When the Texas state legislature passed a law in the 1970s allowing school districts to deny enrollment or charge tuition to illegal immigrant children, the Tyler Independent School District instituted a $1,000 tuition rate for illegal immigrant children. Sixteen undocumented children from four Mexican families in Tyler filed a class-action suit…

Discusses the role of social technology in the elementary social studies curriculum. Describes three strategies designed to enhance the social and emotional well-being of students. Explains the Magic Circle, dilemma discussions, and role playing. Suggests that such social technology methods of teaching will teach students to behave responsibly…

Presents a lesson designed for secondary economics classes. Students role play adults in selected occupations, create personal budgets, and make investment and savings decisions. Student directions and questions are included. (CFR)

Describes a five-day instructional unit designed for seventh and eighth graders about the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Points out that the individual rights in the First Amendment often conflict with the rights of the majority. Provides student questions and suggestions for resources and activities. (CFR)

Suggests energy-related activities that represent different instructional approaches and can be adapted for different age levels. Includes library research, debates, role playing, games, and mock trials. Offers questions to be used in connection with the activities. Examines the future of energy use and international inequality of use. (DK)

Discusses the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project, a network of students, educators, industry representatives, and community and government leaders that work to combat energy ignorance. Describes NEED's philosophy of energy education. Explains that NEED includes activities simulating Senate hearings, television talk shows, and…

Describes a technique to teach students about U.S. society that involves: assigning each person an imaginary occupation and family statistics. Students attend a mock 20-year high school class reunion. The class discussion that follows this activity explores group dynamics and social patterns that evolve along class lines. (GG)

Describes a two or three-class period length secondary simulation exercise designed to teach about federalism and the system of checks and balances. Provides a list of the roles to assigned to or picked by students. Includes models of two bills to be submitted to Congress during the simulation. (CFR)

Demonstrates how role-playing in a mock trial situation allows children to view critically both sides of an issue and introduce them to trial procedure. Offers pre-trial activities, ways to teach students to see both sides of a situation, themes for mock trials, and supporting resources. (GG)

Presents a high school unit about the U.S. Industrial Revolution featuring the Boott Cotton Mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. Includes student objectives, step-by-step instructional procedures, and discussion questions. Provides two maps, five illustrations, one photograph, and three student readings. (ACM)

Describes a class simulation designed to enhance student awareness of social classes in Latin America. Notes that students learn how these groups function within their social and economic milieu. Includes detailed instruction for simulation procedure and roles that students play. Students become aware of inequities, the role of supply and demand,…

Notes that teachers can make writing assignments more acceptable by using innovative techniques. Suggests that using letter writing for research projects is a good motivational technique. Asks students to assume roles of persons of a specific historical period and write from the first-person perspective. Includes sample letter. (NL)

Presents a classroom lesson based on the Civil War prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia. Includes drawings, three maps, two photographs, and two student readings from the National Register of Historic Places registration file on the Andersonville National Historic Site. (CFR)

Presents two activities from an "Idea Bank for Teaching Germany and Europe U.S. Classrooms K-12." Includes a role playing exercise involving significant individuals from European history and a student project involving cooperative learning about individual European nations. Provides an address for obtaining a free copy of the "Idea…

Uses the "Westside Community Schools" case that involved religious freedom to illustrate using mediation as a form of conflict resolution. Provides instructions to the teacher and a sketch of participants' roles in simulation role-play exercise. Lists additional resources on religious freedom and conflict resolution. (DB)