By building a memorial to Edwin Pratt, a slain civil rights leader, Seattle sixth-graders learned valuable lessons in grantsmanship, public speaking, and public art. They also grew to understand the meaning of civil rights, commemoration, and community giving. Next year's class will work with the Shoreline Historical Museum to create an exhibit on…

Presents a lesson designed to introduce students to the Bill of Rights. Students learn that their rights are protected by laws and that they must act responsibly. The lesson uses several hypothetical situations and a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court case involving the use of vulgar language by a high school student during an assembly speech. (JDH)

Recent literature on children's conceptions of social institutions is reviewed, and the results of a pilot study on children's concepts of human rights are described. A series of interview questions was developed based on rights specified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Questions in Part I of the interview concerned a presumed…

Using primary sources, this unit explores the founding of the 12th and most successful of the English colonies in North America, Pennsylvania. Established by the Quaker civil libertarian William Penn, Pennsylvania was intended to demonstrate that a society founded on mutual respect, tolerance, and individual responsibility could flourish. The…