According to former Supreme Court Judge Sandra Day O'Connor, active citizenship requires that students know how to persuade others by logic, seek consensus, understand and create constructive dissent, and practice other vital critical-thinking skills. However, in the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress in civics, only one in four…

Civic education in public schools faces major challenges. Under No Child Left Behind, many schools have favored teaching math and English rather than civics, which undermines one of the purposes of public schools--to educate students to be responsible and active citizens in democracy. A second challenge comes inside the classroom: engaging the…

Writers in this journal have presented a number of strategies that sociology teachers can use to facilitate the expression--and serious analysis--of unpopular opinions. This article contributes to this dialog by illustrating the application of a Bill of Rights learning module. In this module, students are expected to create a document that…

The theme for Law Day U.S.A. 1991 (May 1) is "Freedom Has a Name: The Bill of Rights." This guide is designed to help interested persons plan a Law Day program. The guide includes sections on: how to plan a Law Day program; a basic low budget Law Day package; Law Day award competitions; suggestions for locally sponsored Law Day U.S.A.…

Court rulings from Arizona to New York have indicated that pledge of allegiance ceremonies may be included in a public school's curriculum as part of a local or state goal to instill patriotism and citizenship lessons. Students and teachers cannot be forced to participate if participation violates their personal religious or philosophical…

The U.S. Constitution bicentennial celebrations across the state of Virginia have contributed to greater public understanding of the Constitution and enhanced appreciation of the immense contribution that Virginians made to the document. Virginians have discovered that the story of the U.S. founding is also a Virginia story. Even after the…

Reinforcing earlier conclusions of the Educational Testing Service, this evaluation highlights the success of the "We the People" program using the "Justice for All" textbook produced by the Center for Civic Education (CCE), the program involves students in a rigorous study of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and supports…

An almanac of activities helps elementary students learn about rights in their lives. The activity book focuses on the Bill of Rights and on student rights in the home, school, and community. It includes posters, student activities, resource lists, and teaching aids. (SM)

"We the People...The Citizen and the Constitution" is a national civic education program that aims to help elementary and secondary students understand the history and principles of constitutional government. The program focuses on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights and fosters civic competence and responsibility among students in…

This book presents, in words and pictures, a history of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. Fifteen chapters in the book are entitled: (1) Origins; (2) The Colonial Experience; (3) The American Crisis: Road to Revolution; (4) New Order of the Ages; (5) The Bill of Rights; (6) The Civil War; (7) A Changing America; (8) War & Reaction;…

This book contains three major essays that consider the origins of the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution. In "The U.S. Bill of Rights in Historical Perspective," Donald S. Lutz examines the intellectual context of the Bill of Rights by analyzing the changing ideas about rights in colonial,…

Describes the real-world impact on a class of fourth graders of a civics lesson about constitutional government taught by high school students. (SR)

This teacher's guide accompanies a 26-minute video by the same name. Intended for grades 3-8, the teacher's guide provides activities to support further exploration of cultural diversity, offers cooperative learning projects, and supplies reproducible masters to use with the interactive segment of the video program. Suggestions are made for five…

This document presents three articles on law-related education (LRE) written either by or for students. Brent Halling, a senior at Castle High School in Newburgh, Indiana, opens the collection with an article on how due process protects rights. Halling explains the concept of due process and illustrates its reach through the case of Kenneth…

Dedicated to discussing the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution, this conference report presents the texts of six speeches. The presentations include: "Return to First Principles: The Philosophical and Historical Roots of the Bill of Rights" (A. E. Dick Howard); "How Do We Deal with First Principles?" (Herbert Atherton);…