These lesson plans on the First Amendment are designed to help secondary school students to understand the history and meaning of the First Amendment and its importance in today's society. The manual has two sections, one for middle school, the other for high school. Ten lessons for middle school students cover the following topics: (1) Throwing…

Siamese baseball is used to introduce secondary government students to a study of authority, justice, responsibility, and privacy. The thematic/conceptual approach to the course is outlined. (RM)

The Constitutional Rights Foundation works to determine how service learning can best educate youth for active citizenship. This article traces the evolution of the group's thinking about service learning and citizenship education, and describes their civic participation framework, programs, and program components. (SM)

Describes a course designed to challenge students to look at the way they are influenced by the mass media. Provides details of the procedures for forming the cooperative groups, the material used, the issues discussed, and the students' responses. (PRA)

Examines the major principles expounded by Grundtvig and describes the modern Danish folk high schools, highlighting their conformity to principles proposed 150 years ago. (JOW)

"We the People . . . Project Citizen," an instructional product, involves students in the selection and investigation of important public issues in their community and thus engages students in learning experiences designed to affect positively their civic development, which involves three basic components of democratic citizenship: (1)…

The concept of citizenship is at the core of education for democracy. This Digest presents what citizenship is; why citizenship is an essential element of democracy; and how to teach about citizenship in a democracy. In a democracy, the source of all authority (the legitimate basis of all power) is the collective body of the people, the citizens…

Evanston's new civic education units all deal with examples of inhumanity. Primary source documents, simulations, and discussions are used to open up the students' minds about human rights and responsibilities. (Author/MLF)

Argues that journalism and communications instruction at the secondary level should not focus on production techniques, but rather should serve as a laboratory for citizenship training, helping to prepare young people to be more informed and effective citizens. (SR)

This monograph explains the need for graduating high school seniors to demonstrate minimum competence in citizenship and suggests performance-related assessment tasks to help school authorities determine whether these competency requirements have been met. Minimum citizenship competencies are interpreted to include essential skills and concepts…

This resource guide contains six units of study on citizenship education for use at the secondary level. The purpose of the units is to help students examine the political and legal processes of American society and the rights, responsibilities, and roles of its citizens. The units can be used as the basis for a one-semester elective course in…

Interest in law-related citizenship education has grown enormously in the past few years. This directory is the result of a survey of school-related law and citizenship projects, and is intended to provide information about projects and prevent duplication of effort. Arranged alphabetically by states, the description of each project includes…

This curriculum unit on citizenship education examines some voluntary associations which Americans join to accomplish certain objectives. The purposes of the unit are to show students how associations take positions on certain issues, such as reforming Congress or amnesty, and how they work to effect governmental policies. It is hoped that…

A study showed that the acquisition of voting knowledge in a civics class positively influenced ninth- and tenth-grade students' attitudes toward voting. Teachers should give students a solid foundation concerning the electoral process and encourage students to participate in the political process. (RM)

What do 14-year-old students know about democratic institutions and processes? What skills do they possess to understand and interpret political communication? Do they hold concepts of citizenship and democracy similar to those held by adults in their societies? What role do schools and other civic organizations play in the civic development of…