This teacher's curriculum guide is designed to introduce secondary students to the ideas behind the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution and the experiences of the Founders that led to the creation of this document. The curriculum's intent is to provide young people with a knowledge of how the Bill of Rights came into existence, why it took the…

Presents a lesson plan on federalism that involves the class researching constitutional issues and inviting local officials to debate these issues. Students conduct a question-and-answer session afterward utilizing their research. Includes a list of proposed issues. (MJP)

Offers suggestions for teaching constitutional issues and the Bill of Rights. Observes that student achievement and response is significant when core content, primary documents, and case studies are employed. Describes procedures for class discussions and recommends U.S. Supreme Court landmark cases for freedom of the press and speech issues. (NL)

Two articles in this instructional newsletter elucidate rulings by the United States Supreme Court, Circuit Court of Appeals, and District Courts affecting state sponsored school prayer: (1) "First Amendment Prayer Pendulum"; (2) "First Amendment. Rosenberger v University of Virginia." The newsletter provides the facts of the…

This teacher's guide and student workbook are part of a series of content-centered packages of supplemental readings, activities, and methods adapted for secondary students who have disabilities and other students with diverse learning needs. Parallel Alternative Strategies for Students (PASS) materials are designed to help those students succeed…

Describes a high school civics course constructed almost solely around a close reading of the Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, and Gettysburg Address. Maintains that understanding these documents establishes the minimum essentials of civic literacy and frees classes from the burden of irrelevant and unreadable textbooks.…

Presents a lesson plan that allows students to analyze federalism as a source of conflict and cooperation. Materials include a Venn diagram of the federal government, illustrating delegated, shared, and reserved powers. Another handout requires students to match government responsibilities to these powers. Includes a list of questions for…

Dedicated to celebrating the importance of law in U.S. life, the 19 stories collected in this volume are about legislators who enact the law, judges who interpret it, and lawyers who practice it. The stories describe the contributions to the United States through the law of distinguished individuals, emphasizing the devotion of many lawyers to…

This unit on economic decision-making is the fourth of five units in a ninth grade social studies course (see SO 010 891). Major objectives are to help students (1) explain how dissent and protest may be used as effective means of change and to consider the consequences of such actions; (2) examine the judicial branch of government in order to…