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Teaching Church and State

The separation of history and boredom.

  • Activities: 5
  • Quiz Questions: 38

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You put church on this side of the room and state on the other. Bam. They're separated. That was an easy lesson, right?

Okay, you know it's a lot more difficult than that, and it's up to you to break down the complex dynamic between freedom of religion and the U.S. Constitution. Before you do, check out this guide, which includes

  • links to modern news stories in which the battle between church and state still rages on.
  • discussion questions about religion vs. the First Amendment.
  • lots of assignments, including ones that analyze quotes from historical figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Darwin.

Now there's no excuse to separate a good discussion from your class.

What's Inside Shmoop's Civics Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring civics to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 4-10 Common Core-aligned activities (including quotation, image, and document analysis) to complete in class with your students, with detailed instructions for you and your students. 
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes to be sure students are looking at the material through various lenses.
  • Resources to help make the topic feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop’s teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the topic and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching Church and State?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: Politicians, parents, and school officials have debated school vouchers for more than 50 years, but as of 2016, only 13 states and the District of Columbia provided state-funded vouchers to qualifying students. 

In this exercise your students will join this debate and explore the issue both from an educational and First Amendment perspective.

Length of Lesson: 1-2 class periods.

Materials Needed:

  • Sample Debate Formats from Glen Whitman of CSUN
  • Shmoop's Supreme Court and School Vouchers page
  • Americans United School Vouchers & Government Subsidies of Religious Schools page
  • National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) page on School Vouchers

Step One: Let your students know they're going to be participating in a debate on the following resolution.

Resolved: Voucher programs threaten American education and violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

Step Two: Ensure everyone has the same background information to start. You can do this by reviewing Shmoop's Supreme Court and School Vouchers page. 

Step Three: After reviewing the issue, take a quick class poll to see how many people agree with the resolution and how many disagree. Take a count and write it down for future reference. You'll need it at the end of the activity.

Step Four: Divide students into two teams and go over the debate format with them. You an come up with your own format or adapt one of these sample formats. 

Step Five: Review the resolution and point out to your students that they will need to address two issues regarding vouchers: 

  1. How do they affect American education?
  2. Are they constitutional.

And one more thing...

Remind your students that although the Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that Cleveland’s voucher program constitutional, that ruling addressed a specific program and did not close the book entirely on the question. Neither side should approach the resolution as though it is already decided.

Step Six: Give students 30 minutes or so to research and prepare their arguments. The following resources may come in handy as they prepare.

  • Americans United School Vouchers & Government Subsidies of Religious Schools page
  • National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) page on School Vouchers

Step Seven: Debate time! 

Step Eight: Following the debate, take another poll to see if the count has changed at all. If it has, ask students to explain what points in particular swayed them.

(Lesson aligned with CA 12th grade American government standards 12.2.1, 12.2.5, 12.5.1, 12.10)

Instructions for Your Students

As far as debates go, this isn't one: 

  • "Am not!"
  • "Are too!"
  • "Am not!"
  • "Are too!"

But we've all had one like that, haven't we?

Well, not today. Today, you'll use bigger words and make better arguments as you debate... school vouchers!

Step One: Like we said, today you're going to be participating in a debate on school vouchers. Here's the resolution you'll be either supporting or opposing.

Resolved: Voucher programs threaten American education and violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

Step Two: Before you get started, make sure everyone has the same background information. You can do this by reviewing Shmoop's Supreme Court and School Vouchers page with your teacher and classmates. 

Step Three: After reviewing the issue, take a quick class poll to see how many people agree with the resolution and how many disagree. Take a count and write it down for future reference. You'll need it for comparison at the end of the activity.

Step Four: With your teacher's help, divide into two teams. Your teacher will then go over the debate format with you. 

Psst! It will probably follow one of these sample formats—most likely the Team Policy style. 

Step Five: Review the resolution one more time, keeping in mind that your team will need to address two issues regarding vouchers: 

  1. How do they affect American education?
  2. Are they constitutional.

And one more thing. Remember: 

Even though the Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that Cleveland’s voucher program constitutional, that ruling addressed a specific program and did not close the book entirely on the question. Neither side should approach the resolution as though it is already decided.

Step Six: Take about 30 minutes or so to research and prepare your arguments. Be sure you have statements prepared for each section of the debate. The following resources may come in handy:

  • Americans United School Vouchers & Government Subsidies of Religious Schools page
  • National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) page on School Vouchers

Step Seven: Debate time! 

Step Eight: After the debate, take another poll to see if the count has changed at all. If it has, ask your classmates to explain what points in particular swayed them. Be sure to share your thoughts as well.