Top Teaching Resources of 2025
January 5, 2026
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“Both my seniors in my Constitutional Law elective and my 8th graders in US history LOVE a Street Law lesson, especially the moot courts! They clamor for them… .”
Ginger A. Washington, D.C., Educator
Street Law, Inc.’s classroom-ready resources are trusted by social studies educators nationwide, with more than 800 free materials on law, government, and civics. In 2025 alone, Street Law resources were downloaded over 300,000 times—clear evidence of their value and reach in classrooms across the country.
To kick off 2026, Street Law is spotlighting its top resources of 2025: the tried-and-true picks educators return to when they want to spark discussion, boost engagement, and help students wrestle with the legal and civic questions shaping democracy today.
These resources reflect what educators found most valuable in a year defined by renewed attention to constitutional powers, civil rights, and democratic discourse.
LandmarkCases.org
Top Case: Brown v. Board of Education
Supreme Court cases shape American democracy in profound ways, and Brown v. Board of Education is among the most enduring. In 2025, it once again topped the list of most-used LandmarkCases.org resources.
Like every case on the site, Brown supports learning through case summaries, differentiated readings, vocabulary supports, graphic organizers, key excerpts from the Court’s 1954 and 1955 opinions. Student-centered activities help learners understand the legal reasoning and enduring legacy of the decision.
We Also Recommend… While lesser known, educators looking to build students’ understanding of federal power and constitutional limits should explore Gibbons v. Ogden and Schenck v. United States. Though more than a century old, these cases continue to frame modern debates about interstate commerce, free speech, and national security.
LegalTimelines.org
Top Timeline: Presidential Powers
In a year marked by heightened public attention to executive authority, it’s no surprise that the Presidential Powers Timeline emerged as LegalTimelines.org’s most-used resource.
This timeline traces how presidential authority has been defined, expanded, contested, and constrained over time—from early foundations like the Magna Carta to modern debates over executive actions and war powers. Paired with classroom-ready Inquiry Packs and graphic organizers, the resource helps students analyze primary sources use them to construct evidence-based answers to inquiries about the scope and limits of presidential power.
Top Inquiry Pack: Executive Orders
The Inquiry Packs on LegalTimelines.org allow students to dive deeper into timeline themes by investigating primary sources to answer a focused inquiry question. In 2025, the most popular Inquiry Pack examined Executive Orders, asking: Under what circumstances should presidents be able to use executive orders to avoid the need for congressional approval?
We Also Recommend… LegalTimelines.org’s Suffrage Timeline and Inquiry Packs, which help students trace how voting rights expanded—and were resisted—over time by analyzing key moments and primary sources about who gets a voice in democracy.
Resource Library
Top Resource: The Classroom Guide to Mock Trials
Year after year, the Classroom Guide to Mock Trials remains one of Street Law’s most popular resources—and 2025 was no exception.
This comprehensive 11-lesson guide equips teachers to run engaging courtroom simulations, walking students through every stage of the trial process. With mock trials at three levels of complexity—simple, moderate, and challenging—the guide is flexible enough to support a wide range of learners.
Through mock trials, students sharpen critical thinking, public speaking, collaboration, and legal reasoning skills, while gaining practical insight into how the justice system works.
We Also Recommend… Be sure to check out the Making of a Jury: Voir Dire lesson within the Classroom Guide to Mock Trials. It immerses students in a hands-on jury selection simulation and invites reflection on fairness, bias, and the challenge of ensuring an impartial jury.
Top SCOTUS in the Classroom Case: TikTok Inc. v. Garland
This high-profile clash between free speech and national security ranked at the top of our most popular resources in 2025. TikTok Inc. v. Garland asked: Does the TikTok ban violate the First Amendment?
Each Supreme Court term, Street Law selects a small number of significant cases for SCOTUS in the Classroom. For each case, Street Law provides classroom-ready, expert-reviewed case materials, and teachers are encouraged to conduct moot courts during the same week the case is argued before the Supreme Court. This approach gives students a rare opportunity to engage with a live constitutional question in real time.
We Also Recommend… The Classroom Guide to Moot Courts, a comprehensive resource that provides a detailed framework for conducting moot courts. It’s an ideal companion to our SCOTUS in the Classroom case materials. (A new lesson—Lesson 9: Analyzing Oral Argument Questions—was recently added, so be sure to download the most recent version of the guide!)
Top Contested Issues Discussion Strategy Resource: Hate Speech Deliberation
Street Law’s Hate Speech Deliberation (with middle school and high school versions available) was the most popular contested issues discussion strategy of 2025, reflecting educators’ need for structured tools to support difficult but essential classroom conversations.
Centered on the question “Should hate speech be banned in our democracy?” this Deliberation includes a balanced reading, glossary, and step-by-step handouts that guide students through preparation, discussion, and reflection. The result is a classroom experience that emphasizes evidence, multiple perspectives, and respectful dialogue aimed at finding common ground.
We Also Recommend… In addition to dozens of Deliberations, Street Law offers resources for two additional discussion strategies: Socratic Seminar and Take a Stand (TAS). As a starting point, explore the elementary-level Take a Stand Lesson on regulating non-human cloning and our high school-level Socratic Seminar on the “shipwrecked sailors” case. Both TAS and Deliberations come with short instructional videos on how to facilitate them. These activities put learners in the driver’s seat as they weigh complex ethical questions and defend their reasoning with evidence.
Honorable Mention
Legal Life Skills Curriculum
As a bonus suggestion beyond Street Law’s most-downloaded classroom favorites, the Legal Life Skills curriculum offers an intentionally practical, ready-to-teach program that helps learners build real-world legal knowledge and the confidence to navigate everyday challenges.
Designed as a 20-lesson library (with facilitator support and optional slide decks), the curriculum spans housing and employment law, financial literacy, personal and public safety, and the court system and civic engagement. It is a strong fit for advisory, alternative education, reentry programs, and community-based learning spaces. (Teacher licenses are available for $50; a sample lesson on Rights and Responsibilities in the Workplace is available to preview.)
The resources highlighted here offer a snapshot of what educators used in 2025—but they represent only a portion of Street Law’s full suite of resources, including its Resource Library, textbooks, and educational websites. Throughout the year, Street Law continues to develop, update, and release new classroom-ready materials that respond to current events, educator feedback, and the evolving needs of students and schools.
From simulations to case study activities to discussion strategies, Street Law’s resources support high-quality civic and law-related education across grade levels and learning contexts. Explore the full library—and return often—as new tools and teaching supports are added throughout the year.
