About This Lesson
In this 90 minute lesson, students will develop SEL skills like social-awareness, relationship building, and decision making. Students will work cooperatively to analyze an article about the Kansas-Nebraska Act (two versions included for differentiation purposes), and how it relates to the concept of popular sovereignty. Students will have a vocabulary review about popular sovereignty, as a key principle of the US Constitution. There will be a debate about whether or not popular sovereignty should be used to solve issues, after analyzing the events of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Students will articulate their feeling about the debate verbally, and write a persuasive claim paragraph on the topic. Students will evaluate their SEL skills and group participation, with included handouts and rubrics. This lesson is aligned to the Common Core Standards for History/Social Studies and the Ohio State Standards for American Government.
