Presented is a list of resources on the U.S. Constitution for elementary and secondary schools. Listed alphabetically and topically, the resources include organizations which provide classroom materials, teacher training, and other services. Included are special sections on the cultural and political contexts of the bicentennial, women and the…

Designed for use at the high school level, this textbook is organized around four key ideas central to the U.S. Constitution: authority, privacy, responsibility, and justice. A knowledge of these ideas is necessary to understand the foundations of U.S. government and to evaluate important differences between a constitutional democracy and a…

Describes a course on the tension between individual rights and the powers of government. Explores the differences between the Anti-Federalists and Federalists conceptions of rights and the role of government. Discusses contemporary problems of rights as limits to democratic outcomes. Questions the traditional interpretations of the U.S.…

Examines the origins of the U. S. Bill of Rights and constitutional guarantees, focusing on trial rights, tracing them to English antecedents and the colonial period. Explains changes in understanding and the application of trial rights, highlighting the U.S. Supreme Court's evolving influence since the nineteenth century. Outlines contemporary…

This teaching guide accompanies a curriculum, intended to be used in the upper elementary grades, that introduces students to the study of constitutional government in the United States. It is designed to help students understand the most important ideas of the constitutional system and how they were developed, and to provide them with a knowledge…

This curriculum presents lessons and materials designed to teach immigrant students their rights and responsibilities under the U.S. legal system. The lessons employ interactive strategies, and develop higher order thinking skills as they foster English language learning. The curriculum contains eight units: (1) "Roots of Rights: Introduction…

Materials, activities, and lesson plans for educating middle school students about the law and the legal system are presented. Materials for the sixth grade are contained in six sections: (1) Prehistoric Man; (2) Ancient Civilizations; (3) Ancient Greece; (4) Ancient Rome; (5) Medieval Civilizations; and (6) the Renaissance. Grade 7 has three…

This curriculum guide contains teacher-prepared elementary school lesson plans on the U.S. Constitution. The document was developed as a result of a Franklin County (Ohio) Educational Council U.S. Bicentennial-related Constitution workshop, during which elementary school teachers and principals exchanged knowledge and resources. Each lesson plan…

Public opinion polls about freedom of speech issues during a 30-year period (1937-70) were compared with Supreme Court decisions for the same period to determine the effects of public sentiment on judicial decision making. Two-thirds of the decisions conformed to a constitutionality model (that the Court should always uphold the First Amendment…

Discusses the background, legal issues, and significance of the Supreme Court decision, "Loving v. Virginia" (1967). Outlines the history of laws against interracial marriage throughout U.S. history. Asserts that interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, applying federal civil rights to the states, was a key factor in the case. (CFR)

Outlines class activities to help students understand how the U.S. Supreme Court reaches its decisions and how the decisions change over time. Includes objectives, resources, issues and questions, procedures, and evaluations. Suggests that students will learn the facts and issues of important civil rights cases and form opinions on the decisions.…

This curriculum guide and accompanying teacher's guide focus on the individual and personal freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and as interpreted by the courts--namely, the idea of fundamental rights as expressed through the concepts of liberty, justice, and equality. The curriculum includes 10 lessons: (1) Rights Are Fundamental; (2)…

This paper describes the activities of the Youth for Justice programs nationwide. Youth for Justice is a unique national initiative that uses the power of active learning about the law to build upon the vitality of young people and to address the risks of being young in American society today. Youth for Justice involves young people in law-related…

This curriculum is organized around four concepts--authority, privacy, responsibility, and justice--which form part of the common core of civic values and concepts that are fundamental to the theory and practice of democratic citizenship in the United States. Rather than focusing on facts and dates, the curriculum challenges students to think for…

Designed to be used in combination with standard high school textbooks in U.S. history and government, these lessons on the U.S. Constitution can be used singly or in varying combinations and most can be completed in one or two class meetings. There are five chapters. Chapter I is an introduction for teachers. Chapter II includes lessons about the…