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| Civics and stuff…really, it’s fun! |
| posted by: Jill | November 03, 2010, 04:24 PM |
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What is my first memory of the democratic process in action? 1984 and Reagan's reelection. I knew he won, but that was the extent of my interest. Honestly, the reason I remember that event is because it conflicted with my birthday party. For many years my exposure to US History and the political process was spotty, at best. Somehow I missed the lessons on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. It seems I was always absent on the days that we learned about the three branches of government. Luckily for me I had a few experiences that truly helped me learn to value my country's history, the political system, and my role as a citizen—living in the Middle East; reading 1776 by David McCullough; actively participating in elections and campaigns; and moving to Washington, D.C. But for those who won't soon be participating in any of the above activities, I recommend looking into two organizations with which I recently interacted. Both focus on providing professional learning opportunities to educators in the areas of history, government, social studies and civics. Each has a variety of free resources, student scholarship opportunities, online learning tools, teacher scholarships, and more. Read each organization's blurb and visit their website to learn about how they inform educators. The Bill of Rights Institute "The Bill of Rights Institute is your partner in teaching about the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. We offer a variety of educational programs and instructional materials for teachers. These include Constitutional Seminars around the country, as well as printed and online teachers' guides for use in history, government, civics, and social studies middle and high school classes." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History "The Gilder Lehrman Institute offers a growing variety of resources to assist teachers and students. The Institute has pioneered new models of history schools and programs, with proven success in improving academic achievement. It offers professional development opportunities for educators, provides documents and exercises for classroom use, and encourages excellence in student writing with essay prizes." Comments (1)
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PS - I've worked with the Bill of Rights Institute and they produce some great material. I assisted them on the DBQ project.