Justice Learning's Guide to the Constitution you can find in-depth materials on the Constitution, including the actual text of the document; an easy to understand guide to its meaning and historical timelines for each of the Amendments. From states rights to voting rights; freedom of speech to cruel and unusual punishment, the Constitution Guide explains it all. The historical timelines include links to actual New York Times articles describing events as they happened; full text of Supreme Court opinions, audio of Supreme Court arguments as well as other multi-media resources.
In Their Own Words This section presents primary source information about each issue from each of the institutions of democracy: The Congress, the Courts, the Presidency, the Press and the Schools. Find Presidential speeches; policy positions from members of Congress; Supreme Court decisions; and New York Times editorials here.
Do More The Do More section of the Justice Learning Home Page includes opportunities for educators and their classes to participate in Justice Learning sponsored events, curriculum development, and other featured activities. The content of this section will change from time to time as new programs are developed.

 

Menu Navigation

Each item in the main navigation menu provides a direct link from wherever in the site you happen to be to another major area.

  • Home takes you to the Justice Learning Home Page.
  • When your mouse rolls over the Issues menu item, a secondary "flyout" menu appears, listing the 7 most recent Issues, and a link to the Issue Archive.
  • Constitution Guide launches the Justice Learning Constitution Timeline in its own, separate browser window.
  • Teaching Materials takes you to a page filled with Lesson Plans and other educators' materials.
  • Clicking the Site Guide menu item will always bring you back to this tutorial section.
  • Related Products provides links to the Justice Talking and New York Times online storefronts.
  • About Us describes the Justice Learning project and provides contact information.

 

Partners:

The New York Times Learning Network
The New York Times Learning Network is a free service from NYTimes.com created for teachers, parents and students in grades 3-12. The site, updated Monday through Friday throughout the year, uses the day's New York Times to help bring current events into the classroom. Teachers and parents are equipped with daily lesson plans and an extensive lesson plan archive, News Snapshot mini-lessons, product reviews and family movie guides to help students learn about current events and other subject areas.


NPR's Justice Talking
Justice Talking engages listeners in timely, refreshingly honest discussion of the legal battles that are capturing our nation's attention. Each weekly program, moderated by veteran NPR correspondent Margot Adler, tackles tough, provocative issues with an intriguing mix of voices and opinions. Each program features the human story behind the topic, knowledgeable guests who present a wide range of views and challenging questions from Margot. The winner of over twenty national journalism awards in the past 5 years, Justice Talking is produced by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The program is distributed by NPR to stations nationwide and internationally via "NPR Worldwide" and Armed Forces Radio Network.